Style and Merchandise. The Reception of Italian Fashion in Great Britain and the United States

di Stephen Gundle
in Memoria e Ricerca n.s. 23 (2006), p. 95

This article explores the way in which Italian fashion has been presented and employed in the public sphere in Britain and the United States. Special attention is paid to the construction of the media image of Italian brands and the influence of the specific dynamics of the retail sector in these markets. It demonstrates that while Italian fashion is able to rely on an array of appeals to foreign audiences, it is unable to control the perceptions and uses which derive from cultural contexts that are significantly different from the Italian one.