Mia Fonssagrives-Solow ( Fonssagrives; born 1941), is an American

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. In the 1960s, she was a fashion and costume designer based in Paris.

Early life

Fonssagrives was born in 1941, the daughter of French photographer

Fernand Fonssagrives Fernand Fonssagrives (June 8, 1910 – April 23, 2003), born Fernand Vigoureux near Paris, was a photographer known for his 'beauty photography' in the early 1940s, and as the first husband of the model Lisa Fonssagrives. He died in 2003 at Little ...

and Swedish supermodel

Lisa Fonssagrives Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer * Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...

(née Lisa Birgitta Bernstone). Fonssagrives-Solow grew up between Huntington and Manhattan in New York, where she studied at the private

Dalton School The Dalton School, originally the Children's University School, is a private, coeducational college preparatory school in New York City and a member of both the Ivy Preparatory School League and the New York Interschool. The school is located in ...

, and later at an all-girls boarding school. At eight years old, after her parents divorced, she moved in with her mother and Irving Penn. As a teenager, Fonssagrives began to make clothes which her mother would sell to her friends. After finishing school, Fonssagrives was accepted into

Parsons School of Design Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatt ...

on a part-time scholarship.

Career

In 1962, Fonssagrives met fashion designer

Vicky Tiel Vicky Tiel (aka Vicki Tiel) is an American-born fashion designer who established her career in Paris, France. She is a couture designer and also has her own line of clothes on the Home Shopping Network. She is the author of the book, ''It's All Abo ...

at Parsons, and the two quickly became friends and business partners. They moved to Paris in 1964 and met designer

Louis Féraud Louis Féraud (13 February 1921 – 28 December 1999) was a French fashion designer and artist. In 1950, Louis Féraud created his first "Maison de Couture" in Cannes and by 1955 had established a couture house in Paris on 88, Rue du Faubourg Sa ...

. In Féraud's couture show in July 1964, the Mia-Vicky mini dress was introduced, and after seeing the Mia-Vicky minis at the Féraud show, the ''

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France for international English-speaking readers. It had the aim of becoming "the world's first global newspaper" and could fairly be said ...

'' writer, Eugenia Sheppard, wrote an article headlined, "Anyone in Fashion Over 25 Might as Well Be Dead". ''Life'' magazine wrote a five-page story on the young designers titled, "Two American Girls Show Paris," and in December 1964,

Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He is best known as the host of ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson received six Pr ...

invited Tiel and Fonssagrives in their mini dresses on his ''Tonight Show''. Fonssagrives and Féraud became engaged in 1967 and were married that same year. Fonssagrives and Tiel were hired as costume designers for a Woody Allen film, ''

What's New Pussycat? ''What's New Pussycat?'' is a 1965 screwball comedy film directed by Clive Donner, written by Woody Allen in his first produced screenplay, and starring Allen in his acting debut, along with Peter Sellers, Peter O'Toole, Romy Schneider, Capuci ...

'', shot in Paris. While shooting at the studio, the pair met

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

, and in 1968, after four years of dressing her, Taylor became a partner in the Mia-Vicky couture house. In May 1968, the Mia-Vicky shop opened on 21 Rue Bonaparte Paris, and the boutique was in business until 2011. As costume designers, Fonssagrives and Tiel introduced a satin wrap dress in 1967 for the movie ''Candy'' worn by actress

Ewa Aulin Ewa Birgitta Aulin (born 13 February 1950) is a Swedish former actress who appeared in a number of Italian and some American films in the 1960s and 1970s. She is remembered for playing the title character in the cult film ''Candy'' where she appea ...

. In 1970, Fonssagrives divorced Féraud and left Paris, and Tiel renamed their label and boutique "Vicky Tiel." Fonssagrives returned to the United States to study woodworking in California. In 1972 she married New York real estate developer

Sheldon Solow Sheldon Henry Solow (July 20, 1928November 17, 2020) was an American real estate developer and art collector who lived and worked in New York City. In August 2020, he had a net worth of $4.4 billion. Early life Solow was born and raised in ...

and the couple had two sons, Stefan and Nikolai. The family's Solow Art and Architecture Foundation exhibits a small part of the art collection to the public at its building at 9 West 57th Street in Manhattan. Fonssagrives-Solow continues to work and exhibit as a sculptor and jewellery designer in New York.

Personal life

Fonssagrives married New York real estate developer

in 1972, and the couple went on to have two sons,

Stefan Soloviev Stefan Quinn Soloviev (born May 21, 1975) is an American businessman who is the Chairman of the Soloviev Group, the parent company of Crossroads Agriculture, the Colorado Pacific Railroad, the Solow Building Corporation, and other business entiti ...

and Nikolai Solow. The family has amassed a fortune of several billion dollars through its real estate portfolio and art collection.

References

External links

Mia Fonssagrives-Solow
website {{DEFAULTSORT:Fonssagrives-Solow, Mia American fashion designers American women fashion designers Parsons School of Design alumni Living people 1941 births 21st-century American women