Italian Disco Halloween: The Art of Stryx’s Gianna Sgarbossa
Plus, all of our past coverage of Stryx and the occult
The cast and talent might have consisted of international divas; the concept might have been a unique blend of erotica, disco, and Medieval lore; the Chroma Key sequences might still look experimental, 46 after its airing.
Yet, what really made the short-lived, yet genre defining (and defying) variety show Stryx as memorable as it was, ultimately, the work of costume designer Gianna Sgarbossa. Stryx remains a cult program thanks to the fashion-oriented advancement in the costume department, as Sgarbossa uniquely combined highbrow and lowbrow culture alongside a healthy dose of self-mockery. After graduating from the set-design program at Brera’s Art Academy, she worked for Giorgio Strehler’s production, RAI, and the movie industry.
Under Sgarbossa’s direction, fabrics were painted on, frayed, layered, and deconstructed. “Once, we went all the way to Turin to get enough latex for us to submerge a linen dress that we would then mould as if it were made of clay,” Diego Dalla Palma, who th…
