Occupation Fashion designer Name Gina Fratini | Role Fashion designer Education Royal College of Art | |
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Full Name Georgina Caroline Eve Butler Born 22 September 1931 (age 92) ( 1931-09-22 ) Kobe, Japan Similar People Anthony Newley, Tara Newley, Joan Collins, Alexander Anthony Newley, Ann Lynn | ||
Vintage 1970s Gina Fratini Dark Green Bias Cut Evening Gown
Gina Fratini (born Georgina Caroline Eve Butler, 22 September 1931 – 25 May 2017) was a British fashion designer.
Contents
- Vintage 1970s Gina Fratini Dark Green Bias Cut Evening Gown
- Early life
- Career
- Marriages
- Later life
- References
Early life
She was born in Kobe, Japan, the daughter of the Hon. Somerset Butler (son of the 7th Earl of Carrick) and his wife Barbara, and spent most of her childhood in India. Her godfather was Sir Victor Sassoon. On her return to the UK, she studied at the Royal College of Arts.
Career
She set up her own business in 1964 and became one of the top British designers of the early 1970s, winning the Dress of the Year Award in 1975; some of her garments from the period are held in the Victoria & Albert Museum's costume collection. Among the top personalities who wore Fratini designs was Elizabeth Taylor, who wore a Fratini wedding dress for her second wedding to Richard Burton. Diana, Princess of Wales, also wore Fratini designs to public events.
Marriages
Gina's first marriage was in 1954, to David Goldberg. They were divorced in 1961, and Fratini married the Italian illustrator Renato Fratini, but they divorced in 1968. Finally, in 1969, she married James Alan Short, a Scottish actor/comedian better known as Jimmy Logan; they divorced in 1977. She was romantically involved with the actor Anthony Newley from 1993 onwards. The couple had known each other in the 1950s. Following Newley's death, Fratini was quoted as saying: "We came back together at the perfect time, I suppose ... But it ended too soon."
Later life
Gina Fratini's fashion house closed in November 1989, following which she was a guest designer for the house of Norman Hartnell. She died on 25 May 2017.
