Mario Testino grew up in Lima, the eldest son of a businessman. When he was young he wanted to be a priest. Mario Testino recalls being unpopular at school because of his flamboyance. He was good at math and went on to study economics at Universidad del Pacífico, where his insistence on wearing pink flares and platform heels around the campus ensured that everyone knew his name. In 1976 he went to London to study photography. Living in an unconverted floor of a hospital, without much money, he founded himself by working as a waiter. He had his hair dyed pink which helped him get noticed as a photographer.

The eldest of eleven children born to an Italian father and an Irish mother, Mario Testino attended the Universidad del Pacifico, the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru and the University of San Diego. In 1982, Mario Testino moved permanently to London

Mario Testino has shot fashion stories for Vogue, V, Gucci, and Vanity Fair. Celebrity subjects have most famously included Diana, Princess of Wales and her sons. Other subjects have included many actresses such as Kim Basinger, Emma Watson, Cameron Diaz, Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, models such as Tyra Banks, Claudia Schiffer, Gisele Bündchen, Elizabeth Hurley, and Kate Moss, performers such as Janet Jackson, Madonna, Kylie Minogue Britney Spears, and Lady Gaga, and public figures like Baroness Thatcher. Living in London, he continues to photograph the British Royal Family as well as contributing to the image development of Burberry, Gucci, Zara, Michael Kors, Dolce & Gabbana, Estée Lauder, Valentino and Versace.



Per Lui - April 1986


Mario Testino is currently represented exclusively by Art Partner. He and fashion stylist Carine Roitfeld are credited for drawing significant attention to the house of Gucci through provocative ad campaigns in the mid-1990s, which, along with Tom Ford's designs, eventually led to the revival of Gucci as a major fashion house. In December 2010, Mario Testino took the engagement photos of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Mario Testino has become one of the world's most well known and celebrated fashion photographers. His work has been featured across the globe in magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and V and he has crafted and contributed to the imagery of leading fashion houses such as Burberry, Gucci, Versace, Calvin Klein, Dolce & Gabbana, Salvatore Ferragamo, Estee Launder, Hugo Boss, Miu Miu, Shiseido and Michael Kors, among many others. As well as having published seven books of his work and edited one other dedicated to contemporary art and artists from his native Peru, Mario Mario Testino has had many successful exhibitions in galleries and museums around the world.

In 2002, The National Portrait Gallery in London staged the landmark exhibition “Portraits” by Mario Mario Testino that to date remains its most successful exhibit. Over the next four years the exhibition went on tour to Milan, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Tokyo and Mexico City.

Mario Testino has been lauded with a number of awards and recognitions for his achievements and charitable work, including a Doctor Emeritus from the University of the Arts, London, the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style Award, the Medalha Tiradentes from the city of Rio de Janerio, Brazil, and the Order of Merit from the city of Lima, Peru.



Per Lui - December 1986


Mario Testino has also received royal commissions, including The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William, Prince Harry, The Duchess of Cambridge, Diana Princess of Wales, The Duke of Kent, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, Prince Nikolaos of Greece, Prince Willem-Alexander and Maxima of the Netherlands, Prince Haakon Magnus and Princess Mette-Marit of Norway and Her Majesty Queen Rania al Abdullah of Jordan.