Giorgio Armani, the renowned Italian designer, once said of style: "The essence of style is a simple way of saying something complex."
Armani has certainly distilled the essence of Italian style into his clothing, but Italy in itself is a country where style reigned supreme long before the advent of today's mega-designers. Since medieval times and even before, Italians have made it a point to dress with elegance, as is evident from the paintings of the Italian Renaissance period.
Antico Setificio Fiorentino, nestled in the historic gardens of the San Frediano area of Florence, Italy, is home to centuries old looms and antique silks. Visiting the inner dominions of Antico Setificio is like stepping back in time to the era of the Renaissance when finery was perhaps at its best. A magical aura pervades the showroom. It is not hard for visitors to imagine the Renaissance Kings and Queens and noble families of the era, garbed in the sort of finery displayed in this place.
From the 1950's to Today, Italy's Influence is Prominent
In the 1950 and 1960 decades, Americans were greatly influenced by Italian automobiles, film producers and fashion designers. Italian trendsetters dictated what Americans drove, what they wore and how they looked. The American public was buying items that originated in Italy. The First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, loved fashions by designer Oleg Cassini. People were greatly influenced by the hats, suits and jackets worn by Jackie.
An Italian tribute to fashion, design and creativity
It's a book.
No, it's a paper object, where pages are not exactly pages, and where bidimensionality encounters tridimensionality.
It's about fashion dolls. It's an ad in favor of the ubiquitous, vinylic, American, curvaceous fashion doll everybody knows. No, it's a display of selected vintage fashion dolls from private collections in Italy.
Marchesa Casati was painted by Boldini and John Singer Sargent, wore clothes designed by Fortuny and Poiret, held wild and extravagant parties and kept tigers as pets. A fascinating, eccentric woman, she had an excessive and extravagant lifestyle. She helped many great artists in her lifetime and eventually became a renowned patroness of the arts as well as a fashion legend.
If there was one consistent thread running throughout the Fall shows,
it was respect for women. Women were made to look mysterious, alluring,
beautiful. There was a conjoined effort for women to look good, feel
good about themselves, show some pride and class, uniformly from every
collection.
This year's collections are going to be the benchmark, and reflect
the pride of the American History of fashion for a long time to come.
Blue jeans have been an important article of clothing for several decades. They have risen from being clothes for workers to adorning the most beautiful of fashion models. They have gone from being a symbol of physical labor to one of pop culture and designer fashion. Many useful items have also been created through the recycling of worn out denim jeans. With such a profound history, what can the future hold for American blue jeans?
Blue jeans have been an important article of clothing for several decades. They have risen from being clothes for workers to adorning the most beautiful of fashion models. They have gone from being a symbol of physical labor to one of pop culture and designer fashion. Many useful items have also been created through the recycling of worn out denim jeans. With such a profound history, what can the future hold for American blue jeans?
