Milan – A Fashionable City
Milan wasn’t always the hub of Italian fashion, nor was it always where Fashion Week took place, as it does now.
Italian fashion was actually born in Florence. Artistocrat Giovani Battista Giorgini organized the first “fashion parade” in 1951 in his living room to attract the attention of some American buyers traveling from the Paris collections and visiting Tuscany on the way home. The first “fashion parade” was a great success, and the following year it moved to the legendary Sala Bianca at Palazzo Pitti in Florence, where designers presented their creations and affirmed Italy as an important contributor to global fashion.
Shortly after, the Italian movie industry based in Rome attracted many Hollywood actors and actresses, and Italian designers started creating dresses for American film stars. As a result, the fashion capital of Italy subsequently split into two cities, having centers in both Florence and Rome. Roman designers such as Micol, Emilio Schubert and Giovanna Gattinoni gained popularity, and began dressing icons such as Sofia Loren.
The end of 60’s and, in particular the year 1968 was a period of social revolution and protest against the political system, which started in France and moved rapidly to Italy. Women started fighting for equal rights and, for the first time, they started wearing trousers. Elio Fiorucci took advantage of this situation and promoted jeans for women to wear, opening his shop in San Babila square in Milan.
Milan soon became the new capital of prêt-à-porter and the big textile industries started employing talented designers to give a distinctive touch to their creations. In 1973, a young designer called Gianni Versace started designing patterns for a brand called “Genny” while another young designer, Giorgio Armani, designed his first creations for a similar textile group.
There was one incident, however, that cemented the move of fashion from Florence and Rome to present day Milan, and launched the first fashion presentation in this capital. It was an accident involving Missoni fashion house in 1967. Just minutes before presenting their show at the Sala Bianca of Palazzo Pitti, in Florence, Ottavio and Rosita Missoni noticed that the lingerie worn by the models was unsuitable for the light lamè dresses. However, it was too late to change anything and the models walked down the catwalk with their lingerie showing. Editors and buyers applauded the bold idea promoted by Missoni, but due to the lingerie controversy, the following year Missoni was not invited to take part in the show. Missoni decided to present their creations anyway, choosing a Milanese swimming pool as their setting. The success was enormous and the popularity they achieved convinced the other Italian designers to abandon the Florentine Sala Bianca in Palazzo Pitti and move their collections to Milan.
A few years later, in 1975, the Italian Camera della Moda, presented its first official calendar of fashion shows and Milan celebrated its success. In 1978 about 51 collections were shown over 6 days including many Italian brands such as Missoni, Fendi, Genny, Mario Valentino, Enrico Coveri, Mila Schon, Roberta di Camerino and Laura Biagiotti.
And this, in short, was how Milan Fashion Week was born. Stay tuned to get the full report tomorrow for the best new styles for next season, with runway reports from the Hirshleifer buying team.
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