The Gucci Artist You've Never Heard Of

Like many artists at the turn of the 20th century, Italian-born Vittorio Accornero de Testa's experience wasn't limited to his artistic endeavours - just like Louis Icart, he was a World War One fighter pilot, too. Also like Icart (who provided the inspiration for many of Nick Knight's deliciously salient images for John Galliano's Dior in the early 2000s) Accornero de Testa has links to high fashion - as seen in the artist's direct close collaboration with Gucci between 1960 and 1981. It was during this period that Accornero de Testa made fashion history, no doubt producing some of his best work for the Italian house, but it wasn't his only work.

Born in Casale Monferrato in Italy's Allesandria region on 18 June 1896, Accornero de Testa didn't wait long before deciding on a career in art, enrolling at the local Istituto d'Istruzione Superiore Leardi as soon as he became of age. Like many of his generation's creatives, his artistic pursuit was briefly interrupted by World War One (which left him disabled) but as a lucky survivor, he continued on his path to becoming an artist and five years after the war ended, he won first prize in the El Hogar di Buenos Aires competition - before being awarded the Gold Medal of the Parisian International Exhibition of Decorative and Modern Industrial Art just two years later in 1923.

By this point, Accornero de Testa was working under the pseudonym Ninon - later expanding it to Victor Max Ninon - and not only designing covers for American magazines but also creating set designs for various theatrical productions, something that would sustain his passion for the arts for the rest of his life but not before creating a name for himself as an illustrator of children's books: think Quentin Blake paired with the elegance (and grandiosity of) couturier Paul Poiret's right-hand man Georges Lepape. Alas, the comparisons stop there as fashion were not to enter Accornero de Testa's grand life until much later. For any literary-minded people, this is where the story gets even more riveting, as the artist's collaborators weren't just writers trying to make ends meet - they were some of the 20th century's many greats - Hans Christian Andersen, Edgar Allan Poe and even the Pinocchio storyteller Charles Perrault among them.

Fantasy was integral to the Accornero de Testa world, flora on the other hand? Not so much. This all changed when the artist extended his work to fashion, designing ties, scarves, and foulards for Gucci in the early sixties - a career move that would define not only him as an artist but the Italian house for decades to come all because of one signature design - the illustrious Gucci Flora silk scarf he did for Grace Kelly in 1966, a timeless symbol of elegance now as much as it was then. To cut a long story short (and to pass on a sense of just how revelatory this design has since become), to consider yourself a fashion-obsessive is to be able to spot who's wearing what, right? With this in mind, we may not all know Accornero de Testa but we certainly all know a Gucci Flora silk scarf print when we see one; it's as Gucci as Gucci gets.

This week, press were alerted of Accornero de Testa when a Gucci press was blasted to editors' inboxes everywhere promoting the house's Art of Silk campaign by Steven Meisel featuring Julia Garner. 'Whether draped around the neck, tied as a headscarf, or caught mid-motion, Gucci’s silk scarves continue to embody the House’s enduring spirit, reimagined for a contemporary audience', the brand commented and too right they are. Even so, I couldn't help but realise that the silk part isn't what's so compelling about the story - nor why people come to Gucci to buy their little 90x90 numbers. Silk scarves are indeed luxurious but they can also be bought from any high fashion store, in any city, on any continent. Gucci isn't synonymous with silk but it is synonymous with that pattern. Yes, Meryl Streep may be on record saying 'Florals for spring? Groundbreaking', but no one does flora and fauna better than Gucci. It started with Accornero de Testa, and that's a fact.

Want to own a slice of fashion and art history? Gucci's latest project sees nine international artists reinterpret five archival themes rooted in Gucci’s archive - including Accornero de Testa's Flora as well as Animalia, nautical, equestrian, and the GG Monogram as part of the brand's 90x90 project in conjunction with its multifaceted The Art of Silk initiative. Additionally, the house has also partnered with Assouline for Gucci: The Art of Silk, a book tracing the evolution of Gucci’s silk scarves from their inception in the 1950s to their present-day influence across fashion and art, written by none other than SHOWstudio contributor Jo-Ann Furniss. For more information, click here.