Hallmarks of the Krizia style included classic tailoring — often entailing structured, sculptural shoulders — combined with a looser-fitting, comfortable cut throughout a garment. Ms. Mandelli had a passion for pleats, which could run in unorthodox directions, and for unusual materials, including metallics, rubber, snakeskin, eel skin and even cork.
Mariuccia Mandelli, an Italian fashion designer whose long list of credits includes the shortest of achievements — she was widely described as having invented hot pants — died on Sunday at her home in Milan. She was 90.
In a statement, Matteo Renzi, the Italian prime minister, paid tribute to Ms. Mandelli.
Ms. Mandelli, a former schoolteacher and self-taught designer, founded the fashion house Krizia in the mid-1950s. She reigned for decades as “the godmother of classic Milanese fashion,” as Newsweek described her in 1987.
One of Italy’s first ready-to-wear houses, Krizia — known for designs that combined wit, whimsy and wearability — helped secure the country’s place in the fashion firmament. At its height in the 1990s, Krizia was a $500-million-a-year business, with a string of retail shops worldwide and a spate of branded products that included eyeglasses, neckties, furniture and perfumes.
