MADRE HELVETIA®
The First Living Incarnation of Switzerland's Allegory
History, Identity and Institutional Presence
Swiss National Chamber of Fashion · CNMS · Made in Switzerland · since 18 January 2007.
Not a mascot, not a folkloric character, not a carnival costume:
a figure of institutional dignity, conceived with artistic rigour and profound cultural vision.
A red dress · a red shield bearing a white cross · a lance.
Registered trademark and exclusive Intellectual Property of Franco Taranto since 18 January 2007.
One for all — all for one.
I
Helvetia in the History of the Swiss Confederation
1642 · 1848 · 1850 · 1854 · Confœderatio Helvetica
The figure of Helvetia has its roots in Swiss iconography of the 17th century. Her first documented representation dates back to 1642, on the cover of Matthäus Merian's «Topographia Helvetiae», where she appears as a symbolic figure of Switzerland's geographic dimension, surrounded by attributes of the agricultural world and of abundance.
Over the course of the 18th century, male allegories progressively gave way to female figures. It was however with the founding of the Swiss federal state in 1848 that Helvetia acquired her more profoundly political and national dimension: she received as attributes the shield bearing the federal cross, the lance, the breastplate. She became the face of the new Switzerland. In 1850 her image was struck on the first coin of the Confederation; in 1854 she appeared for the first time on a postage stamp. The official Latin name of the Confederation — Confœderatio Helvetica (CH) — bears witness to this identity-rooted heritage.
In the second half of the 19th century Helvetia was everywhere: on postcards, letterheads, association emblems, hotel names, steamboats, insurance companies, choirs and musical ensembles. During the First World War she appeared as a comforting and protective figure — mother of soldiers, champion of refugees, nurse, bearer of hope. After the Great War her presence faded, remaining essentially on coins (50 centimes, 1 and 2 francs, with an image unchanged since 1874) and on stamps.
Helvetia is, therefore, much more than an allegory: she is the historical, cultural and identity-bearing face of a nation that has never ceased to recognise itself in her. The Historical Dictionary of Switzerland defines her as «the female personification representing Switzerland» — in her dual geographic and national significance.
II. The Birth of Madre Helvetia® — 18 January 2007
On 18 January 2007, in Switzerland, Franco Taranto — Italo-Swiss citizen, professional photographer with over 40 years of experience in fashion, institutional photography and social campaigns, and Founding President of the Swiss National Chamber of Fashion (CNMS) — performs an unprecedented act in Swiss history:
he gives life to Madre Helvetia® — the first and only living incarnation, in human form, of the allegorical figure of Helvetia, symbol of Switzerland.
THE SYMBOL
Red dress · red shield with white cross · lance · the CNMS logo
Not a mascot, not a folkloric character, not a carnival costume: a figure of institutional dignity, conceived with artistic rigour and profound cultural vision, capable of carrying the face and values of the Confederation to the most significant venues of Swiss history and international diplomacy.
Madre Helvetia® appears in public with the iconographic attributes of the historical Helvetia reinterpreted in a modern key: a red dress — colour of the Confederation — a red shield bearing a white cross, and a lance. Every element is chosen with historical awareness and philological respect. Her symbol is the very logo of the Swiss National Chamber of Fashion: not a decorative element, but the identity seal of a Non-Profit Institution of Public Interest.
Madre Helvetia® has been registered as a trademark and exclusive Intellectual Property of Franco Taranto since 18 January 2007. Authorship of the idea, the creation and the symbol belongs to Franco Taranto in an indissoluble, permanent and unassailable manner.
III. The Designers of Madre Helvetia® — A History of Reinterpretations
Ever since her first public appearance in 2007, Madre Helvetia® has inspired generations of designers and couturiers to reinterpret her symbolic gown. This is no fleeting fashion: it is a creative tradition in constant evolution, where each designer brings their own culture, their own aesthetic language and their own vision of the Swiss world into dialogue with contemporary times.
Among the earliest interpreters one recalls Dea Semadeni, a Ticino-based designer and former CNMS Member, creator of the gown worn by Madre Helvetia® on 16 August 2014 at the Palazzo Civico in Lugano before the entire Federal Council — a moment of Swiss sartorial excellence before the highest institution of the Confederation. Manuela Soldati, a Swiss-French designer, in turn reinterpreted the gown in a historical key, recalling with philological rigour the styles of the era in which Helvetia was born as a national symbol.
Over the years, numerous other designers from around the world have followed in succession. Requests from international designers wishing to take on the creation of Madre Helvetia®'s gown are constant and growing: each year the Swiss National Chamber of Fashion receives proposals from designers of various countries, testifying to the identity-defining strength and iconographic prestige that Madre Helvetia® has built over time.
ANTON GIULIO GRANDE
The Maître Couturier of the CNMS · Official Ceremonial Gown 2025
Among all the designers who have interpreted Madre Helvetia®, a chapter of its own is deserved by Anton Giulio Grande — a world-renowned Maître Couturier, Honorary Executive Member of the Swiss National Chamber of Fashion since 2014, international Ambassador of Italian and Swiss stylistic excellence.
