The Italian Fashion System: The Role of Institutions and Institutional Change, 1940s–1980s (Palgrave Studies in Economic History)

Fashion is a research topic of increasing interest to economic and business historians as it points towards new understandings of economic growth and decline. This book explores the role of institutions and institutional change in the Italian fashion system from the 1940s to the 1980s. Starting from the premise that institutions play a central role in explaining the peculiarity and development of the Italian fashion system, this book analyses the diverse institutional entities involved in supporting and promoting Italian fashion. The objective is twofold: to highlight, with a comparative approach, the distinctly polycentric nature of Italian fashion and to explain the emergence of the stylist as the outcome of a lengthy process of institutional change. The book explores the role that institutions and institutional actors have played in making Italian fashion a key player into the world economy, enriching the existing interpretative framework through unique interdisciplinary analysis. This book will be of interest to researchers and students working in economic and business history, the history of fashion, and cultural studies. Introduction References Contents List of Tables 1 The History of Italian Fashion 1.1 The 1950s: Italian Fashion Attracts an American Audience 1.2 The 1960s: A Crucial Decade 1.3 The 1970s: Italian Fashion at a Historic Turning Point References 2 Fashion: A Matter of Governance 2.1 The Relational-Centralized Model: The EIM 2.1.1 The Birth and Rebirth of the EIM 2.1.2 Organizational Structure and Activities 2.1.3 Fashion Fairs: SAMIA and MITAM 2.2 The Municipal Model: The CFMI 2.2.1 Florence and the CFMI: The New Capital of Italian Fashion? 2.2.2 Organizational Structure and Activities 2.3 The Business Interest Model: The AIIA 2.3.1 The First Ready-to-Wear Business Interest Association 2.3.2 Organizational Structure and Activities 2.3.3 Planning Fashion: The CMIA 2.4 The Hierarchical Model: The CNMI 2.4.1 The CNMI Before the CNMI 2.4.2 Organizational Structure and Activities References 3 Institutional Failures and Innovation 3.1 The Result of Twenty Years of Institutional Particularism: the Rise of a New CNMI 3.2 Institutional Anachronism 3.3 The Unexpected Winner: The Stylist as Institutional Innovation References Conclusions Index