Italians have dressed well for centuries. Italian silk textiles were famous throughout Europe from medieval times onward. Italian woolen fabrics and Italian shoes gained worldwide prominence early in the twentieth century. Yet the Italian fashion industry as such is a quite recent phenomenon.
Prior to 1945 Italy, like much of the world, looked abroad for the latest fashions. Wealthy women bought their clothes in Paris; wealthy men had their suits and shoes custom-made in London. The middle classes employed dressmakers and tailors to produce copies of the latest Paris and London styles. True, Mariano Fortuny produced avant-garde dresses as well as elegant silk textiles, and Gucci leather and Ferragamo shoes became internationally known as early as the 1920s, but those were exceptions. The best-known Italian designer of the pre-war period, Elsa Schiaparelli, found fame only when she established her couture house in Paris.