An ode to Italian fashion

Let’s start in the 1950s, in the gilded surroundings of Florentine and Roman villas, where the Italian aristocrats are sharing their idea of beauty and function with the recent influx of Hollywood stars. Count Emilio Pucci mixes vibrant colors and geometric patterns to create blouses from a unique anti-wrinkle silk fabric that slips into suitcases and comes out ready to be worn – arrivederci to crumpled clothes – attracting fans including Lauren Bacall and Elizabeth Taylor.

Meanwhile, in Florence’s Palazzo Spini Feroni, Salvatore Ferragamo is considered the ‘calzolaio dei sogni’ (cobbler of dreams) and makes shoes that are sought-after by the stars. Marilyn Monroe is a loyal customer and wears his pumps in that iconic scene in Billy Wilder’s 1955 The Seven Year Itch, where her dress billows dramatically as she stands over a subway grate. Ferragamo’s shoemaking genius is clear but he is also a pioneer and innovator with many patents, including his much-copied cork-heeled wedge.

By the 1980s, Milanese runways are unleashing glorious excess, and the world is paying attention. It’s the rise of big personalities, big shows, and big ideas. Franco Moschino embodies irreverence, mixing traditions and playing with symbols. He is opulent and even kitsch; the Italian tricolore corset gown with a giant printed cow is an outrageous salute to Made in Italy.

Versace, meanwhile, is an explosion of creativity and glamour, as the late Gianni Versace’s kaleidoscopic prints and iconic chain-mail metal mesh dress – immortalized in fashion history in the 1982 Richard Avedon-lensed campaign – enter fashion folklore. He is a man of extraordinary talent, but he also understands the power of publicity and embraces media attention. To this end, he fills his front row with celebrities, launches high-profile advertising campaigns and essentially invents the supermodel, permanently altering the presentation of fashion forever. Versace clothes celebrate women and its runways continue to be a march of audacious beauty and unfettered joy.

Italian fashion, it should be remembered, thrives not only because of the big brands, but because of the thousands of workshops across the country, making Italian fashion global. It is these artisans who proudly create, with care and attention, clothing and accessories that are in harmony with the philosophies of slow fashion and sustainability. Quality over quantity has always been the motto for Italy, the ideal of bello e ben fatto (beautiful and well-made), and now with the increasing awareness of the harmful climate impact of the fashion industry, there is a focus on localized production, waste reduction and engaging with social responsibility. Italian companies are perfectly placed to take the reins on this global change for the industry.

There are the timeless garments of Brunello Cucinelli and Loro Piana, the minimalist bags of Valextra, and the exquisite embroidery of Loretta Caponi. But also, there is a whole new generation of small businesses following in their footsteps, like the Instagrammable Milanese looks of The Attico and F.R.S. For Restless Sleepers’ pajama-inspired eveningwear. F.R.S’s founder, Francesca Ruffini, explains that her brand is “inextricably linked to Como’s silk DNA. The city, its laboratories and printing houses are a perpetual source of inspiration for the research, development and aesthetic of my collections.”

Further south, Giuliva Heritage Collection’s refined tailoring, handmade in Naples, preserves the local craftsmanship while bringing a feminine touch. “Our style and our way of making things gives our garments the power to endure, passing from generation to generation,” says co-founder Margherita Cardelli, who highlights that almost every piece is made entirely by hand. As do the elegant blazers of Blazé Milano: “Made in Italy guarantees values that cannot be replicated, because these values and the rich aesthetic they foster are rooted in the complex past of our country,” explains the brand’s creative director Corrada Rodriguez d’Acri. “Those who buy one of our garments wear an extraordinary history and culture of know-how.”

Pierpaolo Piccioli, Valentino’s creative director, never misses an opportunity to thank his workers. For him it is about the collective; while on stage at the Teatro alla Scala to collect the Art of Craftsmanship Award, at the first edition of the Green Carpet (the Oscars of sustainable fashion), he invited his whole haute-couture team to join him on the podium, where tears flowed.

Every Gucci show is profoundly emotive, too. The house’s creative director, Alessandro Michele, continues to astonish, not only with his ideas, but with the way he conveys them. Michele’s most recent show, which was staged on a carousel, revealed the rituals of backstage and all the people that make it happen. His latest revolution was communicated via Instagram, in his Notes From The Silence. The pandemic has caused him to reflect while looking ahead to the house’s future and collection format: “I feel the urgent need to change a lot of things in the way I work. I have always been professionally inclined to change, after all, bringing with me a natural and joyful creative restlessness. But this crisis has somehow amplified such transformative urgency, which can’t be deferred anymore,” he writes. “Now that we are still apart, my love for fashion burns. Our species, after all, is like that: we love like crazy in the throes of what is missing.”