Mariano Fortuny, the Spanish artist-designer who worked in Venice, created pleated gowns that have come to be surrounded by myth. His simplest sheath style, derived from the classical Greek chiton, was called the "Delphos." Highly secretive about the processes employed in all his designs, Fortuny left only one document related to the development of his jewel-toned gowns—a patent for heated ceramic rollers through which the silk was passed to set the pleats.
