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Milan Dress is the Insider’s Guide to Italian Style and Fashion.
Milan Dress is a celebration of the “Italian Look”: the stylish Prêt a Porter fashion that catapulted an industrial city into a fashion juggernaut. Milan is where the beautiful people, fashion editors, and buyers flock to year after year to buy gorgeous clothes, impeccably crafted leather goods, and to experience world-class service. Milan is home to well-known Italian Fashion Houses as well as in-vogue boutiques, and all are featured on Milan Dress.
When one thinks of fashion capitals, Milan, Paris, and New York now quickly come to mind. But this wasn’t always the case. Prior to WWII, Paris Salons and Couture Houses were where America and the world turned for the next year’s styles and looks, while Italy was more well-known for its textiles and superb craftsmanship. Italian artisans were employed in Paris for their handwork because they surpassed all others when it came to making shoes or sewing embroidery on a garment.
Accessories were Italy’s strength at the turn of the century, with names like Gucci, who began as a saddle maker in 1906 and by 1923 was making handbags and other accessories in Florence. Gucci’s handbags and loafers sporting green and red bands and the trademark double G emblem quickly became the symbol of an affluent life-style.
Salvatore Ferragamo was equally instrumental in putting Italy on the map with luxury leather goods in the form of gorgeous shoes. Ferragamo spent the turn of the century in America, even setting up a small shoe salon in California, which quickly became the darling of Hollywood. Ferragamo returned to Italy in the late 1920’s and set up his workspace in Florence, which has since set the bar for innovation and style in shoe design and craftsmanship.
With Paris in shambles after WWII, Italy embraced its future as the exporter of fun, sexy Italian style embellished by a hint of aristocracy. Italian women were considered chic and stylish wearing the “sun clothes” in Italy’s resort towns that American women read about in fashion magazines. A natural progression was for Italy to become a vacation destination for the affluent Americans and Europeans.
Couture Houses sprang up in Florence and Rome, and the resulting opulent fashion shows were showcased in prestigious villas. The shows attracted buyers and editors from the US who gushed over the aristocracy as well as the garments and accessories. Shows in Florence showcased accessories and boutique fashion, while in Rome the focus was on couture fashion.
One of Rome’s--and arguably the world’s--most prestigious couture label is Valentino. Valentino Garavani studied in Paris, and then moved to Rome in the early 1960’s where he dedicated his successful career to the couture tradition. Valentino dressed many celebrities, from socialites and royalty to Hollywood’s A list; his designs reflect an opulent lifestyle that his clients embraced.
The 1960’s pushed the “Italian Style” further through Hollywood’s embrace of all that is Italian, including Emilio Pucci’s techno color silk prints fashioned into mini dresses, scarves, and shirts. Pucci was at the forefront of easy, comfortable, breezy clothes. Sans the restrictive undergarments women had been suffocating in for centuries, his designs showcased the natural female form, with bared legs worn with or without sandals. Pucci deserves a great deal of credit for producing the sophisticated, elegant sportswear that changed the way the world dressed and was an integral part of the cultural revolution of the 1960’s.
But what of Milan? This sleepy factory town was becoming one of the top three fashion capitals of the world. While Florence and Rome were competing for buyers and fashion editors, Milan was attracting independent designers who were opening up small ateliers north of Duomo on streets like Monte-Napoleone, Della Spiga, Sant’Andrea, and Manozoni.
Sometimes better known as the “Quadrilatero d’Oro,” the Golden Quadrangle is Milan’s famously opulent shopping district, although it was not widely known by the world until the late 1970’s. Milan welcomed Tai and Rosita Missoni in the late 1960’s; this husband and wife design team were known for their modern geometric designs in bold colored knitwear.
Founded by Mariuccia Mandelli, Krizia was also making the scene around this innovative period with upscale handbags and clothes, and buyers and fashion editors made note of the upscale sportswear, exquisite craftsmanship, and luxurious fabrics that were gaining traction in the fashion industry--and it was all happening in Milan!
The “Italian Look” evolved with the break-out designs of Giorgio Armani, who moved his operation to Milan in the early 1970’s and there became known for his luxurious menswear that was unstructured and relaxed, yet elegant, and could be bought right off the rack.
Armani then took this same approach when dressing professional women; the aesthetics were unquestionably elegant, yet powerful. Others followed to add to their version of “The Italian Look”: Gianni & Donatella Versace brought flamboyant Italian Girl Glamour to the fashion world and became a force among their celebrity friends and clients.
Versace not only designed for women, but also brought his fashion sense to menswear, as well. Breaking all the rules, Gianni Versace was very influential in adding to what is considered the “Italian Look.” Donatella Versace took over as lead designer after her brother’s murder, and since then has added her own influences to the label while continuing to incorporate Gianni’s aesthetics, making Versace the go-to label for glitz and glamour.
Prada flourished under the leadership of Miuccia Prada who wanted to provide women with “subtly and desirability in fashion.” Classically hip, Prada was once a leather goods company and is now a fashion powerhouse.
We would be remiss not to include Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana who launched their label Dolce & Gabbana in the early 1980’s and quickly rose to the top as players on the International Fashion scene. The muses for their label are the voluptuous film stars that you might see in La Dolce Vita. They are all about gorgeous sexy dresses; their atelier is in Milan.
Further testament to how Italians keep the business in the family are the Canali brothers, Giovanni and Giacomo, who opened their tailor shop in 1934 to make bespoke suits for gentlemen. In the 1950’s their children took over the business, and it has grown to international recognition on the world stage for fine menswear.
No other country has been able to duplicate the way the Italians manufacture garments and leather goods. All the elements of a garment are “Made in Italy,” from buttons to cashmere to fine wools to leather: all produced in Italy.
So your challenge when visiting Milan is to dress fashionably but without effort. And please, leave the baggy shirts and bicycle shorts at home! It isn’t difficult: a simple sundress with a cute pair of sandals always works and is equally comfortable.
Jeans, a white men’s shirt, and a pair of oxfords is also perfect for walking down Monte-Napoleone to do a little window-shopping; there is nothing sexier than a woman in menswear, and Italians do admire sexy.
Gentlemen: jackets are appreciated for dinner, although you are not necessarily required to wear a tie; simply don an open-collared shirt, a herringbone blazer, a pair of jeans, loafers sans socks, and you are ready to go!
If you are headed just south of the Duomo to Corso di Porta Ticinese, which is a very urban hip enclave of shops, throw on a pair of jeans, a black t-shirt, black motorcycle boots, and you’re there!
There is no better city than Milan to catch a glimpse of some of the world’s most celebrated style icons, including Luciano Barbera, head of the Carlo Barbera Mill, who is always impeccably dressed and whose style is often referred to as “aristo-casual.” You may spot Editor-at-Large for Japan Vogue, Anna Dello Russo, who is known to be a passionate fashionista, sports incredible aesthetics, and is never shy about wearing a hat.
Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Italia, Franca Sozzani, champion of fashion, art, and design, might be spotted stepping out of her sister’s boutique, 10 Corso Como. Milan is a city where the art of being creative is a thriving business and where the inhabitants are exquisitely stylish.
Some of the most sophisticated fashion in the world awaits you in Milan, and Milan Dress is here to bring all that is fashionable to you.
