A New History of "Made in Italy"
Fashion and Textiles in Post-War Italy
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published:14th Nov '24
Should be back in stock very soon
This book chronicles the vital role of textile manufacturing in Italian fashion, investigating its development from a country of dressmakers and couturiers in the late 1940s to an internationally admired producer of ready-to-wear in the 1980s.
Shortlisted for the Association of Dress Historians Book of the Year Award, 2024
In the first book to examine the role played by textile manufacturing in the development of fashion in Italy, A New History of ‘Made in Italy’ investigates Italy’s transition from a country of dressmakers, tailors and small-scale couturiers in the early post-Second World War period to a major producer of ready-to-wear fashion in the 1980s. It takes the reader from Italy’s first internationally attended fashion show in 1951 to Time magazine’s Giorgio Armani April 1982 cover story, which signalled the fashion designer’s international arrival, and Milan’s presence as the capital of ready-to-wear.
Chapters focus on the material substance of Italian fashion – textile – looking at questions including the importance of manufacturing quality, design innovation, composition, production techniques, commerce and the role of textile on the country’s overall fashion system. Through these, Lucia Savi brings to light the importance of synthetic fibres, previously little-known players, such as the carnettisti (a type of textile wholesalers) as well as re-investigating well-known couturiers and designers such as Simonetta, Gianfranco Ferré and Gianni Versace.
By looking at how things are made, by whom, and where, this book seeks to unpack the ‘Made in Italy’ label through a focus on making. Informed by extensive archival materials retrieved from a wide range of sources, it brings together the often-separated disciplines of fashion, textile and design history.
In this long-awaited study, [Savi] probes with surgical acuity the connections in economics and fashion history that led to the worldwide spread and ... democratization of Italian fashion ... [exploring] new territory in terms of both method and sources ... with crisp color illustrations, indispensable for the reproduction of fabric patterns and drawings. * The Journal of Design History *
An incredible interdisciplinary achievement, and I can’t help but feel that spirit of Italian romanticism when reading it. Savi is relentless in her depth and tactful in her approach, but the delicate way she weaves it together is proof of her passion. * Fashion, Style & Popular Culture *
A very useful tool for both fashion scholars and theorists who can find previously unpublished insights, and for students who can approach the meaning and role of Italian fashion in a critical yet accessible way. * ZoneModa *
A beautifully researched, 'inside out' study demystifying the origins of Made in Italy fashion ... A long overdue resource. * Sonnet Stanfill, V&A London, UK *
Highly original ... offering radically new insights into postwar Italian fashion and its links with production, industrial and technological advances, and the fashion system. * Giuliana Pieri, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK *
Bringing together textile and fashion history and meticulously researched, Savi brings an innovative and important material and making-based dimension to understand the post-WWII rise of Italian fashion in new ways. * Catharine Rossi, University for the Creative Arts, UK *
The first study to bring together two well-documented but hitherto unconnected fields – post-war Italian fashion and post-war Italian textiles. Savi has brilliantly understood the umbilical cords that link them. * Penny Sparke, Kingston University, UK *
ISBN: 9781350247796
Dimensions: 230mm x 156mm x 18mm
Weight: 580g
248 pages