Milan

Milan
The Italian city of Milan is recognised internationally as one of the world's most important fashion capitals, along with Paris, New York City, London and Tokyo. It is additionally recognised as the main fashion city in the country, with Rome and Florence being other major centres. Milan has a long history within the fashion, clothing and textile industries.

Throughout the late 19th century, being one of the main industrial and economic powerhouses of the country, the city was a major production centre within the trade.
Throughout the 20th century, the city developed its role as a fashion centre, with a number of rising designers and figures within the industry which contributed to Milan's image as a stylistic capital

Milan
Milan truly became one of the world's top fashion cities in the 1970s and 80s, further developing and keeping its prestigious status into the 1990s and 2000s, being now seen as part of the "big four" cities. Milan is especially known for its role within the prt-porter category of fashion. In 2009, the city was declared as the "fashion capital of the world" by the Global Language Monitor, even surpassing its relative cities.The next year, Milan dropped out of the top four reaching sixth place,yet as of 2011 it is back at fourth place.

History of Milan
Milan's fashion history has evolved greatly throughout the years. Milan began as a centre of fashion in the Middle-Ages and Renaissance, as in Venice and Florence, T The making of luxury goods was an industry of such importance that in the 16th century the city gave its name to the English word "milaner" or "millaner", meaning fine wares like jewellery, cloth, hats and luxury apparel. By the 19th century, a later variant, "millinery", had come to mean one who made or sold hats. Later, in the early-20th century, Milan became a major centre of silk and textile productions. N Nevertheless, in the 1950s and 60s, Florence was the fashion capital of Italy and home of the Italian "Alta Moda", equivalent to the French "haute couture".

Fashion Designers In Milan

Milan has been home to numerous fashion designers, including Giorgio Armani, Valentino Garavani, GianniVersace, Gianfranco Ferr, Miuccia Prada, Krizia, Moschino, Etro, Trussardi, Missoni, and Dolce & Gabbana.

Houses and labels of Milan

Most of the major Italian fashion houses and labels are based in Milan, even though many of them were founded in other cities. They include Prada, Valentino SpA, Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Missoni, Moschino, Luxottica, Trussardi, Etro, Miu Miu and The eyewear company Luxottica.

Fashion Institutions and Agencies in Milan

The many fashion agencies and institutes in Milan include Beatrice International Models Agency, D'management Group, Why Not Model Agency, Istituto Marangoni and Style Design College.

Milan Fashion week

Milan Fashion Week is an apparel trade show held semi-annually in Milan, Italy spring / summer event held in February - March of each year and autumn / winter event held in September - October of each year. Milan Fashion Week, established in 1958 is part of the Big 4 fashion weeks internationally, the others being Paris Fashion Week, London Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week. The schedule begins with New York, followed by London, and then Milan, and ending the events in Paris. Milan Fashion Week is owned by The National Chamber for Italian Fashion, a non-profit association which disciplines, coordinates and promotes the development of Italian Fashion and is responsible for hosting the fashion events and shows of Milan.

Milan Fashion week

The events dedicated to women's fashion are the most important (Womenswear / Milan SS Women Ready to Wear, and Milano Moda Donna being the major fashion shows). The summer events dedicated to men include Menswear and Milano Moda Uomo. In 2012 Milan Fashion Week starts January 14 with Corneliani, and will be followed by shows from major fashion houses such as Roberto Cavalli, Dolce & Gabanna, Gucci, Prada and more.

Dolce & Gabbana

Dolce & Gabbana is an Italian luxury industry fashion house. The company was started by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana.
Dolce&Gabbana specializes in luxury items influenced more by designers and is more formal and 'timeless', responding to long-term trends as well as seasonal changes. It also sells sunglasses and corrective eye wear, purses, and watches. In April 2009 it launched its make-up range, unveiled at Selfridges, London by Scarlett Johansson. In February 2010, it was announced that American singer Madonna would design a collection of sunglasses titled MDG, set to be released in May of that year.

It also has a set of fragrances for men and women. An example is 'The One' which is a perfume by Dolce&Gabbana.

D&G
D & G was a casual line that follows an urban inspiration and attempts to set trends rather than follow them.

It is the younger, more flamboyant diffusion line of the brand.

