Milan the Italian Fashion Capital

Milan is the second largest city in Italy with a dense population that is growing quickly. Milan is known as the major world fashion and design capital but it is also the main industrial, commercial, and financial center of Italy.  Its business district is home to Bosa Italiana Italy's main stock exchange. 


Italy's Fashion Designers  are well known for men's wear, shoes, leather goods, handbags, hats, scarfs, and gloves.  Italian designers have a reputation for using only the best textiles like leather fur, and silks. 

Milans fashion week is located in the heart of downtown Milan, Italy

Via Gerolamo Morone, 6, Milan, 20121 Italy






Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana works with young up coming designers to further grow and support the excellence of made in Italy.  Some of the organizations they partner with are N-U-DE, Next Generation (young designers 30 years or less), Fashion Incubator (fashion initiative to help young start ups), Bando Start Up Moda, and the Milan Chamber of Commerce


-Market weeks/ trade shows


Milan Fashion Week is the main market week/ tradeshow in Italy. This trade show is held semi-annually in Milan, Italy. One in February- March for the spring/summer and another in September- October for the fall/winter. Milan fashion week was established in 1958 as part of the Big 4 fashion weeks internationally, along with Paris, London, and New York fashion week. Milan fashion week is owned by Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, which is a non-profit association that promotes the evolvement of Italian Fashion.


-Important Designers

Dolce and Gabbana : Alfonso Dolce 
& Stefano Gabbana
























PRADA: Miuccia Prada




Prada FALL/ WINTER 2013




Miuccia Prada




 
Mario Group is an fashion supplier based in Milan and Paris, distributes worldwide Italian clothes wholesale, handbags supplier, the most Italian luxury brands and key French brands collections.

-Each season a fashion company needs to re-invent itself by renewing around 60-80% of its range
-The manufacturing process cannot be planned in advance in detail
- Risky to plan large lots of new items in advance when sales of lines, colours and finishing can be very different from those originally planned.

Hides The know-how developed by Mario Prada, regarding the choice of different quality hides, as well as tanneries most suitable for treating a particular type of leather, are an intrinsic part of the company’s heritage that Mario Prada passed on, and that subsequent generations have been able to preserve.
The high quality of the hides has traditionally allowed Prada – and still does - to highlight the natural appearance of the leather Prada Suppliers Gucci Complimentors One of the major complimentors to the clothing sector is the leather working industry in Italy
Two major districts are famous for leather industry in Italy:Santa Croce sull’Arno in Tuscany
35 % of Italian leather production
98 % of leather soles

Around 900 companiesVigevano in LombardyShoe-market for top end of the market
17.1 % growth well above the national average in the sector Value-Chain of the Industry Yarn is used for the production of fabrics as well as knitwear
Approximately 30,000 textiles industry
16, 336 fabric manufacturers
13,296 knitwear manufacturers
47,350 companies belonging to the clothing sector Weaving and Clothing This includes producers of fabric

White Fashion Milano – Marts and Trade shows

Two showings for women in February and September
Over three hundred booths Women’s collections S/S 2014 plus beauty// Exhibitors’  per month 
Over one hundred and sixty for men’s/women’s for January 2013


 Italian Fashion of the 50's

 Italian fashion started in the 15th and 16th centuries it was mainly influenced by art of time, especially by the master piece of Michelangelo and leonardo da vinci. Italian design were well known for their extravagance and expensive accessories, such as velvets, lace, ribbons and jewels. Italian fashion for ladies changed dramatically since 1460, where skirts were gathered or pleated and would often split up to see a sleeveless under dress.

Sources: 


Converse Chuck Taylor's Evolution of a Trend

The Converse Shoe Company was started in 1908 by Marquis Mills Converse in Malden, Massachussetts who had previously managed a footwear manufacturing firm.




The Converse company focused on providing winterized rubber soled footwear to men, women, and children.

In 1921 a shoe salesman that worked for the company by the name of Charles "Chuck" Taylor also joined a basketball team sponsored by the Converse Company called The Converse All Stars.  This led to "Chuck" redesigning the shoe, and selling the shoes while holding basketball clinics all over the country which led to popularizing the brand.



Taylor went on to make imporvements ot the shoes that he loved.  His ideas were to provide enhanced flexibility and support.  The added patch was incorporated to protect the ankle.  The shoes were soon worn by many professional basketball players and became the desired shoe for the up and coming basketball players.

It wasnt long before the All Stars were being worn by athletes in the Olympics and also American Soldiers during WWII training.





Emelie Sande in her Chucks

In the 60's thebrand took off and could be seen worn by 90 percent of professional and college basketball players.  Since the 60's the shoe has gained even more popularity with subcultures.


Cassie in her Chucks


















Click Here for Converse All Star Popularity Chart




 Sources:

 
 Coverse Archives

Chuck Taylor's on Pinterest

Wikipedia-Chuck Taylors