The bond between Anton Giulio Grande and the CNMS is not purely professional: it is an alliance of values, a shared vision between two protagonists of the world of fashion and culture who, for over a decade, have together carried the name of Switzerland to the capitals of the world. Franco Taranto and Anton Giulio Grande share a history of long-standing friendship, mutual esteem and institutional collaboration that has produced extraordinary international accolades.
Among the shared accolades, one stands out in particular: the recognition received at the Campidoglio in Rome, under the official Patronage of the City of Rome — Franco Taranto awarded Best Photographer, Anton Giulio Grande awarded Best Designer — a dual recognition in one of the most solemn and symbolic venues in the history of Western civilisation, which affirmed before the world the joint excellence of Switzerland and Italy in art, fashion and photography.
In 2025, Anton Giulio Grande created the official ceremonial gown of Madre Helvetia® — the definitive gown, conceived for institutional ceremonies of the Confederation, of Swiss Embassies around the world, and of Swiss National Chamber of Fashion events. A work of haute couture that masterfully interprets the colours, values and Swiss identity, indissolubly binding the name of one of the greatest international couturiers to the history of Switzerland.
IV. The Institutional History — The Founding Moments
Nearly twenty years of documented institutional presence
In nearly twenty years of institutional presence, Madre Helvetia® has built a documented historical archive with no equivalent in Switzerland for continuity, depth and institutional recognition. Each presence listed here is documented both photographically and archivally.
01
GRÜTLI
Federal National Day · 1 August 2017
On 1 August 2017, Madre Helvetia® was present on the sacred meadow of the Grütli, the place where the Swiss Confederation began with the Federal Pact of 1291 — the most symbolic and solemn site in Swiss history. On that occasion, former President of the Swiss Confederation Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf was present (guest of honour), along with Dr h.c. Jean-Daniel Gerber, then President of the Swiss Society for Public Welfare (SSUP), who knelt beside Madre Helvetia® holding the crossbow and arrow — the weapon symbolic of William Tell and of the entire Swiss identity tradition — in an act of respect and recognition of extraordinary symbolic and institutional significance.
The reference to the crossbow is no coincidence: Franco Taranto himself created a modern photographic version, of great artistic impact, of the legend of William Tell — the Swiss national hero who with his crossbow struck the apple placed on his son's head — reinterpreting it in a contemporary key with the same aesthetic care and historical respect that distinguishes his entire body of iconographic work linked to Swiss identity.
02
LUGANO
Palazzo Civico · 16 August 2014 · the entire Federal Council
On 16 August 2014, Madre Helvetia® was received at the Palazzo Civico in Lugano in the presence of the entire Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation, led by President Didier Burkhalter, with the participation of the late Mayor of Lugano Marco Borradori and Hon. Filippo Lombardi. On that historic occasion, Madre Helvetia® wore a gown created specially by Ticino-based designer Dea Semadeni, former Member of the Swiss National Chamber of Fashion — a tribute to Swiss sartorial excellence before the entire Federal Authority. A moment of institutional recognition at the highest level of the Confederation.
04
BERN
Federal Palace and Palazzo delle Orsoline
Madre Helvetia® has attended ceremonies and official occasions near the Federal Palace in Bern, including official photographs with the Ticino Delegation to the Federal Chambers, including then National Councillor Ignazio Cassis (today President of the Confederation), Filippo Lombardi and Lorenzo Quadri.
06
EXPO MILANO
Universal Exposition 2015 · Swiss Pavilion
On the occasion of the Universal Exposition of Milan 2015, Madre Helvetia® attended the foundation-stone laying ceremony of the Swiss Pavilion in the presence of the President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic, Hon. Matteo Renzi — a moment of absolute international visibility for the symbol of Switzerland in the world.
07
CAMPIDOGLIO
Rome · an international recognition
At the Campidoglio in Rome, under the official Patronage of the City of Rome, Madre Helvetia® was the protagonist of an evening that concluded with a dual international recognition of extraordinary value: Franco Taranto awarded Best Photographer, Anton Giulio Grande — Executive Member of the CNMS since 2014 — awarded Best Designer. Two excellences, one Swiss and one Italian, celebrated together in one of the most symbolic venues in the history of Rome and of Western civilisation, confirming the visionary image that Madre Helvetia® carries of Switzerland in the world of art.
08
TEATRO DAL VERME
Milan · 12 April 2026
On 12 April 2026, at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan — one of Italy's historic theatres — Madre Helvetia® was institutional protagonist alongside the official CNMS delegation, on an evening when Franco Taranto received a career achievement recognition. Also present was Diana De Marchi, President of the Equal Opportunities Commission of the City of Milan.
10
IN THE WORLD
International presence · capitals of fashion · Fashion Weeks
Madre Helvetia® has never remained within the borders of the Confederation: from the earliest years of her existence, Founding President Franco Taranto has carried her — or sent her as official ambassador of the CNMS, bearing his institutional greeting — to the capitals of fashion and to the most prestigious international settings.
