Artist, Jeweler, and Fashion Designer Raoul Calabro - With info about his wife, the artist Hazel Ware

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Raoul Calabro 1969-1970 heavy chain link shoulder bag, lined in gold-colored leather. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

Handbag, Belt, and Jewelry Designer Raoul Calabro and Artist Hazel Ware

Raoul Benito Calabro was born in Italy on February 10, 1924 to Anna and Carmelo Calabro. Best known for his handbags, coordinating belts, and jewelry of the 1960s-1980s, Raoul Calabro was an artist and innovator. He resided in Milan, New York, and Florida, which he eventually made his home base. (There was another Raoul Calabro, b. 1945-d.1992, also an Italian-born artist, who was once a Florida resident. We confirmed with his widow that the two Mr. Calabros had no connection.)
Closeup of the chain link of the bag at the top of the page.

Label inside bag at top of page.


The Vintage Purse Museum has five Raoul Calabro handbags, including one of his iconic chain-link works of art. (Photo at the top of this page.) We were fortunate to connect with relatives of his wife, artist Hazel Ware, who shared some personal stories about the couple. (Relatives’ names withheld for privacy.)

We found Ms. Ware to be just as fascinating as Mr. Calabro. It was somewhat difficult to obtain her backstory as there were a number of women born around the same time with the same name. There was also a line of glass serving dishes dubbed “Hazelware,” produced by the Hazel Atlas glass products company. 

While some of these keyword-search obstacles led us on wild goose chases, we quickly learned that Hazel Merle Doyle Ware Calabro (b. Massachusetts, 1907-d. New York, 1978) was previously married to Robert Hughes Ware, whose surname she kept after their divorce. This is likely because she was known as Hazel Ware when she established her career in the 1930s. 

According to the 1940 US Census, Hazel Ware was living in Manhattan and working as an artist. A 1947 newspaper article says Hazel Ware was commissioned by the grandparents of an 8-year-old to paint a portrait of the child. 

There was a Hazel Ware that worked in textile design, mostly known for her handkerchiefs featuring poodles and other midcentury motifs. Additionally, there were two works of art that we found online that had the signature Hazel Ware, which is similar to the signature printed on the textiles. One of the art pieces was a landscape and the other a portrait dated 1944, which bears a resemblance to a newspaper photo we found of Ms. Ware. We thought perhaps it was an early self-portrait, however, this painting has the signature "Hazel Anne Ware," and the Hazel Ware we were researching had the middle name Merle. It’s possible she simply disliked her middle name, and was trying out another. We then found evidence that she signed some of her later art “Ware Calabro” (without the “Hazel”). The distinctive capital “E” at the end of “Ware” in this signature is the same as the one in the Hazel Ware textiles and paintings. This small detail indicates that she, in fact, was the only artist named Hazel Ware, working in different styles.

Ms. Ware’s murals, for which she received acclaim, were found in many locations ranging from hair salons to department stores, as well as the Moore-McCormack ocean liners SS Argentina and SS Brazil.
Travel records on a genealogy website show that Ms. Ware visited Italy as a tourist in 1950. It was confirmed by Ms. Ware’s relatives that this was when she met Mr. Calabro. 

On May 20, 1952, Raoul B. Calabro arrived in New York on the aircraft “I-LOVE Italy,” part of the airline Alitalia-Linee Aeree Italiane (now ITA, Italia Trasporto Aereo). That same year, he married artist Hazel Ware. 

In Hazel Ware and Raoul Calabro’s 1952 Holyoke, Massachusetts (her hometown) newspaper marriage announcement, her age is given as 34. It seems she shaved off eleven years, possibly because at that time it may have been considered scandalous to be 17 years older than her fiancé. However, it did mention that she was divorced from her first husband.

Their primary residence was New York City, but Ms. Ware and Mr. Calabro periodically traveled together and separately to Italy. In 1954, Mr. Calabro came back to the US from Italy on the luxury liner Andrea Doria, which famously sank in 1956 after a tragic collision with another ship. 

The earliest artist-related mention we could find of Raoul Calabro (besides the 1952 wedding announcement) was a December 1956 Baltimore Herald article about an exhibit of Italian artists. Both Mr. Calabro’s and Ms. Ware’s work were included in this exhibit.

1956 Baltimore Herald article featuring Raoul Calabro (center). The article mentions that both he and his wife were exhibiting at the Italian Fair at 393 State St. Article screenshot from MyHeritage.com.

We spoke with one of Ms. Ware’s great-nephews, who remembers visiting the couple at their New York apartment when he was very young. He said they were an unusual pairing. Mr. Calabro had the more flashy and exuberant personality, while Ms. Ware was much more low-key, and their age difference was apparent. Despite this, their relationship worked well for them. 

The great-nephew asked his 90-year-old aunt (Ms. Ware’s niece) about her experience visiting Mr. Calabro in Italy in 1960. The great-nephew wrote in an email to The Vintage Purse Museum: “She said she just remembers he took her and her girlfriend on a hair-raising ride through Rome, driving fast and weaving in and out of traffic, and that he was a gracious and charming host.”

The great-nephew told us his aunt emphasized the word "charming" when speaking about Mr. Calabro. Newspaper articles about him confirm that this was an apt description.

According to a 1969 newspaper article by Chicago Sun-Times reporter Judy Kanjer, Raoul Calabro was formerly a textile designer that was venturing into accessories that “jingle, jangle, clink and clank.” His accessories for men and women started at $25, and were worn by celebrities and fashion icons such as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Gloria Vanderbilt Cooper.

