Mourning in the world of fashion and female entrepreneurship: Pupi Solari has passed away. She was 97 years old. The announcement was made by her daughter-in-law, Sunny Host-Ivessich, with a statement: Solari’s health conditions had worsened in recent times. The funeral will take place in a few days in Milan in the Church of Santa Maria Segreta, right in front of the historic headquarters of the shop in Piazza Tommaseo.
Pupi Solari has died
“Pupi disappeared this morning at 9.16. Serena even if she hasn’t been conscious for a few days. A sudden worsening of his conditions which were stationary until a week ago, after the pulmonary edema caused by bronchitis he had in February”, he communicated Sunny Host-Ivessich, Pupi’s daughter-in-lawalways at his side as the shop’s buyer.
The entrepreneur’s funeral will take place in a few days in Milan in the Church of Santa Maria Segreta, right in front of the historic headquarters of the shop in Piazza Tommaseo. “Being by her side all these years has been a unique experience. A double life and professional lesson. Pupi was a woman with a strong, determined character. A continuous confrontation in choices and decisions. But she always had an eye projected into the future,” added her daughter-in-law.
Who was Pupi Solari
Born in 1927, Ligurian by birth but Milanese by adoption, the name Pupi Solari is linked to generations of feminine elegance of Milanese ladies. She wasn’t a designer, but she had created a style. In the 1960s she opened her shop in Milan, soon becoming a real institution in the city. Hers. His refined, elegant style, with a measured and contained classicismit married perfectly – right from the start – with the taste of the upper bourgeoisie and the Milanese aristocracy.
Solari chose an area that fully reflects the style and philosophy of its business: Piazza Tommaseo is one of the chicest areas of the Milanese capital. A few steps from the shop stands the majestic and beautiful Church of Santa Maria Segreta, built by Augusto Brusconi between 1918 and 1920.
The history of Pupi Solari is made up of stubbornness and unstoppable desire to work: “I started working out of necessity, that is, after separation from Giorgio Host-Ivessich, my first husband and the move from Genoa. Here I opened my first shop in Largo Quinto Alpini: a winning choice. I was far from the downtown streets, out of the fray. It wasn’t easy at first, but as I had guessed it was the right choice,” she once said.
“A children’s shop opened in Largo Quinto Alpini in Milan in 1969. Nine years later, in 1978 she moved to Piazza Tommaseo and the women’s department joined the children’s department with 6 windows. In 1991 also the men’s department called Host (named after the Host-Ivessich children) joins the shop windows, thus becoming 11. Over the years she also opens a children’s boutique in Genoa”, we read on the website which tells the story of this strong-willed and passionate woman.
Since 2018, she has been joined by the son Andrea in the administrative management of the company and the nephew Margherita in the creative direction of the collections and in the management of social networks and websites.
