It was February 12, 1951 when Giovanni Battista Giorgini organized a fashion show in Florence that changed the fate of Italian fashion forever by launching into the world what would later become ‘made in Italy’. Since that day 72 years ago, Italy has dressed the whole world, from Hollywood divas to great personalities, creating a global style revolution that has forever changed the history of our country. The exhibition ‘Italia è di Moda’, from an idea and curated by Stefano Dominella, president of the Fashion and Design section of Unindustria, is hosted in Seoul in South Korea, in the halls of High Street Italia, from 1 to 12 February, under the aegis of the ICE Agency (Italian Trade & Investment Agency), the Italian Embassy in Seoul and Unindustria (Union of Industrialists and Companies of Lazio).
Italy has ‘dressed’ the whole world, from Hollywood divas to great personalities in international history, creating a global style revolution that has changed the history of our country. Italian fashion has always been in step with the times, often dictating the rules too. From the calm and elegant style of the ’50s, through the nonconformist creations of the revolutionary generation of the ’60s and ’70s, up to the explosion of the progressive phenomenon of the ‘young career’ of the ’80s, made in Italy has always attracted attention by carefully moving between innovation and tradition, between past, present and future, between talent and creative genius, between business and economy.
Today the contribution of Italian fashion is not only economic. The collections, designers and manufacturing companies continue to influence the rest of the world. From the 1980s onwards, the catwalks of Milan, Paris and New York have decreed made in Italy as a synonym of quality and the creations signed by Italian brands have become true icons of beauty and well-made. Here is the exhibition ‘Italia è di Moda’, a surprising exhibition itinerary, with clothes and materials never seen before, a creative-artisan excursus, both for a technical public and for ordinary visitors to the exhibition itself.
The exhibition will therefore be articulated through unpublished creations from important archives and contemporary collections made with processes that have written the most important pages in the history of international fashion and which are still created today with undoubted mastery, also thanks to new technologies. Plissé, embroideries, millimetric ribs, hand-painted fabrics and many other sartorial techniques will also be the protagonists. On display are the sartorial marvels resulting from the unusual creativity of the most important Italian fashion houses. Among the 50 creations, coming from important historical archives, here is the black and white jacket by Giorgio Armani, the total white by Walter Albini, the coat by Max Mara, the ironic creation by Franco Moschino dedicated to milk, with a wide skirt over which dominates a black and white cow, the dress by Emilio Pucci with the print that made him famous all over the world.
From the historical archive of Gattinoni here are the dresses of Hollywood stars Lana Turner and Kim Novak dressed in georgette and duchesse satin, Audrey Hepburn in an empire style, Anita Ekberg protagonist of the film directed by Federico Fellini, Anna Magnani’s little black dresses, the long tail dress with the iconic paisley print by Etro, the colorful print by Gianni Versace, the red by Valentino Garavani, the sartorial virtuosity by Gianfranco Ferrè, the colorful world of Missoni, the sequins by Enrico Coveri, the pure experimentation by Miuccia Prada. Just to name a few. Furthermore, alongside the initiative described, the Italian Fashion Days in Korea trade fair will be organized from 1 to 3 February in Seoul, the latter under the aegis of Emi – Ente Moda Italia. Italian Fashion Days in Korea is dedicated to presenting the Italian collections of clothing, footwear, fur, leather goods and accessories for men and women to Korean buyers and is organized in synergy between Aip, Assocalzaturifici, Assopellettieri, Sistema Moda Italia, with the support of Ice Agenzia .
Under the aegis of the Italian embassy in Seoul and Ice for three young designers, selected by Stefano Dominella, president of the Fashion, Design section of Unindustria, an ad hoc space will be set up within the event for the presentation of their capsules collection to buyers and the Korean press. The 3 designers Francesca Cottone, Gianluca Saitto and Michele Gaudiomonte will face the Korean market for the first time, one of the most important in the world fashion system.