FORTUNY

INNER THREADS OF A FAIRY TALE

Fayetteville’s Elsie McNeill Lee becomes Venice’s Countess Gozzi and President of Fortuny

By Allison Parker

Driving through the Piedmont area in North Carolina, visions of cotton fields dance along the roadside. In the heart of the Piedmont, Elsie McNeill Lee was born in Fayetteville, NC. Her hometown among the cotton fields did not keep her for long. Elsie would find her life’s work as an interior designer leading her to New York City. From New York City to Paris to Venice, Elsie’s life transformed as a weave of global threads entwined with her love of fabric and design and also the love of a Count.

It all seems so simple-a young woman with a dream moves from her small town to the big city to start a career. However, in the 1920’s, interior designers were not the norm. Elsie was way ahead of her time. In a time when women had just received the right to vote, this courageous and talented young woman had earned herself a spot as an interior designer in the ‘Big Apple’, New York City.

The fairy tale begins when Elsie takes a jaunt across the pond to Paris in 1927. She sees Fortuny’s fabrics hanging in the Carnavalet Museum in Paris and the vision steals her heart. Intrigued and beguiled, she travels to Venice to meet with the artist himself, Mariano Fortuny. The brazen entrepreneur, Lee, convinces the powers to be at Fortuny that she should be the exclusive American distributor of their fabrics.

What is so intriguing about Fortuny fabrics that led Elsie to travel thousands of miles across the Atlantic to meet Mariano Fortuny? Elsie knew unique craftsman work when she saw it. In 1910, Fortuny had patented a way of processing cotton- the cotton would be finished in a way that had the sheen and subtlety of antique silk. Previously, in 1907, he created the gorgeous finely pleated silk “Delphos” gowns which are synonymous with his name. Not only an artist, designer and entrepreneur, Fortuny was a brilliant inventor- he designed the dimmer switch.

A dream is realized as Elsie returns to New York City. 509 Madison Ave. is the home of her interior design shop. She has become the exclusive US distributor of Fortuny’s fabrics and dresses and Elsie McNeill Lee takes the brand to whole new nationwide level.

From the displays at the Madison Avenue showroom, Elsie placed Fortuny in front of high end customers The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Actress Greta Garbo, and fellow designer Albert

Hadley (exclusive clients included Brooke Astor, William and Babe Paley), and Washington, D.C., hostess Oatsie Charles.

A year of loss and change occurred in 1949, but the events brought opportunity to Elsie that would change her life monumentally. In that year, Mariano Fortuny dies. Upon learning of Mariano’s passing, Elsie and her husband, Alfred Humphrey Lee, agreed to go to Venice to meet with Henrietta and support her during her time of loss. A tragedy occurred before their departure- Alfred was killed in a car accident. Elsie is widowed with a new business prospect on the horizon. Henrietta, Mariano’s widower, in the belief that Elsie was the best person to manage the company based on her love of the brand and understanding of the trade, requested that Elsie take over the company as president. Elsie accepts the role and her life moves to the grounds of Fortuny as the new president.

Elsie, newly widowed, is single in Europe. It seems a bit awkward on the social scene for her although she does meet another American on the scene, Peggy Guggenheim. The European social scene can be quite evasive to new comers without the proper lineage to give them access to the coveted social scene. As luck would have it for the previously twice married Elsie (McNeill and Lee), a wonderful and charming count appears in her life. As fate would have it, Elsie marries Count Alvise Gozzi. Becoming Countess Gozzi had allowed Elsie McNeill Lee access a life that previously was not socially accessible.

Countess Gozzi acclimated into making Venice her home. The historic Fortuny factory on Giudecca and its spectacular gardens became her everyday life. “La Contessa,” worked tirelessly to carry on the trade of Mariano Fortuny. Elsie devotes time in dual roles managing the showroom in New York and overseeing the factory in Venice. From supervising every yard of fabric from its printing to its marketing as well as creating new designs, Elsie is engrained in the Fortuny factory.

Countess Gozzi carried her work within Fortuny into the early 1980s when she was in her 90’s. Transfer of the company was deemed to be the best choice. Elsie, Countess Gozzi, chose her counsel and friend, Maged Riad to give the option of purchasing the company. In 1988, similar to the offer Henriette had proposed to her in the late 1940’s, Countess Gozzi closed the deal for Riad to become the new owner of Fortuny. It was a great financial decision as the purchase kept the company alive as it would not have survived without it.

The Riad family is currently in charge of Fortuny. The garden restoration was one of their major projects. The gardens showcase one of the countess’ favorite endeavors-the adaptation of the ‘Cavana’ or boat garage into a private swimming pool. It remains one of the unique four swimming pools in Venice. Countess Gozzi stayed in close contact by managing production within the factory.

Upon the death of the Countess Gozzi, the Riad family begins handling the day-to-day operations of the company. Maged passes on the management duties to his sons, Mickey and Maury. 2022 marks the centennial of Fotuny. The threads of the life of Countess Gozzi are deeply embed in the celebration as without her, Fortuny would not be what it is today. From humble beginnings in a small North Carolina town, a young woman with a dream of interior design became a matriarch of one of the most renown fabric artisans of the 20th century and beyond-Fortuny.

CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF FORTUNY- HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

The year 2022 marks the 100th anniversary of the first Fortuny fabric production at the factory on the Giudecca.

Alberto Torsello, architect and newly appointed Fortuny artistic director, created the Giudecca showroom to capture the essence of Mariano Fortuny’s vision and staging ideas. Torsello, like Fortuny, is a revered inventor and industrial designer, having won the coveted Compasso d’Oro award in 2018. For the showroom “The Theater” resonates style and innovation with Torsello’s newly patented fabric display system designed specifically for Fortuny. Fabric rollers installed on the showroom’s ceiling allow the lowering of textiles from above much like the curtains in a theater. The fabrics lend themselves to be a matriculating opportunity for change and a palette for new artistic visions. To complement the fabric display system, Torsello has engineered new bespoke rolling trunks. The trunks house a set of drawers that showcase one-to-two-yard fabric samples, both vintage and present-day ensembles.

The vision originated from Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo’s vision of the theater. Formerly, the area was a part of a former convent which the Fortuny founder converted into a textile factory almost 100 years ago and where the fabric production still comes to life today. It was important to design the showroom with the story of the brand and its namesake visionary- Fortuny. Fortuny was not limited to fabric, his pursuits included painting, photography, set design, clothing, and engineering that expanded into the worlds of textiles, fashion, theater, and lighting. https://fortuny.com