Italian fashion

Clothes by Valentino

Italy is one of the leading countries in fashion design, alongside others such as France, USA, United Kingdom, Germany and Japan. Fashion has always been an important part of the country's cultural life and society, and Italians are well known for their attention of dressing-up well; "la bella figura", or good impression, remains traditional

Italian became prominent during the 11th–16th centuries, when artistic development in Italy was at its peak. Cities such as Palermo, Venice, Milan, Naples, Florence and Vicenza started to produce luxury goods, hats, cosmetics, jewelry and rich fabrics. During the 17th-early 20th centuries, Italian fashion lost its importance and lustre and Europe's main trendsetter became France, with the great popularity of French fashion; this is due to the luxury dresses which were designed for the courtiers of Louis XIV.^[1] However, since the 1951–53 fashion soirées held by Giovanni Battista Giorgini in Florence,^[2] the "Italian school" started to compete with the French haute couture, and labels such as Ferragamo and Gucci began to contend with Chanel and Dior. In 2009, according to the Global Language Monitor, Milan, Italy's centre of design, was ranked the top fashion capital of the world, and Rome was ranked 4th,^[3] and, despite both cities fell down places in subsequent rankings, in 2011, Florence entered as the 31st world fashion capital. Milan is generally considered to be one of the "big four" global fashion capitals, along with New York City, Paris, and London; occasionally, the "big five" also includes Rome.^[4]

Italian fashion can be also connected to the most generalized concept of "Made in Italy", a sort of merchandise brand expressing excellence of creativity and craftsmanship. Italian luxury goods are renowned for the high quality of their own textiles and the perfect elegance and refinement that goes into making them up, as well as for the guarantee of quality materials. Many French, British and American high-top luxury brands (such as Chanel, Dior, Balmain, Ralph Lauren, to name a few) also refer to Italian craft factories, located in highly specialized productive districts especially in the Centre-North of Italy, to produce either part of their apparel and accessories.

The non profit making association which disciplines, co-ordinates and promotes the development of Italian Fashion is the National Chamber of Italian Fashion (Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana), now headed by Carlo Capasa. It was set up in 1958 in Rome and now is settled in Milan and represents all the highest cultural values of Italian Fashion. This association has pursued a policy of organisational support aimed at the knowledge, promotion and development of fashion through events with a highly intellectual image in Italy and abroad.

Italian fashion houses and luxury brands

Examples of major Italian fashion houses focused on both menswear and womenswear, but also accessories, are: Armani, Byblos Milano (designed by Manuel Facchini), Bottega Veneta (designed by Tomas Maier), Roberto Cavalli (directed by Peter Dundas), Costume National (directed by Ennio Capasa), Brunello Cucinelli, Dolce & Gabbana, DSquared², Etro, Fendi (directed by Karl Lagerfeld for women's clothes and ready to wear and by Silvia Venturini Fendi for accessories and men's lines), Salvatore Ferragamo (created by Massimiliano Giornetti), Genny (designed by Sara Cavazza Facchini), Gucci (directed by Alessandro Michele), Hogan, Iceberg (directed by Arthur Arbesser for women's lines and by Federico Curradi for men's clothes), Kiton, La Perla (directed by Emiliano Rinaldi), Loro Piana, Marni (created by Consuelo Castiglioni), Antonio Marras, Missoni, Moncler (created by Giambattista Valli for women's collections and by Thom Browne for men's division), Moschino (directed by Jeremy Scott), Prada, John Richmond, Jil Sander (founded by eponymous German designer but now headed by Rodolfo Paglialunga and entirely made in Italy), Ermanno Scervino, Trussardi, Valentino (directed by either Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli), Versace and Tod's (designed by Alessandra Facchinetti for women's ready to wear and by Andrea Incontri regarding men's lines) ^[5] to name the most significant.

Examples of major fashion brands which are specialized mainly at womenswear (and also accessories for women) are Agnona, Luisa Beccaria, Laura Biagiotti, Blumarine (created by Anna Molinari), Alberta Ferretti, Giamba (created by designer Giambattista Valli), Krizia (founded by Mariuccia Mandelli and now designed by Zhu Chongyun), Max Mara (created by Laura Lusuardi), Miu Miu (founded and directed by Miuccia Prada), Philosophy (directed by Lorenzo Serafini), Emilio Pucci (designed by MSGM's founder Massimo Giorgetti) and Simonetta Ravizza whilst luxury houses which focus only on menswear and accessories for men are Brioni, Canali, Caruso, Corneliani, Lardini, MP Massimo Piombo, Stefano Ricci, Ermenegildo Zegna (designed by ex Saint Laurent's creative director Stefano Pilati) and Pal Zileri.

