Fashion and the Fair, an Eternal Flame

Exhibiting at the Fair was the final, crowning moment of a long process—a fortnight in which exhibitors of all walks, from the big industrial manufacturer to the small family-owned business, could show off a sample of their hard work.

From as far back as 1924, the Milan Fair dedicated a special pavilion exclusively to the presentation of Italy’s emerging fashion sector and to French haute couture. The “Theatre of Fashion” at the Milan Fair reflects in its very name the way garments were presented in the 1920s, front-on at centre stage, before the advent of runways.

Fashion parades at the Milan Fair were an early example of fashion houses coordinating their shows. The Fair Board’s official journal featured editorials by Vittorio Montano, director of the fashion house Ventura and the Italian High Fashion Syndicate, as well as in-depth coverage of the shows written by the scathing pen of Lydia De Liguoro.

From the 1930s to the outbreak of the war, the big Rayon, Vesta, Snia viscosa, and De Angeli Frua pavilions showcased at the Fair the very best of their collections—a home-grown glory for the delight of the regime.

For the Italian fashion industry, however, the fair’s timing in April and the unstoppable growth of the various industry sectors as they branched out into new fields left it little room to express itself fully within the space of the Milan Fair.

In 1978, the first two editions were held of a new specialist trade show, Modit, promoted by the industrial associations of clothing and knitwear manufacturers and focused on the international presentation of women’s collections.

Through the international resonance it created, the Fair did much to foster the success of Italian fashion designers and the Made in Italy label, tying its name to a creative energy and industry potential so very different to the other achievements of the Milan Fair and other specialist trade shows.

In 1986, the bond between the Fair and Fashion was further sealed with the staging at the “Great April Fair” of the show “Italy, Genius of Fashion”, a historical and critical exhibition of Italian fashion curated by the journalist Pia Soli. For one hundred years, Milan’s fairgrounds have been the home of Italian fashion.