Unlike Dolce&Gabbana, D&G sells watches as well as clothing. In 2011, Dolce & Gabbana decided to abolish the D & G-line in order to put "more strength and energy" into their other collections

Inspirations and style

Dolce & Gabbana's deeply colored, animal prints have been described as "haute hippy dom" taking inspiration in particular from Italy's prestigious film history. They claim to be more concerned about creating the best, most flattering clothes than sparking trends, once admitting that they wouldn't mind if their only contribution to fashion history was a black bra (Dolce and Gabbana 2007). D & G trademarks include underwear-as-outerwear (such as corsets and bra fastenings), gangster boss pinstripe suits, and extravagantly printed coats. Meanwhile their feminine collections are always backed by powerful ad campaigns, like the black-and-white ads, featuring model Marpessa photographed by Ferdinando Scianna in 1987 (Dolce & Gabbana).

Versace
Gianni Versace S.p.A. usually referred to as Versace, is an Italian fashion company and trade name founded by Gianni Versace in 1978. The first Versace boutique was opened in Milan's Via della Spiga in 1978, and its popularity was immediate. Today, Versace is one of the world's leading international fashion houses. Versace designs, markets, and distributes luxury clothing, accessories, makeup, and home furnishings under the various brands of the Versace Group. In 1994, the brand became a household name after the widespread coverage of the Black Versace dress of Elizabeth Hurley.

Versace lines
There are several lines that make up Versace: Atelier Versace, Versace Couture,

Versace Sports,
Versace Home Collection, Versace Jeans Couture, Versace Collection and Versus.

Versace lines
Versace Couture, which contains high-end, often handmade apparel, jewelry, watches, fragrances, cosmetics, handbags, and home furnishings, is the house's main line. Traditionally, this is the only line presented on the runway which is shown during Milan's fashion week, but this has not been strictly the case in recent years. Versace Jeans Couture, now renamed Versace Jeans, a casual clothing line, focuses on informal clothing and high-end denim and classic Versace print shirts.

It is readily available and comparably affordable, but has been discontinued from the United States for the most part.
Versace Sport encompassed active wear and accessories. The name was often printed on t-shirts.

Prada
Prada S.p.A. is an Italian fashion label specializing in luxury goods for men and women (ready-to-wear, leather accessories, shoes, luggage and hats), founded in 1913 by Mario Prada. The company was started in 1913 by Mario Prada and his brother Martino as a leathergoods shop Fratelli Prada (English: Prada Brothers) in Milan, Italy. Initially, the shop sold leather goods and imported English steamer trunks and handbags. Prada's originality made it one of the most influential fashion houses ,and the brand became a premium status symbol in the 1990s Prada was determined to hold a leading portfolio of luxury brands, like the Gucci group and LVMH.

Prada Boutiques
1993 Prada was awarded the Council of Fashion Designers of America award for accessories. Prada won another award from the CFDA, in 1995 as a "designer of the year" 1996 witnessed the opening of the 18,000 ft Prada boutique in Manhattan, New York, the largest in the chain at the time.

By now the House of Prada operated in 40 locations worldwide, 20 of which were in Japan.
The company owned eight factories and subcontracted work from 84 other manufacturers in Italy.

Prada Boutiques
Miuccia's Prada and Bertelli company were merged to create Prapar B.V. in 1996. The name, however, was later changed to Prada B.V. and Patrizio Bertelli was named Chief Executive Officer of the Prada luxury company. Prada is the main buyer from the Turkish leather factory DESA, which was found guilty by the Turkish Supreme Court of illegally dismissing workers who joined a union. The Clean Clothes Campaign, a labor rights organization based in Europe, has called on Prada to ensure that freedom of association is respected at the factory. The brand listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June 2011 which raised about $2.14 billion.

Prada Perfumes
PRADA for women, 2003 Tendre for women, 2006 PRADA Amber pour Homme (Prada Man) for men, 2006 Benjoin (Essence exclusive N9) for women, 2007 Infusion d'Iris for women, 2007 Infusion d'Homme for men, 2008 L'eau ambre for women, 2009 Prada Amber pour Homme Intense for men, 2011 Prada Candy for women, 2011.

Since 2003 Prada perfumes belong to Puig company In May 2007, Prada began producing mobile phones with LG Electronics. Three mobile phones resulted from this collaboration.