Who is Pupi Solari?
«One day Gianni Agnelli told me that I was a good stylist. My husband replied that I was simply an excellent shopkeeper. It was the best possible compliment.”
It reflects the anti-diva image she has sewn on herself: an armor since she separated from her husband at the age of 40 and decided to dance alone…
«My husband Giorgio Host-Ivessich, a young architect and pupil of Gio Ponti, told me: “Freedom has a price, now you have to make do”».
And she made do by opening a boutique in 1969, when the revolution was brewing all around…
«I wanted to get my life back. To do this I had to run like crazy to pull the cart. I cried 12 hours a day: I only remember that I was in the shop.”
What do you consider to be one of its qualities?
«Having been a good person. I believe that education is the basis of everything.”
He dressed the Milanese bourgeoisie. Does it still exist?
«I dress grandmothers’ grandchildren more than mothers’ children. Maybe the new generations are missing something in terms of taste.”
She had important husbands…
«But I have never been worldly. We went to parties out of duty. We preferred to escape to the Portofino mountain, surrounded by friends, at home. I’m sociable, but not worldly. I only went to fashion shows because I was forced by work. I frequented Valentino, I followed him to New York: she taught me a lot about the meaning of beauty. The child doesn’t parade and now I don’t go anymore. I have always been far from the Quadrilatero.”
A year ago it sold its women’s and men’s lines to its historic Scottish cashmere supplier…
«Because I wanted to finish as I started and because at a certain age you have to have the humility not to want to do everything. My child is not subject to trends. I started because I dressed my two quite well.”
One thing you don’t like about children today?
«The names: but it’s the parents’ fault. Ocean, Wolf… It’s not fair to them. They must have classic names. If they want nicknames, they give them to them. And they must also dress like children, not imitate adults.”
Is there a place that you loved in the city?
«The Jamaica bar. And then my house, in Corso Magenta. The windows overlook Leonardo da Vinci’s Vineyard.”
Do you like Milan today?
«No, we run too much. There is no banality, which is a fundamental thing in life. People are afraid of being banal. So they all seem overexcited. And then I don’t like skyscrapers. When I was little I wanted to be a concierge because I like being on the ground floor.”
She said that when she arrived in Milan from Genoa in the 1960s it seemed like New York to her…
«In Milan it is you who counts. I started when I was a lonely, unknown woman. It’s a city that lets you work. In Genoa I just closed the shop because it is a snobbish city where women prefer not to work. But I miss the sea.”
Your typical day?
«The usual: I still come to the office every day at 8.30. I eat in the shop. At six I return home, often on foot. I like to work. The truth is that at my age there is no alternative to work. As you get older, there are fewer reasons why you wouldn’t want to work. And then I wouldn’t be able to live with the state pension of 450 euros.”
Do you have a female role model?
«I admire women entrepreneurs, because I have never felt like one. Not those who exhibit exaggerated masculinity. A woman must be intelligent, ironic, unconventional. I seem to be very tough, but in the end I’m a slacker.”
What will Pupi Solari be like in 50 years?
«When I die I won’t leave the shop to anyone. I have two cute nieces, one is 26, the other 30. They live in Milan, they would love us. But they lack modesty. If you lose sight of reality you can’t do this job. Sometimes you would kill customers, but I will have argued twice in 50 years.”
An era will end…
«He will remain an icon. But I’m afraid of dying, when I talk like this I get sick of it.”