Among the newest labels or younger designers, the most prominent are Aquilano.Rimondi (latest Gianfranco Ferré's directors and also Fay's creatives), Au jour le jour, Cristiano Burani, Gabriele Colangelo, County of Milan (created by Marcelo Burlon), Marco De Vincenzo, Elisabetta Franchi, Stella Jean, Leitmotiv, Atos Lombardini, Angelo Marani, MSGM, N°21 (created by Alessandro Dell'Acqua), Christian Pellizzari, Andrea Pompilio, Fausto Puglisi (who also heads Ungaro's creative direction), San Andres Milano, Francesco Scognamiglio.

Other luxury labels which are mainly focused on the production of leather goods such as accessories, especially shoes (but not only), are Aquazzura, Baldinini, Ballin, Bruno Bordese, Roberto Botticelli, Rene Caovilla, Casadei, Alberto Guardiani, Gianmarco Lorenzi, Loriblu, Bruno Magli, Vic Matié, Moreschi, Alberto Moretti, Cesare Paciotti, Pollini, Fratelli Rossetti, Gianvito Rossi, Sergio Rossi, Santoni, A. Testoni, Giuseppe Zanotti design, while fashion brands or labels which produce primarily bags, totes, suitcases are Bertoni, Borbonese, Braccialini, Cromia, Fedon, Furla, Gherardini, Mandarina Duck, Piquadro, Serapian, The Bridge, Valextra, Zagliani and Zanellato.

Italy also is home to many fashion magazines, such as Vogue Italia, Vanity Fair, Elle, Glamour, Grazia, Amica, Flair, Gioia.^[6]

Other Italian accessory and jewelry brands, such as Luxottica (owner, amongst several luxury eye-wear brands, of Ray-Ban and Persol), Marcolin, De Rigo, Safilo, Damiani, Vhernier, Pomellato, Morellato, Officine Panerai and Bvlgari are amongst the most important in the world.

Modern History

Fashion in Italy started to become the most fashionable in Europe since the 11th century, and powerful cities of the time, such as Venice, Milan, Florence, Naples, Vicenza and Rome began to produce robes, jewelry, textiles, shoes, fabrics, ornaments and elaborate dresses.^[7] Italian fashion reached its peak during the Renaissance. As Italy is widely recognized as the cradle and birthplace of the Renaissance,^[8][9] art, music, education, finance and philosophy flourished, and along with it, Italian fashion designs became very popular (especially those worn by the Medicis in Florence.^[10] The fashions of Queen Catherine de' Medici of France, were considered amongst the most fashionable in Europe).

The Italian Catherine de' Medici, as Queen of France. Her fashion were the main trendsetters of courts at the time.

After a decline in the 17th to mid-20th century, the nation returned to being a leading nation in fashion, and Florence was Italy's fashion capital in the 50s and 60s from the very first high fashion parade at the Sala Bianca of the Pitti Palace in 1951 with names such as Emilio Schuberth, Emilio Pucci, Sorelle Fontana, Simonetta, Mila Schön, Fausto Sarli, whilst Milan led the way in the 70s and 80s, with then-new labels, such as Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Gianfranco Ferré, Romeo Gigli, Krizia, Missoni, Moschino, Luciano Soprani, Trussardi and Versace and opening up and setting up their first boutiques and emporia. Until the 1970s, Italian fashion was mainly designed for the rich and famous, more or less like the French "Haute Couture". Yet, in the 1970s and 80s, Italian fashion started to concentrate on ready-to-wear clothes, such as coats, jackets, trousers, shirts, jeans, jumpers and miniskirts. Milan became more affordable and stylish for shoppers, and Florence was deposed of its position as the Italian fashion capital and replaced by Rome, which grew in importance as high fashion pole in the country thanks to the creations of Valentino, Fendi, Roberto Capucci, Renato Balestra and Gattinoni.

Today, Milan and Rome are Italy's fashion capitals, and are major international centres for fashion design, competing with other cities such as Tokyo, Los Angeles, London, Paris and New York.^[3] Also, other cities such as Venice, Florence, Naples, Vicenza, Bologna, Genoa and Turin are important centres. The country's main shopping districts are the Via Montenapoleone fashion district and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele (Milan), Via dei Condotti (Rome), and Via de' Tornabuoni (Florence).