Mr. Calabro said he was “inspired by peasants, trees, sunsets, birds, a plane flight, anything that's happening to me now.” He created vests, jackets, micro-miniskirts, earrings, necklaces, rings, and belts made of hand-twisted aluminum chains, plastic loops and gold-plated metal links.  Some of these items were decorated with colorful knotted tassels created by an Italian woman in her 80s who “used to make the drapes and tassels for Queen Margherita’s villa in Monza.” He said he employed one person to make the links and ten to assemble them. In the article, Mr. Calabro acknowledged that everyone has a gimmick, but, he said, “…there's a moment that arrives when you have to stop being gimmicky and start to create, and to be good is not easy.”

Another 1969 article showcasing Mr. Calabro also cited Georgio di Sant’ Angelo, Trifari, and Paco Rabanne (whose 1969 chain link bag was recently relaunched) as using chain link in clothing, jewelry, and accessories. 

Note: There is a current misinformation trend linking (pun intended) the handbag manufacturer Walborg with Paco Rabanne. As with many incorrect assumptions about a handbag or its maker, this is simply a matter of copy and paste, without fact-checking. There is no evidence that Walborg collaborated with Paco Rabanne on Walborg’s line of metal link bags. A number of handbag companies hopped onto the chain link trend after Calabro, Rabanne, et al established it circa 1969. These latecomers usually imported them from Asia in the 1970s. The Vintage Purse Museum has a Walborg chain link bag, made in Hong Kong, and, while it looks similar, it is much lighter weight and not the same quality as the Calabro bag.

A 1970 Miami Herald article by Ena Naughton names local Florida socialites as well as top celebrities being among those wearing Calabro’s designs. According to the article, his accessories were sold at Dior and Lanvin boutiques in Paris and at La Mendola in Rome. The article states that Calabro was wearing a chain link belt as early as the 1940s. His wife, Hazel Calabro (incorrectly identified as “Helen”), whom the article calls “a successful artist in her own right,” was present for the interview, adorned with her husband’s silver button earrings.

Raoul Calabro 1970s suede and gold chain link bag, from the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.


05 Dec 1971, Sun The Miami Herald (Miami, Florida) Newspapers.com

By 1971, he was creating designs in leather and suede, while still incorporating his trademark chains. Acrylic ("Lucite"), wood, and chain link were also used in Mr. Calabro’s jewelry. His growing list of celebrity clients and those photographed wearing Calabro items included Burt Reynolds, Isaac Hayes, Nancy Sinatra, and Richard Burton.

A 1972 Detroit Free Press article by Marji Kunz quotes Raoul Calabro’s assistant Ellen Neyland as saying, “We do no casting… everything is handmade on the basis of orders we receive from stores. We try to use materials not often used for accessories. We never allow ourselves to look backward or to be influenced by what Paris or Seventh Avenue is showing.” Bulldogs and elephants were two of Mr. Calabro's popular motifs at that time. (Note: 7th Avenue, also known as “Fashion Avenue,” is in New York’s garment district.)

Hazel Ware passed away in 1978. There was one source that implied she was still living as late as 1990, but we are certain that 1978 is the correct year of her death. It’s possible that Mr. Calabro kept Ms. Ware’s New York residence until 1990, and perhaps sold it then, which is why that year popped up during our research.

The great-nephew to whom we spoke said that he wished he could tell us more about the later years of Mr. Calabro, but the family unfortunately lost touch with him.

In 1977, a (Bridgewater, NJ) Courier-News advertorial about museum catalog gift items mentioned Raoul Calabro’s “Library Lion Pen” ($6.50) made for the New York Public Library. Then, in 1978, there was an ad for Raoul Calabro Ltd.’s “Funny Fat Pens.” There are no photos or sketches in the ad, so we don’t know what they looked like, but we have two Raoul Calabro handbags in our collection featuring cartoon animals. These are uncharacteristic of Mr. Calabro’s previous handbag designs, so it’s possible they were made around the same time as his line of pens. We’ve also seen Calabro keychains with similar cartoons. 

Pair of Raoul Calabro bags with cartoon tiger and turtle designs, and gold chain straps, made in Italy. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

Label inside one of the bags above.

Although Mr. Calabro was designing jewelry as early as the 1960s, we continued to find Raoul Calabro ads and articles into the 1980s. We spoke with a jeweler whose store was located near Mr. Calabro’s at that time. He understandably could not remember the 1989 Sarasota, Florida article that said he and Mr. Calabro were popular local jewelers, and could not recollect ever meeting Mr. Calabro. 

1987 article from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, screenshot from MyHeritage.com.


Raoul Calabro textured leather and gold-trimmed clutch. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

Open view of bag above.

Label inside Raoul Calabro bag above.

Our black leather Raoul Calabro envelope-style bag has the number “2000” on its label, which is unlike other Calabro labels. We don’t know if he was still designing bags in the 1990s or 2000s, or attempted a relaunch at that time. The phone number on the label has a Tampa area code, but we could find no record of him having a residence or business address in Tampa. This may have been a representative for his handbag line, but we couldn't match the number to any such business.

The most recent newspaper article or ad we could find referencing him and/or his designs was from 1989. He would’ve been 65 years old at that time. We contacted relatives of one of Mr. Calabro’s former business partners, and reached out to the Sarasota Historical Society, but did not hear back. We also posted a request on a Sarasota history Facebook page. We will update this article if we receive more information. 

By 2001, Mr. Calabro had moved to Sunrise, Florida, which was the last address we could find for him. The charming, talented, and charismatic artist and fashion designer Raoul B. Calabro passed away September 13, 2011 at age 87. 

This article c2024 by Wendy Dager/The Vintage Purse Museum. Special thanks to the Ware family. Resources used were Google and Familysearch.org, as well as MyHeritage.com and Newspapers.com, to which we have paid subscriptions. Please do not use photos or information from this website without requesting permission, vintagepursemuseum@gmail.com.

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