Ferre was not entirely lauded for his couture collections, which he designed for nearly a decade in Paris while continuing his signature lines in Milan. His Italian style did not jibe easily with the French sense of glamour and restrained elegance. But he did charm some customers - women like Nan Kempner, Bernadette Chirac and Claude Pompidou - with a return to the nipped-waist silhouette made famous by Christian Dior. After several years, Ferre had established a respectable business at Dior, causing its couture to grow in size and prestige comparable to that of Saint Laurent.
"Back then, the fact that I was Italian created lots of problems," Ferre told Women's Wear Daily in an interview in February. "Luckily, though, my French wasn't that bad."
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