Mila Schön

Who was Mila Schön?

Mila Schön was an Italian-born fashion designer. Marella Agnelli was one of her early clients.

Born Maria Carmen Nutrizio, in Trogir – now Croatia – on September 28, 1915 to wealthy Italian aristocratic parents who relocated to the Italian peninsula when Schön was a child, she is known for her simple, modern clothes structured along classical lines.

After the First World War, the lands ruled from Vienna were redistributed and the family moved to Trieste, where she grew up and which she considered her home. At the age of 18, she left the city to join her brother in Genoa, moving once again to Milan in 1946. There, she met her husband, precious metals dealer Aurelio Schön.

In the postwar period, Schön enjoyed a brief return to wealth. She became a client of the most prestigious Parisian couture houses, first Balenciaga and then Dior.

Happiness was to be short lived - when her husband's jewellery business failed and the marriage ended, she was left broke with a young son, Giorgio. Lacking the means to fund her love of couture, she resorted to creating dresses herself, with the help of skilled Milanese seamstresses, creating garments which imitated Parisian fashion at Milan prices.