History of Italian fashion century, cheaper silk was imported to Milan from Asia because the phylloxera pest infestation damaged silk and wine produced in Italy. After industrialization, metal, mechanical, and furniture manufacturing replaced textile production. Some of the first modern Italian fashion designers, such as Bulgari, Prada, Gucci, and Ferragamo, were founded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the 1950s and 1960s, Italian fashion regained popularity worldwide. On February 12, 1951, the Italian businessman Giovanni Battista Giorgini held a fashion show in Florence to make Italy an international leader in fashion design. Prior to his "soirées" in 1951 to 1953, Italy
Italian fashion after co-heading at Valentino together with Pier Paolo Piccioli now is the first female creative director ever at Dior, French fashion brand Rochas is created by Alessandro Dell'Acqua, Marco Colagrossi heads Ungaro after a few years under the directorship of Fausto Puglisi, Nino Cerruti founded his own Paris-based fashion house, Giambattista Valli's main ready to wear and high fashion lines are set in Paris and Stefano Pilati was for almost eight years Saint Laurent's head designer. Among the newest labels or younger designers, the most prominent are Aquilano.Rimondi (latest Gianfranco Ferré's directors), Au jour le jour, Sara Battaglia, Angelos Bratis,