Gianni Agnelli: Icon of Elegance

According to the designer Diane von Fürstenberg, 'Every woman in the world was in love with him, and every man in the world wanted to be him.'

Before the war, Agnelli completed a law degree at the University of Turin.

His nickname became 'l'Avocatto' or 'The Lawyer.

During the war, he served as a Cavalry Officer, where he suffered numerous wounds, one of which is rumoured to be due to an affair.

A Little Bit of History

The world into which he was born in 1921 was one of immense privilege.

The Fiat empire, founded by his grandfather, Il Senatore, made the Agnelli family one of the richest in Italy.

His father was less interested in commerce and died when Gianni was only fourteen.?

The propellor of his father's seaplane decapitated him as it capsised.

His half-American mother, Donna Bourbon del Monte, was a free spirit who kept her pet leopard on a leash.

She died when her chauffeured motor car collided with an American Army truck.

Gianni's grandfather died three weeks after her death, making Gianni the successor.

A few years previously, his grandfather advised that he should let Vittorio Valletta run the business for a few years, allowing Gianni to sow a few wild oats.'

His grandfather also gave him a private annual income of ￡1million to fund his introduction to the fun-loving elite.

Gianni, through his family's control of Fiat, had a significant influence on Ferrari.

Fiat held a stake in Ferrari.

He once remarked:?

'A Ferrari is not beautiful because of its flowing lines — it's beautiful because it goes faster because of its flowing lines. The form is more lovely because of the function, and the function is finer because of the lovely form.'

Gianni Agnelli and his newfound friends

Agnelli's social life was often under public scrutiny, and his relationships with women and extravagant lifestyle fascinated many.

Gianni met Pamela Churchill, Winnie's divorced daughter-in-law, at one of Aly Khan's famous parties.

The relationship was somewhat on-off, but she described it as the happiest time of her life in later life.

That was until the night of August 20, 1952, when Pamela returned home unexpectedly to find Gianni in bed with a beautiful young lady he had met at a party hours earlier.

Chased out by Pamela and still intoxicated, Gianni escaped with the pretty young thing only to bump into her boyfriend.

They left hurriedly, and Gianni miscalculated a corner at speed and rang into a Lancia van carrying three butchers.

The young lady was unhurt, but Gianni shattered his leg; the combination of friends and the Agnelli Family influence prevented his leg from being amputated, and Gianni a potential prosecution.

Gianni was forced to wear orthopaedic footwear his entire life, although this had little impact on his elegance.

He later married a Florentine aristocrat, Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto, who was significantly younger than him and three months pregnant.

This relationship did not stop Gianni's playboy lifestyle.

His newfound friends included womanising racing drivers Porfirio Rubirosa and Marquis Alfonso de Portago; Errol Flynn and various other like-minded buddies were also in tow.

Whose wild existence revolved around women, yachts, gambling, all-night parties and, of course, high-performance motor cars.

There is a story about Onassis offering his helicopter to fly Gianni and friends from Nice to Gianni's pad, La Leopolda,?

Gianni prevented them from landing and insisted that he and his guests jump out of the helicopter into the swimming pool below.

And such was the life of a man who invented the Jet Set.

Charm, Class, and Agnelli are triple threats.