AFP - Designer Stefano Gabbana has led a pouring out of Twitter tributes to renowned style icon Anna Piaggi following reports of the 81-year-old's death in the Italian press.
On August 7 La Repubblica published the news of the famous fashion writer's death, while creator Gabbana -- one half of design duo Dolce & Gabbana -- revealed the news online by tweeting "RIP Anna Piaggi... :((((( ciao grande Anna!!!"
Piaggi, who was a frequent contributor to Vogue Italia, became known internationally for her eccentric style and trademark pale blue hair.
The publication's current editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani tweeted her own tribute to Piaggi, making reference to the late writer's column entitled "D.P. Doppie Pagine di Anna Piaggi."
"23 anni di lavoro insieme, migliaia di D.P. realizzate insieme. Ti ricorderò sempre Anna" ("23 years working together, thousands of D.P. done together. Will remember you forever Anna"), tweeted Sozzani.
As well as becoming a Twitter trending topic in Italy, Piaggi's name was also one of the most talked about in London.
Burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese was one of the first celebrities to pay tribute to the fashionista and her unique dress sense.
"So sad to hear that Anna Piaggi, one of my last icons of beauty & fashion has passed. She was the height of glamorous eccentricity," she wrote.
Fashion heavyweights including stylist Lori Goldstein and W magazine fashion director Edward Enninful also paid their respects.
"did i just wake up to find out anna piaggi died???? that makes me more than sad... A TRUE 1 of kind w/ style & substance. not like todays faux," tweeted the former.
Meanwhile, New York-based writer Sarah Nicole Prickett recalled the flamboyant outfits Piaggi donned to hit the front row during fashion week season.
"Anna Piaggi, no longer living legend. To see her at a fashion show was to witness a tiny, significant riot," wrote Prickett.
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Anna Piaggi, the Vogue Italia fashion contributor and style icon, was born in 1931 in Milan. Known for her exuberant and flamboyant fashion sense, she began her career in the Sixties as the editor of Italian women's magazine Arianna, before going on to become editor at avant-garde publication Vanity in the Eighties. Aside from her penchant for blue hair and eccentric outfits (always accessoried with a walking cane), Piaggi was best known for her work with Vogue Italia. It was a collaboration that began in the Sixties and saw her inspire the fashion world with her innovative and intellectual double-page spreads, or DPs.
Born to an academic family, she attended a boarding school outside Milan and, finding it too strict, decided to go on and work as an au pair so that she could travel and learn different languages.
She married the photographer Alfa Castaldi in 1962 in New York. She had met him while working as a translator for publishing house The Mondadori Group. He died in 1995.
Karl Lagerfeld, who has sketched her on countless occasions, Stephen Jones and Manolo Blahnik were among the fashion doyenne's friends and collaborators.
She met Jones in 1982 and chopped off all of her hair to make a canvas upon which the milliner could showcase his master creations. "Hats are like a halo of happiness," she said.
She played muse to Karl Lagerfeld who, during the Eighties, dedicated the book Anna-Cronique to her. She featured in it as a comic strip character. The pair originally met in 1974.
