Italian Fashion

3 Credits

Examines the history of Italy's fashion industry in order to understand how it gained strength and importance in Italian culture. The course will analyze how fashion has been effective historically as a communication system that has represented the development of Italian national identity and in turn has had considerable impact on Italian society and culture. The course makes use of novels, periodicals and films from the late 19th century post-unification period to the present and will highlight the close connection between the massive presence of art in Italy and its influence on the development of a collective sense of aesthetics that finds confirmation in fashion.