From Furniture to High Fashion
By Nicole DeAugustine '09
The Creation of the Milanese Fashion Industry
Unlike the other major fashion capitals of the world, such as London, Paris, and New York City, the realm of high fashion was not always an integral part of Milanese, or even of Italian, culture. Prior to the establishment of the Milanese fashion industry, both Florence and Rome were also considered major cities of fashion. In comparison to her sister cities, Milan only became the center of high fashion in the late 1970s-early 1980s when influential designers began to move to this primarily industrial area. The city boasted ready accessibility to the textile industry and other necessary aspects of production for the garment trade, which the other Italian cities did not offer. The development that occurred during the 20th century significantly changed the cultural landscape of Italy and, more specifically, of Milan. The fashion industry changed the way the world looked at the city, making the transition from a bustling manufacturing city known for its furniture and industrial design to one of high-end fashion design and celebrity status.
Even though the fashion industry did not take hold in Italy until the middle of the 20th century, the art of dressing and fashion was not a new phenomenon in Italy. The fashion industry has roots that go back to the Italian Renaissance when individuals considered clothing as an integral part of their culture because "its citizens wrestled daily with self-identity, appearance, and display" (Paulicelli 2004: 7). This shows how much of the Italian identity can be linked back to the ideals and innovations made during the Renaissance. For instance, Casilgione's Il libro del coretegiano (the book of the courtier), written in 1528, provided specific guidelines and instructions about dress and appearance to the people of the 15th and 16th centuries, which forever changed the way one viewed the "social and political meaning of dress" (Paulicelli 2004: 8). The lasting cultural impact of the Renaissance in the fine arts, architecture, and literature eventually helped to form a national Italian identity, both socially and culturally, throughout the country's once warring regions. After the destruction and devastation of WWII, Italy looked back to the Renaissance model of national identity in order for the country to put itself back on its feet during this difficult period (Paulicelli 2004: 6-7). Another factor also played into the success of Milan: postwar reconstruction assistance from the United States....
Whereas Florence emerged as an early center of fashion design, Milan was well known for the industrial production of furniture and architecture, which began to gain critical acclaim all over the world. The Trienniale exhibitions of the 1940s and 1950s called attention to the production capabilities of Milan, as foreign countries became aware of the innovative products of Italian design developed in the city during this period. All of the innovation and improvement of the city's industry and economy occurred during the reconstruction of Milan after World War II, thus bringing new life and commercial vitality to the area. Due to Milan's industrial assets and its flourishing business districts, the city was the perfect fit for the emerging fashion industry. Different parts of the city were already well known for their specific types of fabric production, notably "Como for silk, Biella for wool, Carpi for knitwear, Castelgoffredo for hosiery, and the Italian Marches for footwear" (Segre Reinach 2006: 125). The organization of fabric production, along with the well-established media sector in the city, particularly television and literary publications, encouraged a cultural revival within the city. The history of fashion within Milan therefore shaped the future developments made in the high-fashion market of today.
The fashion industry in Milan had been fueled, prior to the destruction of World War II, with the opening of a local department store, much like Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman in New York City. The first Italian department store, La Rinascente, opened in Milan during 1917, after the merger of two other department stores in the area (Merlo and Polese 2006: 441). The department store based itself on other models in the United States and Europe, yet differed in one specific way: it offered both ready-to-wear clothes and tailor-made pieces. La Rinascente was the first store of its kind in Italy to offer such a service, which attributed to the business' success from its opening. The idea of Italian prêt-a-porter began at La Rinascente because the store partnered with different designers, each who had his own boutique within the store (Merlo and Polese 2006: 444). The early innovations made at La Rinascente shaped the progression of Italian fashion, because the department store embodied the early values of la moda italiana and helped facilitate the shift of prêt-a-porter from the department store to the runway...
Even though many innovations and advances within the Italian fashion market began in the early 20th century, Milanese fashion and prêt-a-porter reached its peak in the 1980s. Italian style took on an identity and look of its own, and more designers moved to this up and coming fashion center. Designers became a new type of "royalty" in Milan, particularly as many moved their businesses into the old royal palaces strewn throughout the city, especially Giorgio Armani, Gianni Versace and the Missoni family (Segre Reinach 2006: 125-126). Italian fashion had much success internationally because the styles were fresh, young, and new, unlike the older looks shown in Paris. The 1970s launched Italy into the leader in international style, whereas the 1980s called more attention to designers and their status, forever changing the identity of the "fashion designer." The designer went from giving glamour to their models and customers, to symbolizing glamour and decadence, like Gianni Versace who led quite an over-the-top, celebrity lifestyle. The Italian designer during this decade not only dressed celebrities, but also had become a part of the same social circle as his clients.
Today, society holds designers to the same standards as other media celebrities, with appearances in magazine interviews, television specials, and newspaper highlights. Designers even accompany stars and starlets to major events, adding to the glamour and media exposure that continues to elevate designers to such a high status in the global imagination (Gundle 1996: 323). The designers and their designs are constantly featured in fashion magazines, alongside various actors and television stars. The media's current obsession with celebrities' everyday lives, including what they wear and how they wear it, leads to the continuous emphasis that fashion culture places upon high-end, designer goods. This media focus gives the fashionable items their very own "celebrity" status, one that millions of people try to imitate everyday. The irony, however, is that many of the celebrities do not even pay for most of their high-end possessions, because the designers constantly send their new items to them as "gifts," for them to wear and promote the label. Celebrities are now symbols of excess and contribute to the over-consuming society in which we live today, helping to manufacture the constantly felt need to show one's status through garments and accessories...