Cities

Italian fashion is dominated by Milan, Rome, and to a lesser extent, Florence, with the former two being included in the top 30 fashion capitals of the world.^[11] Nonetheless, there are numerous other cities which play an important role in Italian fashion.

Milan

Some elegant shoes in a shop in Milan's prestigious Via Montenapoleone.

In 2009, Milan was regarded as the world fashion capital (based upon frequency of mention in global media outlets), even surpassing New York, Paris, Rome and London. In 2011, Milan was ranked #4, behind London, New York, and Paris.^[12] Many of the major Italian fashion brands, such as Valentino, Versace, Prada, Armani, Costume National, Marni, Iceberg, Missoni, Trussardi, Moschino, Dirk Bikkembergs, Etro, Zegna and Dolce & Gabbana, are currently headquartered in the city. international fashion labels also operate shops in Milan, including an Abercrombie & Fitch flagship store which has become a main consumer attraction. Milan also hosts a fashion week twice a year, just like other international centres such as Paris, London and New York. Milan's main upscale fashion district is the "quadrilatero della moda" (literally, "fashion quadrilateral"), where the city's most prestigious shopping streets (Via Montenapoleone, Via della Spiga, Via Sant'Andrea, Via Manzoni and Corso Venezia) are held. The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the Piazza del Duomo, Via Dante and Corso Buenos Aires are other important shopping streets and squares.

Florence

Luxury boutiques along Florence's prestigious Via de' Tornabuoni.

Florence is regarded by some as the birthplace and earliest centre of the modern (post World War Two) fashion industry in Italy. The Florentine "soirées" of the early 1950s organized by Giovanni Battista Giorgini were events where several now-famous Italian designers participated in group shows and first garnered international attention.^[13] Florence has served as the home of the Italian fashion company Salvatore Ferragamo since 1928. Gucci, Roberto Cavalli, Ermanno Scervino, Stefano Ricci, Patrizia Pepe, Enrico Coveri and Emilio Pucci were also founded and most of them are still headquartered in Florence. Other major players in the fashion industry such as Prada and Chanel have large offices and stores in Florence or its outskirts. Florence's main upscale shopping street is Via de' Tornabuoni, where major luxury fashion houses and jewelry labels, such as Armani and Bulgari, have their elegant boutiques. Via del Parione and Via Roma are other streets that are also well known for their high-end fashion stores.^[14]

Rome

The Palazzo di Malta, surrounded by Hermès boutiques in Via Condotti, Rome's main upscale shopping street.

Rome is widely recognized as a world fashion capital. Although not as important as Milan, Rome is the world's 4th most important centre for fashion in the world, according to the 2009 Global Language Monitor after Milan, New York and Paris, and beating London.^[15] Major luxury fashion houses and jewelry chains, such as Valentino, Bulgari, Fendi,^[16] Laura Biagiotti, Gattinoni and Brioni, just to name a few, are headquartered or were founded in the city. Also, other major labels, such as Chanel, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani and Versace have luxury boutiques in Rome, primarily along its prestigious and upscale Via dei Condotti.

Other cities

Although Milan, Rome and Florence are commonly regarded as the leading cities in Italian fashion, other cities, such as Venice, Vicenza, Turin, Naples and Bologna, are also important centres for Italian clothing design and industry. Venice, for instance, is the home of Italian fashion house Roberta di Camerino, which was founded in 1945. The brand is famous for its handbags, and is most notably associated with the creation of the it bag, a form of handbag which is recognisable due to its status symbol.^[17] Brands such as Max Mara and United Colors of Benetton, despite being major Italian brands, are not headquartered in Milan, Rome or Florence, yet, the former has its headquarters in Reggio Emilia,^[18] and the latter in Ponzano Veneto. Italian holding OTB held by Renzo Rosso, owner of different ready-to-wear brands such as Diesel and also fashion houses like Marni, dutch label Viktor & Rolf and belgian Maison Martin Margiela, is headquartered in the countryside near Vicenza in the region of Veneto. Italian companies Cesare Paciotti and also Tod's, owned by businessman Diego Della Valle (which produces luxury shoes, other leather goods and also clothes under the labels of Tod's itself, Roger Vivier, Hogan, Fay and haute couture brand Schiaparelli), are headquartered in the region of Marche, a very important manufacturing district for shoes and leather components in the Adriatic coast. Fashion house Fabiana Filippi and Brunello Cucinelli's home is the region of Umbria and luxury brands Kiton and Harmont & Blaine's headquarters is Naples.^[19][20][21]

References

Further reading

• Martin, R. (1997). Gianni Versace. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 9780870998423.