He called me “Baby” and I called him “Bear” and we laughed….

Stefano Ricci is the founder and creator of one of the most important  Italian luxury brand

Stefano Ricci: Hi Audrey, see you again today after we spoke In that sad moment, I see you more beautiful than ever…. unfortunately all stories have a beginning and an end… and it had arrived for Monty, as it can arrive for me at this moment…. for all of us…. the moment to say goodbye. i

Audrey: How did you meet Monty?

Stefano Ricci: at the end of the 70s you know.. I am very close to my friendship with Gianni Mercatali…and Gianni told me: “You know Stefano, there is a new magazine called Symbol and it is made by a friend of mine together with the engineer Gervasoni, president of Riva..Riva Boat…which is perhaps the right magazine for a brand like yours.” And I said….”introduce me to these gentlemen!”…and engineer Gervasoni came to Florence with Monty Shadow.

Engineer Gervasoni was a character full of energy, however, next to Monty, for all of us, it was difficult to make a comparison… between us and Monty… Monty was many steps higher, at a much faster speed. Sometimes I would say… “but what did he tell me all this time?”… he had always spoken… but he was a concrete man… and we began this relationship by advertising, buying advertising space in the magazine Symbol until Monty had time to take care of it. Symbol was an important reference… disappeared with the death of the Engineer and with Monty’s abandonment.

That’s how we met… he called me “Bambino” and I called him “Bear” and we laughed… He would reach me in the most incredible places, in the most incredible moments and say: “What are you doing, child?” … maybe he was outside the house waiting for me … “come down!”… maybe it was midnight and I would say: “Monty, welcome, what are you doing this time? and he would say: “I’m in Florence, I thought of you and I came to see you”. We would sit there and talk, then at my house… there was an evolution… he started taking pictures for some Mercedes House Organ… Cartier and I… I would say to him:

“Monty, are you okay there… up there with them?” Sometimes he would say to me: “Mmhh…. I mean, I was better down there with you!”

This relationship was nice… we would see each other at all the Pitti, but also during the year, if I was in Milan he would come to see me. I had the courage… the luck and the courage to manage that relationship with Him. Monty is a man… he is a man who leaves a mark on your life… I’m talking about forty years ago!!!!! Then we met on many occasions, he introduced me to one of my dearest friends in an absolute sense: IonTiriac.

Audrey: Tell me how it went?

Stefano Ricci: I wanted to go hunting in a reserve of Ion Tiriac which at that time was the number one in Europe and…… like it’s not mine… which is not paid but only by invitation…. and he didn’t want to let in a person he didn’t know…..I would have gone with my children and then the rest is funny….. but I was lucky, thanks to Monty who insisted and took Tiriac on tiredness and…. it was fun, because we hunted in a wonderful place and we became friends, friends for life. We talk every day, she is very close to my children, to my grandson and yes…. it’s beautiful.

Tiriac is a man who is 85 years old, I call him “Emperor”, but we joke all the time…. a Lion!!! … Yes I call him emperor and he enjoys it at this point, but it is a constant joke and one of his collaborators tells me: “Mr. Ricci…. there is only you who can say those things to Mr. Tiriac…. and I answer him: “and only he can say these things to me… So it is always an affectionate way of being together.

Audrey: Did you hear from Ion when Monty was sick?

Stefano Ricci: Yes we were in contact daily, actually three times a day, when Monty was sick. Ion was interested, I called the hospital but they told me that the situation was not as it should have been and he was also very saddened by the death of a man who leaves a memory like his, to be able to write so many interesting and not light episodes, significant, that have left their mark.

As I say: “A man who dies and leaves a child never dies” and the truth is that “He left signs “that are equivalent to children” and the memory of those “signs” and the positive effects of those signs, still today “remain in the history of luxury and let’s say photography” and I always liked this a lot about Monty!

He would come up with the craziest ideas and sometimes I would say: “But I do another job! I don’t do that job!” and Monty would reply “Yes, but you’re smart!” “That’s where you’re wrong I’m not smart…. so I can’t” I would reply and he would say: “Ah Ah  Child!”

Audrey: What will you miss most about him

Stefano Ricci: The comparison ….. between his madness and mine!!! …. that was beautiful…. He would start talking … if you didn’t interrupt him, after 10 minutes he would continue for 10 days!

So I interrupted him and said: “What would you think of this thing?” He replied: “I’ll tell you later, let me finish first”… and I said another 10 minutes,

“Monty is a man…. who leaves a mark on your life”

“He left signs that are equivalent to his children and the memory of those signs and even today the positive effects of those signs remain in the history of Luxury.…. let’s say it and also of photography”…..and I always liked this a lot about Monty! …….”

He would come to me with the craziest ideas and sometimes I would say: “but I do another job! I don’t do that job!” and Monty would reply “yes but you’re intelligent!” and I would reply “that’s where you’re wrong I’m not intelligent so I can’t” …..and he “ah ah Bambino!!!!”.