Barbara Dente, 71, and Donna Cristina, 72, private {and professional} companions in Dente & Cristina, the promoting and advertising and marketing company, had been discovered lifeless collectively of their Miami condo.
The trigger and date of their loss of life haven’t been decided pending post-mortem outcomes, in keeping with Cristina’s nephew, Scott San Emeterio. A public data request was submitted to the Miami Police Department for info Thursday night time.
The couple had been discovered of their Miami condo by a buddy final weekend.
The two executives joined forces in 1992 to create Dente & Cristina, an built-in advertising and marketing communications company, representing each American and worldwide luxurious shoppers. They mixed their backgrounds in advertising and marketing, public relations, retailing, editorial and promoting to create the company. Their shoppers included Ralph Rucci, Elie Saab, MaxMara, L’Oréal, Calvin Klein, Escada, Henri Bendel, Ford Models and Carolina Herrera, amongst many others. They closed the enterprise round 2006-07.
Cristina grew up within the Astoria part of Queens, N.Y., and graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology. Dente was born in Brooklyn, moved to Dix Hills, N.Y., at 16 years previous after which moved to Manhattan to attend the Tobe-Coburn School, changing into an intern at Harper’s Bazaar, the place she obtained her first style of styling.
Cristina held government positions with Bergdorf Goodman, Cristina, Gottfied & Loving and IM International previous to Cristina & Shafer. She was accountable for producing the primary U.S. reveals for Yohji Yamamoto, Matsuda and Hugo Boss, and labored with Willi Smith, Adrienne Vittadini, Anne Klein, Donna Karan, Danny Noble and David Cameron.
Throughout her profession, Dente was referred to as an modern chief within the fields of promoting and trend styling. In the early Nineteen Nineties, her condo design turned a mannequin for the minimalist motion, which was later utilized by Jil Sander and Calvin Klein. As a stylist, Dente was accountable for designing campaigns for Gap, Lancôme and Calvin Klein. She additionally did picture consulting for Revlon, Clinique, Borghese, Henri Bendel, Express, Gucci, Bergdorf, Tiffany and Paloma Picasso.
“She was a fashion stylist and the best in the business,” mentioned Tom Booth, an in depth buddy of Dente. He mentioned they had been speculated to go on their annual journey to New Orleans subsequent month (and missed the final one on account of COVID-19). Looking again, he mentioned, the one indication he may need had that one thing was uncommon was was once they made the reservation, Dente had requested in regards to the cancellation coverage.
Cristina’s nephew, Scott San Emeterio, mentioned that Cristina’s focus was on the enterprise aspect, “but she had a pretty clear design vision: “She was the epitome of sophistication and class and style with that Manhattan vibe,” he mentioned. He recalled that Dente and Cristina would spend their time in Capri and Mallorca and would steadily travel to Paris. “They lived that fashion lifestyle that everyone reads about,” he mentioned. He mentioned that the 2 had been inseparable. “We’re still trying to figure it out. It’s a shock to us. There’s a lot of confusion and searching for answers in a sea of questions,” he mentioned. He’s hoping the police will give them some readability.
San Emeterio mentioned there have been no pink flags so far as their funds. They had given up their condo in New York and relocated to Miami about 5 or 6 years in the past. “They were the quintessential jetsetters,” he mentioned.
He recalled his aunt at all times residing in Manhattan and she or he would invite him and his sister to town as youngsters, taking them to Broadway reveals and FAO Schwartz. “She’d take us to lavish dinners and to the hottest, trendiest places,” he mentioned.
Reached for remark Thursday, Thom Priano, a hairdresser, cofounder of R & Co. and good buddy of each girls, mentioned, “They were two terrific girls. They don’t know what happened. We were buddies. Barbara goes back so far with me. We used to travel all the time in the ’70s and ’80s. She used to call me her husband. When we stopped traveling, she used to send me monthly reminders to send her an alimony check.”
He known as Dente “a genius, a true minimalist,” even earlier than it was stylish.
Garren, additionally a hairdresser and cofounder of R & Co., mentioned he was additionally near them. He mentioned that they had been planning to exit for dinner collectively in Miami. “I’ve known Barbara since 1974 because I had hired her when I was creative director of Glemby International. She did all the styling. I got to know her really well for decades, and Thom and I worked with her up until they gave up the advertising business.” They used to do shoots along with Steven Meisel, he mentioned.
Ralph Rucci, who employed Dente and Cristina to do his publicity, mentioned Dente was the aesthete and Donna was the enterprise aspect. He mentioned about Dente, “She had extraordinary taste and she made it happen.”
“We became close friends,” he continued. “They were here often for dinner. We laughed so much over the years. They lived lavishly and luxuriously with humility,” he mentioned.
Eric Boman, a photographer, mentioned he labored with Dente when he would shoot New York Times advertisements for Bloomingdale’s and she or he was the stylist. “I liked her off the bat. She was a quirky person. She wasn’t your typical fashion person. I worked with her quite a bit and we became good friends.”
Sally Hershberger posted on Instagram, “Still trying to wrap my head around it. Barbara used to live next door to me and we all would have dinner at least a couple of nights a week. We had a great time getting to know each other. Then Barbara sold her genius apartment next door to me and they both moved to Connecticut and I never saw them again, but, of course, every time I pass by our building, I thought of our times together. May they rest in peace.”
Mary Loving labored with Cristina once they had been companions in Cristina, Gottfried and Loving. “[Cristina] was passionate about fashion. After we split up, she started her own firms and was very successful,” Loving mentioned.
Philip Monaghan, a visible artist and branding government, mentioned, ‘I was shocked to learn of Barbara and Donna’s loss of life and have been making an attempt to make sense of it.”
He mentioned Dente used to do styling when he was at Express and he obtained to know Cristina as effectively. When Dente & Cristina began, he introduced them on board for press previews and finally retained them as our PR agency. When he moved to Henri Bendel in 1995 employed them for promoting and inventive. Over the years, they shot with such photographers as Patrick Demarchelier, Bruce Weber, Steven Meisel, Arthur Elgort and Barry McKinely.
“Barbara could be counted on to always be organized and a pro but she also had a wry sense of humor. She got on so well with the entire crew, which was unusual for someone of her caliber,” Monaghan mentioned. “Barbara could make the most mundane piece of clothing look so luxurious and beautiful. She was never tricky. She just had exquisite taste and made every detail matter. She was of that generation that was raised by the very top editors and she kept that drive to always get it right, instilling that in her assistants.”
Sam Shahid, associate in Shahid & Co., agreed. “[Barbara] had exquisite taste. Her apartments were just amazing. She was about minimalism. In the fashion world, they were major players, and Barbara was a great stylist,” he mentioned.
“Besides being very stylish and having great taste, they were very curious about life,” mentioned Axel Rapp, a retired designer and public relations government who labored with them. After they closed the enterprise, “they’ve been traveling like crazy, dining in great restaurants. They’d go to Europe and book the restaurants from here,” he mentioned.
Besides her nephew Scott San Emeterio, Cristina is survived by her sister, Nancy San Emeterio, and niece, Stefanie San Emeterio. Dente is survived by her brother, Albert, and a niece and nephew.
According to Scott San Emeterio, Dente and Cristina’s final needs had been to be cremated. The household plans to arrange a celebration of their lives at a later date with family and friends in Manhattan.
