The History of Italian Fashion

This chapter charts and summarizes events crucial to the understanding of the history of Italian fashion. The focus will be on the creation of the Italian fashion system, defined as the result of the vertical integration of sectors comparable in terms of production processes, and the horizontal integration of sectors that produce different kinds of goods depending on consumer preferences. This analysis is preliminary to the understanding of institutions as key actors in the Italian fashion system rise and development, with which the following chapters deal in-depth.