Gabriella Pescucci

Gabriella Pescucci (Italian pronunciation: [ɡabriˈɛlla peˈskuttʃi]; born 17 January 1941) is an Italian costume designer. In a career spanning over five decades, she is recognized for her prolific work across stage and screen. She has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, and two Emmy Awards.

Pescucci gained prominence for her collaborations with directors Pier Paolo Pasolini, Federico Fellini, Sergio Leone, Terry Gilliam, Martin Scorsese, Tim Burton, and Neil Jordan. She has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design three times, winning for The Age of Innocence (1993).

Biography

Gabriella Pescucci was born in Tuscany in the province of Livorno. She studied Art at Accademia, Florence. In 1966, she moved to Rome with the express intention of becoming a costume designer for the cinema. She began her career as an assistant to Piero Tosi on the sets of Pasolini's Medea and Visconti's Death in Venice. Pescucci took her first steps in cinema with Giuseppe Patroni Griffi at the start of the 70s, designing costumes that took inspiration from paintings by Carpaccio and Leonardo.

Her international debut was in 1984 with Once Upon a Time in America, for which she won the first of her two BAFTA Awards, the second being for The Adventures of Baron Munchausen by director Terry Gilliam and production designer Dante Ferretti.

She received many other nominations and awards, among which a David di Donatello with The Name of the Rose and an Oscar for The Age of Innocence in 1993. Some of her most popular works include costume design on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Les Misérables and Agora.

In addition to her film and television work, she has designed for the Opera, notably La Traviata at La Scala, Un ballo in maschera at the Kennedy Centre in Washington, D.C., and La bohème in Florence.