New Book Chronicles the Origins of International Socialite Ira von Fürstenberg

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Photo credit: Getty Images

From CR Fashion Book

Princess Virginia Carolina Theresa Pancrazia Galdina of Fürstenberg, known simply as Ira, splashed into the spotlight at the young age of 15, with her wedding to Prince Alfonso Hohenlohe-Langenburg. The event was covered in Life magazine on October 17, 1955 as “Princess Ira: Wedding of Year in Venetian Splendor,” with the young bride perched in a gondola, her white lace Jacques Griffe gown swirling around her.

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

While Ira’s last name conjures images of another famous von Fürstenberg today (Diane married then divorced Ira’s brother, Egon) she has never been far from headlines since her teen years, from the time she spent as an actress in the 1960s to the new book celebrating her life, Ira, which comes out this week. Written by Nicholas Foulkes, the book is a photo-narrative of the internationally jetsetting socialite, artist, and designer.

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

Born to Clara Agnelli, whose grandfather founded Fiat, and German Prince Tassilo zu Fürstenberg, Ira was surrounded by beauty and glamour from a young age, sitting next to Frank Sinatra at parties when she was still a teenager; photographed by master fashion photographer Cecil Beaton at just 15, debuting into society; lips red and hair perfectly coiffed in a stunning rose-covered dress for photoshoot in Life; with her husband-to-be in the pages of other magazines. While she and Hohenlohe-Langenburg would divorce by the time she was 20 in 1960, the new decade held a wealth of opportunities for the young woman who, with cat-eyes and lashes for days, turned all manner of heads.

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

Film producer Dino De Laurentiis persuaded her to try acting, which she did on television in 1962 and then on the silver screen beginning in 1967. She went from supporting to starring roles alongside greats like Peter Lawford, Anthony Quinn, and Marcello Mastroianni. While she would continue acting until 1982, Ira also found success as a model, having been photographed by Irving Penn, Henry Clarke, Alexis Waldeck, Gianni Penati, and more under the eye of iconic editor Diana Vreeland. In 1966, lifestyle portraitist Francis Goodman photographed her, and the negative is now in the collection of London’s National Portrait Gallery. In her travels, she became friendly with Karl Lagerfeld (they met when he was still at Chloé), Oscar de la Renta, and Andy Warhol.

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

After modeling and acting, Ira turned her head first to business then design. She served as president of French cosmetics company Germaine Monteil, then as the head of Valentino’s perfume division. She also assisted art dealer Antoine Chenevière in developing his Russian antiques shop, Tzigany, in London’s chic Mayfair neighborhood.

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

Invited to a Christmas gathering of Princess Qhabl Begum Sahiba Esra Birgen, Princess Esra of Hyderabad, Ira wanted to procure her hostess a unique gift. But in searching Tiffany and Cartier found so much sameness. She instead decided to create her own unique objects, sculptures and decorative objects of crystal and porphyry accented with figures from nature and mythology, which she has now been making since the early ‘90s and has since exhibited in museums.

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

Ira could have stopped after getting married, or after acting and modeling, or after working in beauty, but she keeps going, designing, jet-setting. “I like beautiful things and I like glamorous people,” she said. “It is a part of me!”

Ira: The Life and Times of a Princess is available now through Harper Collins and booksellers everywhere.