Italian Fashion Designers

Professor Giovanna Franci retells history of fashion at Istituto Italiano di Cultura

Italian fashion and Chinese threats to it were the main focus of a lecture given last week by Giovanna Franci - a teacher at the University of Bologna - at Istituto Italiano di Cultura.

Globalization, she said, is rapidly changing the face of this industry, from production systems to marketing strategies. The changes concern both the protagonists of this industry and the framework surrounding them.

Can we still talk of 'Made in Italy'?

"In order to answer this question," argued Prof. Franci in a crowded room, "we should go back to the origin, when the term was coined. On February 12, 1951, the first Italian high fashion show took place in a private home in Florence.

Given the times, this was nothing short of miraculous: Europe had just come out of the tragedy of World War II, and reconstruction was still underway. Giovan Battista Giorgini conceived an event that could attract the attention of North American customers. He succeeded, and the following year an even bigger event was organized at Palazzo Pitti. Made in Italy fashion was born."

posted by Eugen @ 11:50 AM