Rome and fashion: yesterday, today and tomorrow…..

Rome and trend setting fashion is a connection that dates back to very ancient times, and is still a strong and unbreakable aptitude that the eternal city has been inspiring for centuries.

Beauty art and fascinations starts off in the Imperial Rome where in the myth of the strength, power, and revolutionary innovation, fascinates the world with it’s exhibition of immense riches with its gold, marbles and precious stones in all angles that filled the city with glamourous beautiful fountains with chilling fresh water for all that came from hundred miles away and it’s beautiful public baths, social events, parties and celebrations for all the Romans citizens, tourist and merchants that came from all over the world to buy and sell in this opulent city, that inspired the desires throughout the ancient world to want to be part of it and imitate the Roman style and way.

In the modern era in particular there is a year that marks the returning point for the trendiness of the Eternal City, and makes her become again the undisputed center of interest for the entire European aristocracy.

In 1871, when Rome was declared capital of the Italian State. The capital city lives its Belle Epoque, characterized by a new economic, political, cultural and artistic transformation. The Savoy court arrives in Rome, new standards of living and consumption begin to rise again, women crowd the trendy salons and cafes to socialize and the myth of the Roman way spikes up the frenetic race to Rome in search of the best Italian tailors and mastery.

The newborn capital city, is the symbol of aristocracy and high bourgeoisie typical of D’Annunzio’s story. Via del Corso is filled with shops and become the commercial heart of ‘luxury’ of the city. The central streets are crossed by carriages and crowded with ladies with wide skirts and hats on their head, and elegant men with, cylinders, gloves and sticks. If in 1871 Rome has less than seventy tailors, only ten years later it has more than two hundred, 382 in 1891 and 524 in 1901. The clothing shops, from three hundred in 1871, in a decade will triple, and kept on tripling since.

That’s how Rome became the reference point for high-end masculine and feminine tailoring, and a icon, all over the world, of the Italian excellence and craftsmanship. Meticulousness, precision in cuts and hand embroidery, become the most sought-after items by VIPs and royals, which came to Rome in search to commission the trendy tailormade creations.

Another date links Rome and the world of fashion. November 23 – 1965, the year in which the Eternal City became the official capital city of Italian high fashion, and the Roman High fashion institute is born.

Tailors and milliners abound in the capital. The most important roads are crowded with fashion ateliers, artisans’ workshops. For example, the goods were exposed meticulously to attract the attention of passers and tourists. The new Roman shops with their adorned windows and signs changed the face of the city into the biggest and most fascinating open shopping mall ever seen (and to be seen so far).

Rome becomes the reference point of the so-called “Hollywood on the Tiber” from the end of World War II. It is in these years that explodes the famous duo fashion-cinema that sees Rome populated by all major Hollywood divas.

The birth of the famous Dolce Vita sparks off in the Capitoline atelier of Fernanda Gattinoni where famous personalities such as Ingrid Bergman and many celebrities, stars, dignitaries and famous personas convey and the mens tailors collect the enthusiasm of stars like Gary Cooper and Marcello Mastroianni, creating Rome a must be place for all that count and want to count. In 1959, a twenty-seven year old of Voghera, Valentino Garavani, opened his first atelier in Via Condotti, putting the first step of his legendary career, as many in this enthusiastic escalation like; Renato Balestra who  was guiding the Roman fashion scene. Behind these luxury debutants, were bright emerging talents, such as those of Aurora Battilocchi , Maria Antonelli and later Fontana sisters, that pioneered those unique creators of fashion that made Rome the most trendy high fashion center in the world.

A passion, that of art and fashion, which flows in the veins of the Romans and therefore Italians for a couple millennia, always reinventing itself, with new proposals that keep on fascinating and attracting the desires of the most demanding and refined tastes that adore the timeless creative excellence of the Italian Style and workmanship that roots all the way back to the Roman Empire and for this makes Rome the pulsing heart and absolute protagonists of all international fashion stages by far.

No artist, no fashion designer, no architect and no one person who wants to be inspired, by the infinite beauty of millennia of art and history and fashion, can avoid not to immerse him/her self in this artistically perpetual and pulsing eternal magnificent city, and not be influenced and walk away with a new fascinating aura that all will notice especially if one adorns it’s self with the elegance and masterpieces that only here in Rome one can find, and this eternal pulsing heart of art that inspires the worldwide adored Italian Style.

The ancient Rome lives on, inspiriting great artist like; Fendi, Bulgari, Valentino, Gattinoni, Gai Mattiolo, Roccobarocco, Lorenzo Riva, Renato Balestra and Raffaella Curiel, Fausto Sarli, Roberto Capucci, Lancetti etc. on and on and will inpire you too.

Ask for our unique fashion tours, personal shoppers and personal look makers to get the BEST out of luxury shopping in Rome and if you are a high spender, we will create the most fascinating and unique experience just for you with a customized private defilè enriched with a unique storytelling experience.

Enjoy this historical video of a runway in 1962 in Rome Palazzo Barberini that denotes the timeless elegance of the Roman High Fashion still in vogue today: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x16v6dp_italia-il-centro-romano-alta-moda-italiana-ha-presentato-le-collezioni-per-la-primavera-estate-1962_shortfilms

Stay tuned every week we will bring you the Roma Luxury insiders top fashion trends, enchanting windows, news and happenings.