Mariano Fortuny (designer)

Fortuny's Delphos gown, patented in 1909 and inspired by the Charioteer of Delphi, is a column of finely pleated silk so supple it can be twisted into a coil and stored in a hatbox; the exact pleating method is still debated. He developed it in his Venetian palazzo with his partner and collaborator Henriette Negrin, who is now credited with much of the design. They also invented ways of stencil-printing velvet and cotton with metallic pigments so they looked like Renaissance brocade, a technique the Fortuny factory on Giudecca still guards.