At the helm of Vogue Italia for almost 30 years, she was one of the most powerful and groundbreaking journalists in the fashion industry

Franca Sozzani, the editor-in-chief of Italian Vogue, has died after a year-long illness. While she might not have been a global household name like her US counterpart and friend Anna Wintour, she was undoubtedly a giant of Italian fashion. The industry has responded accordingly. In a tribute published on the American Vogue website, Wintour describes her as “the hardest-working person I have known, and with an envy-inducing ease with multitasking”. A post on Marc Jacobs’ Instagram reads: “Her incredible contribution to fashion will be missed.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sozzani in 2013 with the chairman of Condé Nast International, Jonathan Newhouse, Naomi Campbell and Donatella Versace in 2013. Photograph: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for the Dubai Mall

At the helm of the Italy’s most prominent fashion magazine for 28 years, Sozzani became known for working with photographers including Bruce Weber, Paolo Roversi and Steven Meisel on a magazine that was known for cutting-edge, talking-point visuals that often provoked debate. Sozzani produced an all-black issue in 2008, with only black models featured. It was reprinted three times. A plus-size issue followed three years later. She was the first to embrace the rise of reality TV stars, putting Kim Kardashian on the cover of L’Uomo Vogue (which she also edited) in 2012, two years before American Vogue did the same.

Sometimes Sozzani’s work was more controversial when the commercial nature of fashion jarred with issues of body image and gender politics. One shoot, in 2005, was based on women having plastic surgery; another, in 2014, prompted by the rise of domestic violence in Italy, featured girls running from knife-wielding men. “Fashion isn’t really about clothes,” she said. “It’s about life.” Sozzani saw anything that was part of the cultural conversation as fair game for a fashion shoot. She wanted to join that conversation.

Sozzani’s famous ‘Black Issue’, which was devoted entirely to the celebration of black women’s beauty. Photograph: Vogue

Her work shouted loudly, but Sozzani herself was a quieter presence on the fashion circuit, familiar to those in the know for her long-blond hair, uniform of 50s-style flared skirts, white shirts, diamond teardrop earrings and beatific smile. This continued until very recently. Despite being on oxygen, she appeared at the fashion awards in London earlier this month, to accept her award for positive change. Her final Instagram is a post of her, Wintour and Karl Lagerfeld at the Chanel show in Paris the same week.

The Sozzani family is a dynasty at the heart of Italian fashion. Her sister Carla founded the concept store Corso Como, and her son, Francesco Carrozzini, is a video director who worked with Lana Del Rey and Beyoncé. His last film, Franca: Chaos and Creation, a documentary six years in the making, was a portrait of his mother. It will be released in early 2017.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Anna Wintour and Franca Sozzani in Milan in 2010. Photograph: Daniel Dal Zennaro/EPA

Sozzani was made for fashion, arguably, due to her ability to continually reflect the moment. “It’s not that I don’t think of the past, but it’s a waste of time,” she told the Observer at the end of November. “If you’re stuck in the past, beholden to it, then your creativity is stuck there, too, because you don’t give yourself a chance to evolve.”