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Paco Jamandreu
Paco Jamandreu
Born	October 17, 1925; Veinticinco de Mayo Partido, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
Died	March 9, 1995; Buenos Aires, Argentina
Occupation(s)	Fashion designer, custom designer

Francisco Vicente Jaumandreu, also known as Paco Jamandreu (October 17, 1925 – March 9, 1995) was an Argentine fashion designer and actor. He was a friend of Eva Perón and served as a costume designer on several Argentine films.

Early life

Jamandreu was born on October 17, 1925 on a farm in Veinticinco de Mayo Partido, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.^[1] His father, Francesc Jaumandreu, worked for a local newspaper and his mother, Herminia Giogia, was a school teacher.^[1] His grandmother was Spanish.^[1] Jamandreu moved to Buenos Aires in the 1930s.^[1]

Career

Jamandreu began his career as a fashion writer for Tiempo Argentino, Selecta, and El Hogar.^[1] He made his debut as a movie costume designer in 1942, working for leading lady Zully Moreno in a movie named Historia de crímenes ("Crime Story"). He followed that by designing for El muerto falta a la cita ("The Dead One Missed the Appointment"), released in 1944, and in 1947's El misterioso Tío Silas ("The Mysterious Uncle Silas").

Jamandreu first met Eva Duarte before she married populist leader Juan Perón in 1945. Their relationship was initially of a business nature, and Jamandreu began a long series of designs for the actress and, later, First Lady. He became her confidant, and vice versa.^[2] His friendship with Eva Perón was dramatized in Juan Carlos Desanzo's Eva Perón: The True Story (1996); he was portrayed by actor Horacio Roca.^[3] Before her death in 1952, he was asked by Perón to design sketches of dresses to make her feel better.^[4]

Following a relative absence from Argentine cinema credits during the 1950s, Jamandreu became more active as film fashion designer during the 1960s thanks to Isabel Sarli, for whom he designed costumes in Carne and Embrujada.^[1] He also acted in her 1980 movie named Una Viuda descocada ("A Crazy Widow").^[1] In 1986, he acted in Soy paciente ("I'm Patient"), but that film was never released because the producers could not finish recording it.^{[citation needed]}

In 1996, Jamandreu's last work as a film costume designer was displayed in Argentine theaters, when Amor de otoño, directed by José Conrado Castelli, was released. Jamandreu had been working on Amor de otoño by the time of his death.^[1]

Jamandreu authored two books: a memoir and another book about his frienship with Perón.^[5]

Personal life and death

Jamandreu, who admitted his homosexuality to his father at age 15, became known among friend and clients not only for his talent, but also for his candor.^[6] According to Eva Perón: The True Story, Jamandreu admitted to Ms. Perón that he was homosexual, telling her that "being homosexual in Argentina is just like being poor." He was arrested and sent to prison for it several times, and bailed out by Perón.^[7]

Jamandreu died from a heart attack, on March 9, 1995 in Buenos Aires.^[1]

Works

Jamandreu, Paco (1975). La cabeza contra el suelo : memorias. Buenos Aires: d. de la Flor. OCLC 839840687.
Jamandreu, Paco (1983). Evita fuera del balcón. Ediliba. OCLC 912795359.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Bravo, Edu (March 9, 2020). "La fascinante vida de Paco Jamandreu, el diseñador que vistió a Evita". Vanity Fair. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
^ Hedges, Jill (2021). Evita: The Life of Eva Perón. London, U.K.: I.B. Tauris. pp. 84–85. ISBN 978-1-7845-3327-4.
^ Cine Nacional: Eva Perón
^ Hedges, Jill (2021). Evita: The Life of Eva Perón. London, U.K.: I.B. Tauris. p. 212. ISBN 978-1-7845-3327-4. Days before her death, too, her former designer Paco Jamandreu received a late-night call from Peron, who told him tearfully that Evita was close to death and asked him to prepare a series of sketches of new clothes in order to make her believe that they were for a new wardrobe for a long trip they would take together.
^ Chávez-Silverman, Susana; Hernández, Librada, eds. (2000). Reading and writing the ambiente : queer sexualities in Latino, Latin American, and Spanish culture. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 234–235. ISBN 9780299167806.
^ "Paco Jamandreu marcó un estilo diferente en la moda y en la vida" Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine Clarín (10 Mar 1995). Quoted on "Acceder", the Buenos Aires Ministry of Culture website. (in Spanish)
^ Belén Rabadán Vega, María; Vohnsen, Mirna (2024). Eva Perón: A Reference Guide to Her Life and Works. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 71. ISBN 9781538197615.