FASHION DESIGNER EMANUEL UNGARO : 1933-2019

Emanual Ungaro was born on Feb. 13, 1933, in Aix-en-provence, in southern France, His father, Cosimo, was a tailor who had fled fascist Italy.

''My father is like a god to me,'' Mr. Ungaro told  The Boston Globe in 1965. ''He taught me to respect line and quality, and to take pains with every stitch.''

EMANUEL Ungaro, whose merging of attention-getting colors and patterns with sleek lines made him one of the most talked-about fashion designers in Paris beginning in the 1960s.

Mr. Ungaro, who came from a family of tailors, established his fashion house in 1965 after working under the designer Cristobal Balenciaga.

Within a few years, Mr. Ungaro's creations were being worn by A-listers like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and being seen in films on Catherine Deneuve [in ''La Sauvage,'' 1975], Gene Rowlands [''Gloria,'' 1980] and other actresses.

His ever changing signatures over the years included stand-up collars, abundant use of suede, wrap dresses and mixed prints. He might pair a paisley blouse with a plaid suit, or prescribe colorful shawl for a distinction look, or go all in on polka dots.

''I hate boring clothes,'' he told. The Washington Post  in 1977. ''I hate seeing women dressed in a sad way.''

Mr. Ungaro explained his approach to design in 1994, when he opened a boutique in New York,
''If you want to exist in a fashion, and in any other manifestation of art, you have to disturb people,'' he told The New York Times. ''Provocation, in my mouth, means disturbing the eye.''

After working for three years in his father's tailoring business, determined to make a career in fashion but needing a bigger stage on which to do it, he left his hometown for Paris when he was 21.

''I arrived in Paris with two pairs of pants, three shirts and not one cent in my pocket,'' he told  The San Francisco in 1992.

He spent two years as a stylist for Maison Camps tailors, then in 1958 took a job with Balenciaga's fashion house. He spent six years there, absorbing Balenciaga's ideas on line and color and how to drape the body.

Beginning in 1964, he spent about a year working with Andre Courreges, who shook up the fashion scene in Paris that year with his mod ''Space Age'' collection.

The next year, Ungaro established his own company.

''There are no rules in this business,'' Mr. Ungaro told The Chronicle  after a show that, a quarter -century into the life of his fashion house, still included surprising mixtures, like an aqua jacket with a taupe pleated skirt and mauve satin blouse.

''The only rule you should have is to respect yourself and respect others dignity.''

The World Students Society thanks author, Neil Genzlinger.