The Fashion Businessblush of pinkness, strawberry and camelia reds, pale blue and periwinkle
blue, pistache and jade greens, oranges, yellows, bronzes’. The use of vibrant
colour predates that of London and Paris, and became an important part of
Italian fashion style early in its development.^30 Nor did Italian designers
restrict themselves to bright hues. Another daywear example illustrated in
this article is a coat by Fabiani, described as ‘a loose coat that’s camel-coloured
on one side, charcoal-grey on the other’.
Just below the level of made-to-measure couture was high fashion ready-
to-wear, known as “boutique”. Boutique fashions were produced in Italy
(by both couturiers and specialized boutique designers) and sold abroad in
the late 1940s, but it was not until the Florentine shows from 1951 that
collections of boutique began to be presented to an international audience
of buyers and press.^31 They are well remembered by witnesses. Gianni Ghini,
who helped set up the shows, defines boutique fashion as ‘different, novel
and fantastic, though not extreme. It was also comfortable, simple and more
wearable than the couture. Fabric and colours were important.’32 Ghini also
makes the important point that ‘it was much easier for the press to state that
the boutique was innovative, because the French did not have it’.
Boutique style represented a niche which Italy could carve out in the
international market, without standing in direct competition to Paris, or
copying it. Luigi Settembrini, who was a fashion PR in this period, echoes
these ideas, writing that even in the 1950s ‘Italians stood out for their greater
simplicity, their sophisticated use of colour and their attention to decorative
details... features like wearability, practicality, and simple cut were even
more pronounced in the boutique collections which accompanied the high
fashion showings. They were also more in tune with the “modern woman”,
especially the American woman who was understood to be active and
working.’^33 He continues, ‘It is these collections that represent a truly new
- Although there are examples of bright hues in French couture (for example, ‘Le Rouge
en Marche’, French Vogue, November 1957, p. 55, an article which presented scarlet coats
and suits by couture houses such as Patou, Heim and Chanel), sombre and pastel tones
predominate until the early 1960s. - Although some French couturiers were already designing what may be termed “boutique”
clothing before 1951 (for example, ‘Peignoirs de Plage’, French Vogue, July 1949, pp. 62–3,
including Dior trousers and beachsuits by Lanvin and Ricci), a systematic survey of French
Vogue, between 1947 and 1963 reveals few examples compared to the stress laid on this area
of production in press coverage of Italian fashion. - Gianni Ghini in interview, Florence, 17.10.95.
- Settembrini, Luigi, in Celant, Germano (ed.), Italian Metamorphosis 1943–68, New
York: Guggenheim, 1994, p. 485.