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MILAN -- Giovanna Fontana, the youngest of the three sisters behind the Sorelle Fontana label that epitomized Rome's Dolce Vita years, died Wednesday after a six-month battle with cardiovascular disease. She was 88 years old.
A funeral service at Rome's Grotta Rossa church was held Friday. Fontana is survived by her older sister, Micol, 91; her two children, Giovanni and Roberta, and three grandchildren. The oldest of the Fontana sisters, Zoe, died in 1979.
Giovanna Fontana's older sisters were better known in the industry as the face of the company, concentrating on image matters and public relations. Giovanna worked behind the scenes, coordinating the manufacturing side of the business. She oversaw the tailors and coordinated the sewing of garments, which draped the likes of Ava Gardner, Anita Ekberg, Elizabeth Taylor, Ursula Andress and Audrey Hepburn throughout the Fifties.
Sorelle Fontana designers and craftspeople were among the first to emerge out of war-torn Italy. They helped put the country on the fashion map as its economy recovered from World War II and headed into the boom years of...