Although she was neither a film star nor a famous magazine editor, Anna Piaggi had been for years the most immediately recognisable figure in the front row of the major fashion shows. By contrast with the black-clad throng around her, she had a highly individual sense of style that at first glance appeared to be that of a child let loose on the dressing-up box.
Layers of colour and texture were heaped atop one another with scant regard for conventional rules of taste. African print pyjamas might end in a pair of pretty pink sandals and be worn under a polka-dot blouse (probably vintage Chanel) and a zebra-stripe velvet scarf. This ensemble would be swaddled in a cavalry officer’s pelisse, a silver biker’s jacket, or