1989: Mapplethorpe, Leone, and Alessi's Girotondo

The year 1989 marked the deaths of filmmaker Sergio Leone and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, as well as the debut of Alessi's Girotondo collection by King-Kong. Leone, who died on April 30, 1989, directed seven iconic films including 'Per un pugno di dollari' (1964), which launched Clint Eastwood's career and revived the Western genre in Italy. Mapplethorpe, known for celebrity portraits and male nudes, died in 1989 from AIDS complications; his first major retrospective was held at the Whitney Museum in 1988, and he founded the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation that same year to support photography and AIDS research. In 2019, Alessi celebrated the 30th anniversary of Girotondo, a design series by architects Stefano Giovannoni and Guido Venturini featuring a cut-out figure motif, with a limited edition of 999 pieces in 18/10 stainless steel with 24-carat gold plating.