Emanuel Ungaro, the last of the grand Paris couturiers, has died aged 86. He trained under Cristóbal Balenciaga, worked briefly with futurist designer André Courrèges, before launching his own label in the mid-1960s. The Telegraph obituary says: “He became known for his flamboyant use of pattern and elegant draping, and was once described as “arguably unique among his peers as a heterosexual man creating dresses for the bodies that he worshipped”. Evidently he kept a Sigmund Freud poster in his office with his quote despairing that he would ever find the answer to the question ‘What does a woman want?’
He was born 13 February 1933 2.30am in Aix-en-Provence, France, to Italian parents who fled fascism, his father a tailor. He had a sharp-witted 3rd house Aquarius Sun on one leg of a Yod sextile innovative Uranus inconjunct Jupiter. A Jupiterian yod can have considerable social influence.
He also had an 8th house Pluto which can also indicate the ability to wield unseen power over the masses and it was in a revolutionary square to Uranus.
He had an interesting collection of Neptune, Mars, Jupiter, Moon in Virgo – interesting because my recollection is that it threw up a fair number of notables that year. Mars Neptune is good for attracting publicity and glamour; Mars Jupiter is confident and pro-active, willing to take risks; Moon Jupiter fond of women.
He had other inconjuncts of Neptune quincunx Saturn, Sun to Pluto and Moon to Mercury – not a fitter-in, a man who walked his own road.