Fashion in Italy is a national preoccupation. Even the remotest of towns are inhabited by people who care how they look. Unsurprisingly, many Italian Fashion Houses are family-run affairs, be it the unparalleled legacy of Ferragamo or the colourful traditions of Missoni.
Donatella Versace : Taking the Reins of the Versace Label
She's known for her platinum blonde hair, her extravagant grape-sized diamonds, and her lavish parties - but above all else, she is known as the sister of major Italian designer Gianni Versace, and the reigning head of the Versace fashion empire. Donatella Versace has moved from the background to the limelight, flawlessly carrying on her older brother's legacy.
Versace is one of the best known Italian fashion brands, and for good reason. Its founder, Gianni Versace, and its torchbearer, Donatella Versace, have made the brand the epitome of rock-star glamour, decadent style, and in-your-face sexiness. Wearing Versace has become the signature style of the glitterati. With the passing away of Gianni, the brand may have lost its continuous association with theatre and art, it remains a formidable force in the world of fashion. No red carpet is deemed complete without a few contributions from the legendary brand.
The history of Rome's oldest fashion house, the glamorous Sorelle Fontana, reads like a fairy tale. It is the story of three young women who made their way from a tiny town near Parma to Rome and then America, whose beautiful designs became highly sought-after by Hollywood stars, famous women and the Italian aristocracy.
Schiaparelli : The Shocking Italian Who Conquered Paris
Elsa Schiaparelli once said of her career: "Poverty forced me to work, and Paris gave me a liking for it." She was being modest indeed, considering that she was the most innovative and influential dress designer of the 20th century. Known for her shocking designs and Surrealist influences, Schiaparelli's haute couture clothes and accessories became justly famous during the late 1920s.
Rocco Barocco, one of Italy's most beloved and successful fashion designers, offers a fine taste of Italian beauty in fashion wear, high-end accessories, and perfumes for women, men, and children. An inspirational and highly creative designer, Rocco Barocco spares nothing when designing clothing for the rich and famous. His clothing creations range from casual ready-to-wear to elite evening-wear.
Emilio Pucci was the kingpin of textile reinvention and beautiful prints in the fifties and sixties. His designs revolutionized the world of fashion, knocking the previous trend of dull colors and heavy fabrics out of fashion and developing a fan following that was almost unheard of at the time. Today, original Pucci prints from the beginning of his career are highly collectible items. This does not mean Pucci has been relegated to history, the brand’s current designs are equally coveted items in every starlicious diva’s wardrobe.
From Suitcases to Oscar Gowns, From Milan to the World
Prada. The name alone signifies style and luxury, designer handbags and fabulous shoes. Born nearly a century ago, The House of Prada is recognized worldwide for its simple and elegant creations.
Franco Moschino, a native Italian, was born in 1950 in the small town of Abbiategrasso, near Milan. Sadly, Franco's father died when he was a young boy of four. As a way to fill the void, Franco developed a keen interest in art and drawing as a young child.
Pursuing his love of art, Franco Moschino attended the Accademia di Bella Arte in Milan in 1967. However, in order to finance his education there, he began to sketch fashion designs and illustrations for fashion magazines and houses. Eventually, his clever designs caught the eye of fashion designer Gianni Versace.
The famous Italian fashion house, Missoni, turned knitwear modern. Feted everywhere for its bright, colorful designs, and kaleidoscopic patterns, this enormous family-run business has romantic origins. It all began when Ottavio Missoni, the son of an Italian sea captain and a Serbian countess, went to London in 1948 to compete in the 400 meter hurdles at the Olympic Games. He had his own very small knitwear company and designed the tracksuits for the Italian Olympic team.
Valentino Garavani is one of Italy's finest fashion designers. Known for his classic designs, he's been dressing the world’s rich and famous for almost the last five decades. Valentino has built his once small fashion house into a fashion empire, with a little help from his partner in business, Giancarlo Giammetti. Valentino dresses are a legend today.
Fendi is all about refined Italian glamor. It is an unabashed display of richness and sensuality, and a taste for indulgence--what began as a small family business has today spawned a fashion empire with flagship stores located all over the world. Adele Casagrande, founder of the House of Fendi, opened a small fur and leather goods shop in Rome in 1918. In 1925, Adele married Edoardo Fendi, and changed the name of her shop to reflect her own new surname. The Fendis had a long list of loyal private clients, and in 1938 they opened a second shop in Rome.
"New fashion begins in the mind of the designer," Salvatore Ferragamo once said. The great shoe designer put this into practice during the course of his very successful and innovative career.Born in the tiny village of Bonito, near Naples, in 1898, he was the eleventh of fourteen children. The young and ambitious Salvatore came from a very poor family that couldn't even afford to buy shoes for his sisters’ First Communion. Salvatore made the shoes for them, and thus found his calling. He was only nine at the time.
Dolce & Gabbana celebrates the voluptuous woman and the metro-sexual man. The Dolce and Gabbana woman glories in her curves and her inherent sexuality: Madonna is the brand’s most famous muse. Being one of the world famous singer's favorite designers helped Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana immensely on their climb up the ladder of success. Together they have designed a great many costumes for her to wear in her world tours. And their work just keeps getting better.
A native from Legnano in northern Italy, Gianfranco Ferre, born on August 15, 1944, began his exciting and highly successful career in the world of fashion in 1970. Although he earned a degree in architecture in 1969, he chose to follow a different path and began to design an array of fashion accessories for the owners of a boutique in Portofino.
Hailing from the heel of Italy's boot - the town of Lecce - Ennio Capasa was raised on fashion. Capasa's parents were proprietors of several upscale boutiques showcasing a glamorous abundance of couture. As a child, the designer despised fashion, but the allure of design lead him to enroll in the Milan Academy of Fine Arts in 1982. As the founder of Costume National, Capasa has embraced his fashion beginnings and today designs clothes that straddle the line between everyday wear and on-the-town elegance.
“What is really important to me is that we do something special, be it the clothes, a window display, an ad campaign. It’s really not that important to me to make big sales,” says Renzo Rosso, who is the founder of the Diesel brand. But the brand which was turning in 3 million Euro in 1985 had sales figures exceeding 1 billion Euro in 2007, testimony to how fearless passion can lead to growth.
The legendary fashion designers of the world often possess very little similarity to their patrons; typically a young, urban lot, hungry for the latest pieces on the runways of the world. But when it comes to experience and knowledge of what the youth want, few can match Italian designer Roberto Cavalli, who relies on his mature fashion sense in creating his couture collections. Despite his more recent success throughout the world, Roberto Cavalli has long been a pioneer of taste and fashion.
Roberto Capucci has been referred to as a fashion maestro, an architect of clothing and also a sculptor, but to put it simply, he has been a leading Italian fashion designer. Hailing from Rome, his sculpted apparel much like the abundance of Roman sculpture on display in that wonderful city, is a display of inventiveness. This makes it all the more timeless for its ability to stand out even as the fashion world employs trend after trend with each passing season.
Missoni, A Colorful Italian Fashion House