Because of the association of high fashion and elite status, individuals all over the world look forward to seeing and possibly consuming the designs and brands featured during Milan's fashion week. The relative unattainabilty of expensive Milanese prêt-a-porter fashion results in the less expensive copying of the styles for a larger clientele. There are two distinct forms of designer replication: "fast fashion" or the black market, both which revolve around Naples as their home base. "Fast fashion," referred to in Italian as pronto moda, constitutes lower-end clothing companies that copy styles shown on the runway and outsource their garments to manufacturing factories in low-wage labor areas such China and Eastern Europe (Segre Reinach 2006: 128). Stores such as H&M and Zara take designs shown on the Milan Fashion Week runway and recreate them for greater accessibility to a broader market at a much cheaper price. The garments of "fast fashion" are usually made of less costly materials and are mass produced, unlike their Italian high-end prêt-a-porter counterparts....
Over the years, Milan has continued to successfully adapt and evolve to fit the ever-changing fashion market, without losing its fame as a locus for high fashion. In 1999, six of the world's top ten fashion houses were Italian, with four being located in Milan: Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Versace, and Armani (Foot 2001: 125). It is a place both to see the clothes and to be seen at the shows, if one has the proper status in the fashion scene. Four times a year, one set of runway shows for each season, nine days of Fashion Week takes place in Milan, with thousands of media representatives and followers of the specific labels in attendance. Season after season, the wealthy, those in the fashion business and international celebrities flock to Milan to showcase and to preview the hottest fashions as they are walked down the catwalk. Milan Fashion Week receives the same media coverage as those in other fashion capitals, like New York, London, and Paris, thus making a name for Italy on a worldwide scale and establishing a distinct Italian identity in the fashion realm.
The media offers attentive and critical coverage of all the designers during Milan Fashion Week. It is an event that the fashion and style media looks forward to every season, with magazine and newspaper columns highlighting the "dos and don'ts" of the catwalk. Today, even major American designers, such as Marc Jacobs, display their collections at Milan Fashion Week. This year The New York Times and other world newspapers discussed and debated what "looks" went down the runway in Milan. Newspapers not only featured articles that discussed the Fall 2008 lines debuted in Milan, but also dedicated blog spots and photographic slide shows featuring the highlights of the various shows. For example, New York Times reporter Cathy Horyn covered Milan Fashion Week in February and posted her comments, pictures, and remarks on her blog titled "On the Runway." One notable example from February 18, 2008 when she describes how Giorgio Armani uninvited her to his show only a day before the event: "Armani had decided not to invite me to his show and, of course, that was the intent of the letter, once I had read it. He didn't like the tone of my comments about his January couture show in Paris" (Horyn 2008). The articles dedicated to fashion week in the international press do not simply discuss what the designer featured on the runway; rather they offer a critique of the fashions shown and to some of the designers, the criticism is unwarranted and unappreciated.
The interest that the press displays in the collections shown during this critical week in international style demonstrates how fashion has turned into an area of review and criticism, much like that of a new album, movie, or literary publication. Close documentation and observation such as this clearly show the shift of fashion from the social realm to the academic, with scholars looking back over time and assessing the impact of the industry on the world and its market economy. A global connection is made between the high-end fashion designers, the producers, and their clients, the consumers. Media critics today include art historians, sociologists, historians, and anthropologists, as well as fashion journalists, who have background knowledge about the aesthetic and historical values of fashion.
The critics serve as the translators of what "walks" down the runway, making it more accessible globally due to the technological advances of the twenty-first century. Today writers post their comments about the show just minutes after it is debuted because of devices such as a laptop or a Blackberry, showing how quick a style can become a trend after debuting on the runway. The media highlights what they consider hot and fresh in fashion, or in some cases terrible and boring, influencing the readers' choice of what they should wear and how they should wear it.
Many scholars question whether Milan will be able to hold onto its bearings over the course of change in the fashion world, due to debates about the vitality of prêt-a-porter, which reached its peak of success during the 1980s-1990s. The new millennium brings renewed challenges for Milan and its fashion business, particularly with the rise in power of Chinese production, with its cheaper prices and quick turnaround. Gruppo Finanaziario Tessile, more familiarly known as Gft, one of the largest manufacturers of Italian fashion in Milan and a company that enabled the city to be successful with ready to wear, decided to transition their manufacturing to China by the year 2010 (Segre Reinach 128-129). This is clearly a threat to the Italian method of clothing production, because "made in Italy" quality is no longer part of the start-to-finish process. Other individuals in the fashion business, such as the influential Beppe Modense, worry that Milan fashion will grow stagnant, due to the lack of younger, hipper designers, such as Americans Zac Posen and Esteban Cortazar, entering the field in Milan (Menkes 2002). The industry, however, has improved immensely from its humble beginnings and continues to remain successful, in good part due to the recognition and following of the designs and designers featured during Fashion Week.
Even though it may have taken quite long for the Milanese fashion market to prosper fully, the city seems to be holding onto a large section of the market in the beginning of the 21st century. With many of the high-end designers making Milan their home for their businesses, the city plays an integral role in la moda italiana. Fashion has a long history in Italy, linking contemporary Italians back to the Renaissance. The Italian idea of fashion evolved from caring about one's dress and appearance for social display, to being the cultural hub of expensive designs and well-known designers, celebrated in global media and worn (in real and "knock-off" versions) by people around the world. The transition of the fashion industry in Italy during the middle of the 20th century changed the way Italians looked at their clothes and how the world around them viewed the country's national culture. Others may doubt what will be the ultimate fate of Milan as a fashion capital, because of the current trend in outsourcing labor to Eastern European and other countries, due to lower costs and more efficient, time-saving production capabilities to be found there. Even though doubts have been cast upon Milan's future, the city continues to show innovative designs on its runways and to influence the world around it.
