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
Christopher Bailey (fashion designer) December. While in Milan, Bailey met and began dating Geert Cloet, brand designer for Miu Miu. He split his time between his home in Milan and England. When Cloet was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2004, he and Bailey moved to Yorkshire to be near Bailey's family. Cloet died the next year. Bailey has been in a relationship with British actor Simon Woods since 2009. In May 2014 Bailey became the first openly gay executive among FTSE 100 corporations. Bailey is mentoring emerging British creative talent from UK institutions including the Royal College of Art and the University of Huddersfield.