Learn Italian In Florence Italy

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Italian Fashion

Italian modern fashion was conceived in the 1920's when Count Giorgini staged a fashion show for an international audience in Florence. Giorgini rekindled the myth of the noble classes by opening up his palace for fashion shows, providing a fantastic, courtly setting steeped in history for the presentation of fashion collections. Members of the nobility themselves were often the ones who wore the dresses, for obvious reasons: only these princesses and noblewomen, ladies or misses, could, by their education, customs and culture, wear these fine clothes properly, and would end up presenting them in the courtly rooms of their own abodes or in museums alongside sculptures of fame, the epitome themselves of beauty.

Cinema too was influenced by Italian fashion: a classic case was the wedding of Linda Christian and Tyrone Power in 1949 for which the bridal dress was chosen in Rome. All of this went towards creating a stereotyped yet realistic image of the Land of the Beautiful, of Art and of Love. Dress took on the role of a charm for just like in ancient fairy tales, it was the magic means that made transformation possible.

In the Sixties everything changed: social roles and status changed in these years of protest and industrial boom. It was now clearly understood that through dress every woman could share the magic and interpret the myths of her own time, meaning that dress had now to be seen as creation and design. New styles in manufactured garments came onto the market and women across the world began to dress stylishly at a low cost. International acclaim for Made in Italy fashion reached its height with the triumph of “Prêt-à-porter” in the Seventies and Eighties when Milan became a fashion landmark, continuing through into the current trends of recent years inspired by avant-garde art and cultural movements of the XXth cent.: from Haute Couture to “Prêt-à-porter”, from the mini-skirt to blue jeans, fashion advances in a tireless process of regeneration and alternating of styles.

The story of Italian fashion unwinds like a fairy tale for its purpose is fundamentally different from that of fashion in Paris, London or New York. For Italians, fashion is an instrument of social redemption whereby class is determined according to what one wears; elsewhere all of this is inconceivable: beyond the confines of Italy, fashion is only a tool for confirming social status.

Italian Fashion  Short Courses

During the course students will be provided with information concerning the origin of the "Made in Italy", the great Italian fashion designers, their distinctive characteristics and their life history. Each lesson will approach various topics, such as terminology, textiles, accessories, fashion-shows and latest trends. The aim of the course is to make students learn the fascinating world in detail with an expert teacher.

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