DESIGNERS from Italy

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Italian Designers of all time. This list of famous Italian Designers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Italian Designers.

1. Antonio Stradivari (1644 - 1737)

With an HPI of 77.31, Antonio Stradivari is the most famous Italian Designer.  His biography has been translated into 62 different languages on wikipedia.

Antonio Stradivari (, also US: , Italian: [anˈtɔːnjo stradiˈvaːri]; c. 1644 – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinized form of his surname, Stradivarius, as well as the colloquial Strad are terms often used to refer to his instruments. It is estimated that Stradivari produced 1,116 instruments, of which 960 were violins. Around 650 instruments survive, including 450 to 512 violins. His instruments are considered some of the finest ever made, and are extremely valuable collector's items.

2. Giorgio Armani (b. 1934)

With an HPI of 73.62, Giorgio Armani is the 2nd most famous Italian Designer.  His biography has been translated into 52 different languages.

Giorgio Armani (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒordʒo arˈmaːni]; born 11 July 1934) is an Italian fashion designer. He first gained renown working for Cerruti and then for many others, including Allegri, Bagutta, and Hilton. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually expanded into music, sport, and luxury hotels. By 2001, Armani was acclaimed as the most successful designer of Italian origin, and is credited with pioneering red-carpet fashion.

3. Gianni Versace (1946 - 1997)

With an HPI of 70.32, Gianni Versace is the 3rd most famous Italian Designer.  His biography has been translated into 56 different languages.

Giovanni Maria "Gianni" Versace (Italian: [dʒoˈvanni maˈriːa ˈdʒanni verˈsaːtʃe]; 2 December 1946 – 15 July 1997) was an Italian fashion designer, socialite and businessman. He was the founder of Versace, an international luxury-fashion house that produces accessories, fragrances, make-up, home furnishings and clothes. He also designed costumes for theatre and films. As a friend of Eric Clapton, Princess Diana, Whitney Houston, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Madonna, Elton John, Tupac Shakur, Joan Collins and many other celebrities, he was one of the first designers to link fashion to the music world. He and his partner Antonio D'Amico were regulars on the international party scene. The place where he was born and raised, Reggio di Calabria, greatly influenced his career. On 15 July 1997, he was murdered outside his Miami Beach mansion, Casa Casuarina, by serial killer Andrew Cunanan.

4. Aldus Manutius (1449 - 1515)

With an HPI of 67.50, Aldus Manutius is the 4th most famous Italian Designer.  His biography has been translated into 45 different languages.

Aldus Pius Manutius (; Italian: Aldo Pio Manuzio; c. 1449/1452 – 6 February 1515) was an Italian printer and humanist who founded the Aldine Press. Manutius devoted the later part of his life to publishing and disseminating rare texts. His interest in and preservation of Greek manuscripts mark him as an innovative publisher of his age dedicated to the editions he produced. Aldus Manutius introduced the small portable book format with his enchiridia, which revolutionized personal reading and are the predecessor of the modern paperback book. He also helped to standardize use of punctuation including the comma and the semicolon. Manutius wanted to produce Greek texts for his readers because he believed that works by Aristotle or Aristophanes in their original Greek form were pure and unadulterated by translation. Before Manutius, publishers rarely printed volumes in Greek, mainly due to the complexity of providing a standardized Greek typeface. Manutius published rare manuscripts in their original Greek and Latin forms. He commissioned the creation of typefaces in Greek and Latin resembling the humanist handwriting of his time; typefaces that are the first known precursor of italic type. As the Aldine Press grew in popularity, Manutius's innovations were quickly copied across Italy despite his efforts to prevent the piracy of Aldine editions. Because of the Aldine Press's growing reputation for meticulous, accurate publications, Dutch philosopher Erasmus sought out Manutius to publish his translations of Iphigenia in Aulis. In his youth, Manutius studied in Rome to become a humanist scholar. He was friends with Giovanni Pico and tutored Pico's nephews, the lords of Carpi, Alberto and Leonello Pio. While a tutor, Manutius published two works for his pupils and their mother. In his late thirties or early forties, Manutius settled in Venice to become a print publisher. He met Andrea Torresano in Venice and the two co-founded the Aldine Press. Manutius is also known as "Aldus Manutius the Elder" to distinguish him from his grandson, Aldus Manutius the Younger.

