Fortunato Pio Castellani
Walking down the vintage shops in London’s Brick Lane and you’ll see how retro fashion continues to inspire people everyday. It’s not new. people have been finding fashion inspiration from history throughout, well, history. In the 19th century, one of the most famous jewellers that defined European trends was Fortunato Pio Castellani. Born in 1794, Castellani began work as a master goldsmith in his father’s workshop before opening his own shop in Rome in 1814. Then, in the 1850s, he began attracting attention for being a leading figure in what was called the ‘classical revival’, the surging interest in old-style Grecian jewellery techniques. While jewellers up until that point often did not pay too much attention to history, doubting the relevance of long-gone fashions to the present-day, Castellani and his…