Madre Helvetia® has carried the face of Switzerland to some of the most important cities in the world, capitals of fashion and international culture, where her presence has been welcomed, documented and celebrated.
At the world's most prestigious Fashion Weeks — Milan, and not only — Madre Helvetia® is present as the institutional symbol of the Swiss National Chamber of Fashion: sometimes physically alongside the CNMS delegation, sometimes sent as a representative figure accompanied by the official greeting of Founding President Franco Taranto. In every context, her presence carries a precise and unmistakable message: Switzerland has a face in international fashion, and that face is hers.
V. The Tradition of Reinterpretations — Designers Around the World
Madre Helvetia®'s capacity to generate creative dialogue with the world of international fashion is one of the most vivid and dynamic aspects of her history. Each year designers from around the world ask to take on the reinterpretation of her symbolic gown. Among those who over the years have left their mark on the visual history of Madre Helvetia®:
· Dea Semadeni (Switzerland) — Ticino-based designer, creator of the gown worn before the entire Federal Council at the Palazzo Civico in Lugano on 16 August 2014
· Manuela Soldati (Switzerland / France) — historical reinterpretation of the gown, faithful to the styles and iconography of the era of the Confederation's founding
· Anton Giulio Grande (Italy) — world-renowned Maître Couturier, Honorary Executive Member of the CNMS since 2014, creator of the Official Ceremonial Gown 2025, co-awarded with Franco Taranto at the Campidoglio in Rome
· Addy van den Krommenacker (Netherlands) — Grand Maître of European Haute Couture, Honorary Executive Member of the CNMS since 2011
· And numerous other international designers who have followed one another over the years — with new requests arriving at the CNMS every year from designers around the world
Every artistic reinterpretation of Madre Helvetia® is an act of homage to Switzerland and her identity, filtered through the creative sensitivity of those who have made fashion the universal language of beauty. In this creative pluralism — so profoundly Swiss in spirit — Madre Helvetia® finds her most authentic vitality.
VI. The Perpetual Donation to the Swiss Confederation
Franco Taranto has formally and irrevocably declared his will to donate Madre Helvetia® — the trademark, the symbol, the figure — to the Swiss Confederation in perpetuity. This donation is neither a commercial act nor a transfer of rights: it is an act of love for Switzerland, the country that has welcomed Franco Taranto since 1999 and which he calls his homeland.
The donation is subject to a single condition, binding and non-negotiable forever: the name of Franco Taranto — Creator, Founder, Author — must be preserved, recognised and handed down in the official history of Switzerland as the creator of Madre Helvetia®. No party, institution, entity or person may ever claim authorship of the idea, the institution or the symbol. History cannot be erased. Authorship is eternal.
In this perspective, Franco Taranto has already addressed to the Swiss Confederation a formal Protocol of Perpetual Presence — transmitted to the Federal Council, to the Swiss Federal Archives (with Dr Philippe Künzler, Director), to Dr h.c. Jean-Daniel Gerber (SSUP), and to the principal institutional recipients — requesting official recognition of Madre Helvetia®'s presence at the Federal National Day of 1 August at the Grütli, with a formalised multi-year commitment.
VII. The Photographic and Artistic Vision — Franco Taranto
The visual history of Madre Helvetia® is indissolubly intertwined with the photographic work of Franco Taranto. A professional photographer with over 40 years of experience in fashion, institutional photography and social campaigns, Taranto has, over the years, built an iconographic archive of Madre Helvetia® that is at once a historical document, a work of art and a cultural heritage, recognised also with an international award as Best Photographer at the Campidoglio in Rome, under the official Patronage of the City of Rome.
The photographs of Madre Helvetia® are not fashion images: they are images of State and of culture. Every shot — in Switzerland's symbolic venues such as the Grütli, the Federal Palace, the Palazzo Civico in Lugano, diplomatic missions around the world, or in the iconic sites of world civilisation recreated underwater — is conceived with the same philological care and the same artistic vision that Franco Taranto brings to every one of his projects.
In development: a new photographic series of Madre Helvetia® in the most iconic and symbolic locations of Switzerland and the world, realised with artistic techniques of the highest level, intended to constitute a body of images that will remain in history. These photographs will accompany the institutional documentation transmitted to the Swiss Confederation, to Embassies, Consulates and Swiss cultural institutions around the world.
ONE FOR ALL — ALL FOR ONE
Authorship, Idea, Registration and Symbol: Franco Taranto
Creator, Founder and holder of the Intellectual Property of the Swiss National Chamber of Fashion and its institutional symbol Madre Helvetia®.
Sole Proprietorship · since 18 January 2007
Franco Taranto — Founding President
Creator, Founder and sole holder of the Intellectual Property of the CNMS and its institutional symbol Madre Helvetia® · Sole Proprietorship · since 18 January 2007
© CNMS — Swiss National Chamber of Fashion · Switzerland – “Made in Switzerland” · www.cnms.ch · All rights reserved · Intellectual Property protected
