Fashion Environment – Italian designers in the 1950s.

The 1950s is a decade in which fashion statements were made and young women chose to abandon the notion that they should look and dress like their mothers. Dazzling dresses with fitted waists, wide skirts and bold and bright patterns emerged and shot to popularity, these kinds of dresses were befitting for dancing to Rock’n’Roll yet were still exceptionally fashionable.

These sorts’ dresses originated from the Italian fashion designer Emilio Pucci, even though he began his fashion career by designing ski-wear, as he was a fan of the sport, he created a line of vividly coloured and intensely bright patterned silk scarves in 1949 and continued to progress with his line of clothing, known as Pucci, further by incorporating his daring patterns with blouses and dresses. Pucci was attaining recognition for his clothing internationally by the early 1950s and received multiple awards over time; even the iconic Marilyn Monroe was a fan of Pucci’s line and was photographed in numerous items of his. And more celebrity fans gradually became fans of Pucci, even Madonna wore one of his items later on in the 1990s.

Marilyn Monroe wearing a Pucci print dress

Another Iconic Italian designer from the 1950s was shoemaker Salvatore Ferragamo made his first pair of shoes at the mere age of 9, for his to wear to an event, this was the moment in which Salvatore discovered his true calling and decided his profession. After travelling and working hard to achieve his goals, in the 1920s, Salvatore was creating unique, one-off hand-made footwear for Hollywood stars, such as Eva Peron, Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn.  Ferragamo shoes’ popularity peaked in the 1950s and he was also known and commemorated for designing the ‘cage heel’ and the ‘wedge heel’.

Audrey hepburn having a shoe fitting with Salvatore Ferragamo