Fashion Business Context Fashion Business Context_Claudia Ferraretto | Page 20

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t all started during the ‘50s: after the Second World War the
country started to reconstruct
its cities, its heritage and its culture. Giovanni Battista Giorgini,
an important Italian businessman saw the potentiality for the
Italian Fashion, so that he planned
to export it and develop the
American market for Italian Fashion Designers. And so it was that
in 1951 the First Italian high fashion show took place (in which also
Sorelle Fontana performed their
collection) to start promoting
Giorgini’s project (Ferrante, 2012).

In the meantime, Italian fashion capitals scene changed.
Milan emerged in the 1970’s
as the center of Italian fashion
houses, moving Florence and
Rome to the background. Two
designers in particular rose
to prominence and worldwide fame and they are now
considered the main important brands to define Italian
design: Giorgio Armani is noted for classic elegance combined with comfortable styling,
Versace for brightly colored
prints and sensuality shapes.

Italy’s success in the modern fashion derives in large
part from the Italian model
of the fashion industry that
distinguishes Made in Italy label from the other countries.
Family unit, traditional craftsmanship combined with up-todate technology and the vertical integration of production
from fiber to finished product were the fundamentals
for Italian fashion evolution.
Italian fashion style is recognized worldwide: it ranks with
Paris and New York as one of

As reported by Steele and Carrara
(n.d) Emilio Pucci started his fashion
business in 1948, helping establish
the reputation of Italian designers
for easy, comfortable, body-conscious clothing. Starting from these
years a range of Italian products became icons of modern style that led
Italy to change the way the world
looked: by the early 1960s the word
“Italian” had become synonymous
with “good design and high quality”.
The ‘60s were also the stage for a
new designer in the fashion scene:
Valentino’s both ready-to-wear and
couture collections appealed to
many celebrities in the star system
all over the world, from Hollywood
to political and business contexts.

Other ready-to-wear recognizable signature style are Dolce &
Gabbana, Moschino, Gianfranco
Ferré, Krizia, Misson i and Prada,
while Salvatore Ferragamo and
Gucci are better known for
their shoes and accessorize and
Fendi for its fur (Stone, 2008).
Italian designers brought a
breath of fresh air in the fashion scene: revolutionary and
innovative use of fabrics, creating simple shapes and superior hand finishing, ensured
the high quality for which
Made in Italy is known now.

the
top
three
players
in the world of fashion.
Most of Italian maisons have
by now become household
names in terms of international luxury, so that in 2015 Italian
textile, apparel, footwear and
leather goods industries exports, account for almost 16
millions of euro on the main
export product in Italy, despite
of the Italian economic crisis
(Italian Department of Economic Development, 2016).