Ask for it! It's FREE. This CD-Rom
contains G.B. Giorgini history, some videos, testimonies and unpuplished photos on the
birth of Italian fashion.
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 While the city, suffering from the
effects of the war, starts on the road of reconstruction by entrusting itself to its
artistic heritage and to the thousands of shops that open on its narrow streets, Giovanni
Battista Giorgini planned his great dream: to create and export Italian Fashion.
First of all, the fashion houses had to come out from
their isolation and be convinced to take a risk together.
This Florentine gentleman, already active with his
buying office since 1923, knew the American market very well.
He also knew that manual ability alone was not
sufficient to accomplish this goal; high quality in the products and new ideas were also
necessary.
The self-set task of Giorgini, expert of art and
collector of antiques was based on a simple idea: to stimulate our best craftsmen to get
inspiration from the Renaissance tradition while emphasizing the typical features of that
period: good taste, creativity, joy of living.
Therefore, at the beginning of February
1951, on the invitation to a soir?e in his beautiful residence in Via dei Serragli, there
was a Sixteen Century portrait of a Lady with the message "The purpose of this
evening is to give importance to our Fashion. The ladies are kindly requested to wear
dresses of pure Italian inspiration".
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In the ballroom, dresses of the most important Italian ateliers of that
period were presented on a single catwalk.
There, that evening, names like Emilio Pucci or
Schubert began their careers. Each model appeared holding a number in her hand so that the
buyers could identify each dress.
These unpublished photos of that evening, from the
private archives of the Giorgini family, are the documents of the first steps of what
became the most visible phenomenon in the economic and artistic development of the Italian
post-war period.
Fresh from the Paris fashion shows, a few
buyers of the most important North American companies, I. Magnin, B. Altman, Bergdorf
Goodman, Henry Morgan and some journalists, among them, the "Women’s Wear
Daily" correspondent, were present.
It was the "gotha" of the
worldwide fashion. Giorgini had been worried fearing the comparison with the Paris shows.
What happened instead was an immediate success that
exceeded the best expectations. The buyers asked their stores to send more funds and the
ateliers were submerged with orders.
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 In July ‘51, for the second show where 600 dresses were presented,
Giorgini obtained the use the Grand Hotel; and then in July 1952, the use of the splendid
Sala Bianca of Palazzo Pitti was permitted. From the Sala Bianca, Capucci, Valentino,
Armani and many others got their start.
Also in 1952, the first man appeared on a runway.
He did not appear alone, but was accompanied by one
of the female models.
He wore a suit designed by Brioni. Later on, spaces
for children fashion, intimate apparel, and fabrics were created.
The road to Italian Fashion was laid. In the
60’s Giorgini opens the way to Ready-to-Wear, trusting in the potential of an area
where colors, design and care of the details are to become an Italian symbol.
Twice a year, Florence became the capital of good
taste attracting to the banks of the Arno River not only hundreds of buyers and
journalists, but even Hollywood’s famous actors and international high society.
Giorgini’s direction lasted for 15 years until
1965 when his mandate ended.
To this day, his dream is still a great reality that
continues to astonish, to fascinate and to generate wealth.
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