History of Italian Fashion (SIM)

This 16-hour course aims at illustrating and interpreting the models and styles, which have determined and outlined the costumes from the 15th century to the sixties, throughout the changes in the society as well as in the European culture.
Lessons at school will be combined with visits to the several Florentine museums displaying the development phases of this “Art”. At the Palatina Gallery students will observe clothes and accessories in the Renaissance paintings, while at the Costume Gallery and at the Stibbert Museum they will examine the original costumes of the past, and at the Textile Museum the main materials used for making clothes. Finally the course will introduce the students to the first and most significant Italian fashion designers of the last century. A visit to the Ferragamo Museum will be a relevant contribution in order to appreciate and understand the main role of Italy and of Florence in the Fashion industry from the 19th century to nowadays.

The program

Lesson 1. From the 15th century to the Baroque
The man and woman fashion from the late medieval gentry courts to the period of the great royal courts of the 16th century.
The Renaissance and the Baroque.

Lesson 2. Visit to the Palatina Gallery
Clothing and accessories in the paintings of the great 15th and 16th century masters.
The importance of the “Sala Bianca” (white room) in the Italian costume.

Lesson 3. From the French revolution to the Napoleon empire style
The magnificence of the French costumes: the Louis XVI style.
The fashion during the French revolution§ Napoleon and the neoclassical empire style

Lesson 4. Visit to the Stibbert Museum
The civilian and military man fashion in the world through the centuries.
Costumes and armours.

Lesson 5. Visit to the Costume Gallery
The second half of the 19th century.
The first decade of the 20th century.

Lesson 6. The Italian fashion from the belle epoque to the sixties
The first fashion designers: Elsa Schiaparelli, the Fontana Sisters and Salvatore Ferragamo.

Lesson 7. Visit to the Ferragamo Museum

Lesson 8. Visit to the Textile Museum in Prato

Please note
The program may be subject to some slight variations. The course will be held only with a minimum number of 3 participants.