The Fashion Revolution in Milan

Although Italian fashion after World War II arose from a context seemingly unattached to history or politics, and more specifically from a business opportunity glimpsed by the visionary Giovanbattista Giorgini, the relationship between ideology, nationalism and the economy proved once again of great importance. Since its inception, at whatever date today, ex post facto, the beginning of a specifically Italian fashion is seen - the autocratic period during the twenty years of fascism, or the Florentine fashion shows in the years of the post-World War II period, or the invention of ready-to-wear in Milan in the 1970s - fashion for Italy has been an identity issue (Muzzarelli 2011). In any case, discussion on Italian fashion, as a foundational aspect of the country's identity, became possible only thanks to the invention of ready-to-wear by designers, with the rise of Milan as a fashion capital, a system that sheds light both on Italy’s sartorial past and its future development.