History of Italian Fashion

Italian Fashion during Renaissance

The period after 11th century was development and domination of Italian fashion. The development of art was as its peak. Great Italian artists such as Leonardo da Vinci gave one of their best masterpieces. The Italian fashion was also influenced by the art during that period. Great attention was paid to the extravagant dresses. The rich merchants with large amount of money at their disposal were ready to spend lavishly on the expensive clothing. They showed their power and status by competing by dressing extravagantly. Intricate designs with complex fashions were made. Just like modern fashion, no rich tradesman would wear dresses that were out of fashion.

There was increased consumption of highly fashionable cloths with greater stress to the quality of textile cloths. The demand in high quality cloth materials led to manufacture of fine fabrics.

The fabrics worn were patterned and had extremely expensive cloth materials such velvets and brocades. The men’s garments were short and wide with long robes decorated with ribbons and jewels. Richly decorated hats of different shapes matched their costumes.

The Decline of Italian Fashion

The gothic style which is simpler style became popular in Italy and influenced Italian fashion. The dominance of Spanish fashion led to decline in Italian fashion. The spotlight moved from Italian fashion for next hundreds of years. For centuries, Italian fashion faded away in the world of fashions.

The Revival of Italian Fashion

Post World War II, the Italy exported accessory fashion items and leather goods. It was effort of Florentine Businessman Giovan Battista Giorgini who attempted to bring Italy in the global fashion world.

There was revival of Italian Fashion on 25th February 1951, when Giovan Battista Giorgini held a fashion show in Florence. Giorgini keeping in mind the international audience threw an extravagant party at his villa. He had invited buyers and journalists to cover the show. The models were noble men and women who wore extravagant Italian clothes in the ballroom. Giorgini wanted to show that these expensive clothes are worn by rich influential people with ease. The fashion show became overnight success. In July 1952, Giorgini again organized a fashion show with names such as Capucci, Valentino and Armani became instant success.

Till 1970s the fashion was especially for rich and famous people. With change in time, the Italian fashion concentrated and designed cloths for common man. In 1970s to 1980s, Milan became a fashion landmark and created current trends such as blue jeans and mini skirts which were affordable for common people. The most stylish and trendy dresses were available to common man at a low price.