Ciao Italia! America Has Fallen In Love With You
By Mari Davis
Photo below: Giorgio Armani on the runway, Fall 2005 menswear show
Photo by: Giovanni Pucci

DALLAS, Apr 15, 2005/ FW/ --- In a survey released by Ecco Domani in 2003, 77% of Americans have been to, or would like to visit Italy. And the reason cited – fashion and style.

It’s been two years since then, and the love affair between Americans and Italian fashion has not waned. In fact, it keeps on growing stronger everyday. Just look at the high-end boutiques at the mall and you’ll see Italian fashion.

Of course, this love affair did not happen overnight. One of the early names in the long list of Italian designers is Salvatore Ferragamo, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1914 and created footwear for the American Film Company until 1923, i.e., until he decided to go back to his native Italy and continued a successful business in Florence.

But, in recent memory, it was Giorgio Armani who brought back the attention to Italian fashion that reached even the U.S. heartland with the 1980 film ‘American Gigolo.’

Dressing lead actor Richard Gere for the film, Giorgio Armani became a household name, though his label that was launched only in 1975 just turned five years old.

In one strategic move, he introduced an entirely new philosophy in men’s dressing and closed the chasm between business suits and leisurewear, something Armani did for “Julian Kaye” the character played by Richard Gere.

Together with the rise of Gianni Versace and Prada, it was very hard for the American public to look away. They were enamored enough, that more than two decades later, the love affair between Americans and Italian fashion is still going on!