For some time now, coverage of fashion has been one of the major contributors to raising Italy’s profile in the international media. Yet the buzz surrounding the latest men’s fashion shows marks a new turning point, especially when read in light of Milan’s comeback – carefully devised by the National Chamber for Italian Fashion – as the international fashion capital, characterized by the international press in recent weeks as posing a “challenge” to the glamorous catwalks of Paris and New York.
Indeed, reading the reports of foreign correspondents and fashion experts, what stands out most is how various players in the country are pulling together to make it happen. Fashion critics and buyers attending two back-to-back events, first Pitti Uomo in Florence and then Milan Fashion Week, were taken from one fashion capital to the other via a high-speed train service specially put on for them and dubbed the Treno della moda, or “Fashion Express”. Added to this, the journalists present did not confine themselves to reviewing the clothing collections. Indeed, the two events resulted in several articles being published detailing Florence and Milan’s cultural and tourist offerings, accompanied by customary pieces on the Italian lifestyle.
While fashion might – as The New York Times described it during Pitti Uomo in Florence – be “unavoidable”, the fact that fashion shows are no longer the main attraction in themselves but a magnet for international visitors has definitely become a plus. The drawback is that, for the moment, only a limited number of albeit significant countries – namely, the United States and France – have the turned the media spotlight on the sector.
Indeed, the disproportionate number of related articles published in American and French newspapers compared to other countries is evident. Ensuring that the same level of coverage is accorded in other markets would perhaps also help bring new tourists – over and above fashion buyers – interested not so much or solely in viewing the best looks to strut the catwalks, but in “taking in” the style that graces Italian cities every day.