Franca Sozzani Dead - 'Vogue Italia' Editor-in-Chief Dies at 66

Franca Sozzani, the longtime editor-in-chief of Vogue Italia, has sadly died at the age of 66.

The EIC passed away on Thursday (December 22) after a yearlong illness and her son, photographer Francesco Carrozzini, was by her side when she died.

“Franca was one of the greatest editors who ever made a magazine,” Jonathan Newhouse, chairman and chief executive of Condé Nast, said in a statement. “She was by far the most talented, influential and important person within the Condé Nast International organization. She made Italian Vogue a powerful and influential voice in the worlds of fashion and photography by publishing ground-breaking photography and journalism. In doing so she expanded Vogue beyond what had been the traditional model of a fashion magazine and often courted controversy by doing so. The greatest fashion photographers looked to Franca as the creative leader who would give them the freedom and the scope to produce their best work and they did so, month after month.”

Click inside to read what Anna Wintour said to remember her friend…

Anna Wintour released a statement to remember her friend.

“Franca and I began our careers as editors in chief at around the same time, but that didn’t automatically admit us to some exclusive club where all Vogue editors are BFFs; in fact, I think for the first few years we just circled each other, quietly.

Gradually, however, show by show and season by season, Franca and I found ourselves falling into a friendship that I am so happy and honored to say sustained itself for 30 years. That’s one thing that Franca taught me about friendship: Sometimes, you really have to earn it.

In private, Franca was warm, clever, funny, and someone who could give the Sphinx a run for its money when it comes to keeping a confidence. She was also the hardest-working person I have known, and with an envy-inducing ease with multitasking. She made everything she worked on appear effortless, regardless of whether it was an event for several hundred; a whirlwind trip to Africa to support the continent’s emerging designers; or the creation of yet another newsworthy, provocative, and utterly spellbinding issue of Italian Vogue,” she wrote. Read the rest on Vogue.com.