5. Giorgetto Giugiaro (b. 1938)

With an HPI of 66.02, Giorgetto Giugiaro is the 5th most famous Italian Designer.  His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Giorgetto Giugiaro (Italian pronunciation: [dʒorˈdʒetto dʒuˈdʒaːro]; born 7 August 1938) is an Italian automotive designer. He has worked on supercars and popular everyday vehicles. He was named Car Designer of the Century in 1999 and inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2002. He was awarded the Compasso d'Oro industrial design award six times. In addition to cars, Giugiaro designed camera bodies for Nikon, Navigation promenade of Porto Santo Stefano, in 1983, the organ of the Cathedral of Lausanne (composed of about 7000 pipes) in 2003, and developed a new pasta shape, "Marille". He also designed several watch models for Seiko, mainly racing chronographs, as well as office furniture for Okamura Corporation.

6. Valentino (b. 1932)

With an HPI of 64.32, Valentino is the 6th most famous Italian Designer.  His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani (Italian pronunciation: [valenˈtiːno ɡaraˈvaːni]; born 11 May 1932), known mononymously as Valentino, is an Italian fashion designer, the founder of the Valentino brand and company. His main lines include Valentino, Valentino Garavani, Valentino Roma, and R.E.D. Valentino.

7. Nina Ricci (1883 - 1970)

With an HPI of 63.36, Nina Ricci is the 7th most famous Italian Designer.  Her biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Nina Ricci (born Maria Nielli; 1883 – 1970) was an Italian-born French fashion designer. She was born in Turin, Italy, and moved to France at the age of 12. At the age of 13, she began an apprenticeship at a dressmaker's. In 1904, she married Luigi Ricci. They had one child, Robert. In 1908, she joined the House of Raffin, where she remained for decades. She and her son Robert founded the fashion house Nina Ricci in Paris in 1932; it has been owned by the Spanish company Puig since 1998.

8. Miuccia Prada (b. 1949)

With an HPI of 62.15, Miuccia Prada is the 8th most famous Italian Designer.  Her biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Miuccia Bianchi Prada (Italian: [ˈmjuttʃa ˈpraːda, miˈu-]; born Maria Bianchi [maˈriːa ˈbjaŋki] on 10 May 1949) is an Italian billionaire fashion designer and businesswoman. She is the head designer of Prada and the founder of its subsidiary Miu Miu. As of October 2021, Forbes estimated her net worth at US$4.8 billion. In August 2021, Bloomberg estimated her net worth to be $6.6 billion, ranking 430th in the world. The youngest granddaughter of Mario Prada, Miuccia Prada took over the family-owned luxury goods manufacturer in 1978. Since then, the company has acquired Jil Sander, Helmut Lang and shoemaker Church & Co. In 2002, Prada opened her own contemporary art museum. In March 2013, Prada was named one of the fifty best dressed over-50s by Forbes. The magazine listed her as the 75th most powerful woman in the world in 2014, when she had an estimated net worth of $11.1 billion.

9. Battista Farina (1893 - 1966)

With an HPI of 60.15, Battista Farina is the 9th most famous Italian Designer.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Battista Pininfarina (born Battista Farina, nicknamed "Pinin"; 2 November 1893 – 3 April 1966) was an Italian automobile designer and the founder of the Carrozzeria Pininfarina coachbuilding company, a name associated with many well known postwar cars.

10. Salvatore Ferragamo (1898 - 1960)

With an HPI of 57.68, Salvatore Ferragamo is the 10th most famous Italian Designer.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Salvatore Ferragamo (5 June 1898 – 7 August 1960) was an Italian shoe designer and the founder of luxury goods high-end retailer Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A. An innovative shoe designer, Salvatore Ferragamo established a reputation in the 1930s. In addition to experimenting with alternative materials such as fish skin, Ferragamo drew on historic inspiration for his shoes.