I recently worked as Special Features Manager for two lifestyle exhibitions, and as part of my brief, I had to deliver catwalk design shows for both a Spanish and Italian show.
The Italian show, Viva Italia, was a huge success, easy to source designer outfits - we had some fabulous clothes and everyone fell over themselves to show on the catwalk. There was a huge enthusiasm amongst retailers, designers and models. The Spanish show, Viva Espana, was still a great success, but it was so difficult to source designs that were Spanish.

Thank goodness for the wonderful PR team for Armand Basi - they were warm, friendly and incredibly helpful. Any ideas?

A. Italian Designer Jewelry History
The history of jewelry design in Italy is rich, diverse and passionate. Modern Italian designer jewelry draws from traditions in fine craftsmanship that dates back centuries. In many of the works by classical Italian jewelry designers, you see traces of Egyptian, Greek and Asian culture. From the 9th to 4th centuries B.C., these early Italian jewelry designers, whose gold jewelry designs have never been equaled in beauty, perfected the techniques that are still in use in making Italian designer jewelry today.

A prime example of the value jewelers place on their craft is seen in the life of one of the best known 19th century Italian jewelry designers, Pio Fortuna Castellani, who studied and revived the Etruscan "granulation" technique for crafting gold jewelry. The demand for gold Italian designer jewelry of today has not lessened, but the wonderful Italian sterling silver jewelry cannot be ignored either.

Now there are Italian jewelry designers that have chosen to work exclusively in the highest quality sterling silver, creating beautiful ornaments for every part of the body. The demand for Italian designer jewelry is the result of high production standards along with the originality, quality and diversity. The history of craftsmanship of Italian designer jewelry has always been highly valued, whether it was for gold, sterling silver or gemstone pieces.

Italian designer jewelry today continues to make fashion history with designs in bold and delicate gold, oversized and trendy sterling silver with diamonds or semi-precious gemstones. When you are ready to adorn your body with something beautiful, take advantage of the rich history of Italian designer jewelry to satisfy your every desire.

B. Italian Designer Sterling Silver Jewelry
While gold is ever popular, more Italian jewelry designers are turning to sterling silver to express their creativity, such as Stefani Argento, who manufactures beautiful designs exclusively in .925 sterling silver. In Valenza, the famous Italian city which is the undisputed world leader in jewelry designed with precious stones, you will find them combined in remarkable designs in silver.

Because of its high quality, the sterling silver jewelry of Italian designers is in high demand throughout the world. In fact, Italy is the power center of the European jewelry industry, with silver and gold articles covering 70% of the total production. There are over 10,000 companies operating in jewelry industry, employing 40,000 people for production.

Italy's history of fine jewelry design and craftsmanship continues today in both classical and contemporary styles. While gold designs are prized for their delicate artistry, in sterling silver the trend is oversized. Today's silver jewelry piece does not go unnoticed, the styles vary from sharp, angular shapes with alternating softer, rounder ones. The "au natural" designs combine wood with silver.

Where to Find Italian Designer Sterling Silver Jewelry
The jewelry-making districts of Italy are legend. You will find many top quality Italian designers with sterling silver jewelry showrooms in Arezzo and Vincenza. The designs you will find produced by these craftsmen honor the long history and tradition high quality of Italian silver jewelry. Italy designers are world renowned as the world leader in jewelry production because of their outstanding technical skills, which accounts for the abundance of jewelry schools in most of the cities of Italy, which hosts thousands of jewelry students from all over the world.

Count Giorgini started the 'Italian Fashion' craze in 1951, when he organised a fashion show to be presented to an International audience in Florence. He then continued to present other fashion shows at his palace, presenting new collections modelled by nobilty against a backdrop of fine arts and scenery. Nobilty would also model new collections at museums or exhibitions next to famous pieces of fine art. This all contributed to elevating the status of Italian fashion, and implanting in everyone's minds that Italian fashion gives you status, is very rich in quality,and almost 'fairytale' like.

In the 1970s and 1980s Milan made its mark as being the Fashion Capital of Italy, and the phrase Made in Italy became universally recognised as meaning 'high quality', and 'high fashion'.

A. Founding Father of Italian Fashion: Nino Cerruti
Nino Cerruti was still in his 20s when he started designing accessories and products for the fashion market, before he was hailed as the founding father of the Italian fashion.

Nino Cerruti was born in Biella in Italy where he took over the management of his family’s textile mills. Nino Cerruti became known as a fashion designed when he designed his own line of men’s wear called the “Hitman”.

The most famous of his designs in his men’s designs are the usage of three button singe-breasted look, like the designs that Giorgio Armani used. The only difference is that Cerruti’s works show a very luxurious textural fabric.

Nino Cerruti stated designing outfits for famous movie actors and even used them as his own models. Later, he expanded his work by producing his own advertising and promotions campaigns for his business. Nino Cerruti’s name also became famous for his fragrance lines. Included are Cerruti Image for men and women, Nino Cerruti for men, and Nino Cerruti pour femme for women.

B. Making Your Own Italian Fashion Statement
Hot pants, maxi skirts and, especially miniskirts are the staples of a woman’s closet and she can choose what she wants to wear when she wants to wear them. During a night out in town, you can see women wearing halter tops paired off with evening trousers or with a maxi skirt or other interesting clothing pieces. You can see empire line dresses in knee length or mini skirt style.

The fashion changes varied a lot during this era. Nike added running shoes in both gender’s wardrobes. The most popular hairstyles were the ones popularized by Farrah Fawcett (long and straight, one sided with wings) and Afro perms. Disco style clothing was also very popular thanks to John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever but easily became out of style because the slinky shirts, skin tight pants and platform shoes made the wearer uncomfortable. Make up was soft, fresh and natural. The staples were frosted lipstick, shimmery eye shadow and muted blush.

C. Italian Fashion Design: an Introduction
The fashion industry in Italy has been known to produce designs that can reflect pop culture trends among the population. Fashion designers translate these philosophies into art that one can wear. Aside from artistic statements, fashion design houses have also demonstrated excellence in producing clothes that are practical and functional for everyday activities.

The designer can specialize in three types of design: mass market pieces, ready-to-wear (RTW) clothes, and haute couture pieces. Retail stores and outlets typically sell these clothes. RTW pieces, on the other hand, are not produced in bulk unlike mass market clothes. You can find them in boutiques or high-end clothing stores. Concepts in fashion design not only lies on finished clothing pieces, but also on the fabric used.

Textile designers are equally influential in constructing an outfit; these are not just left to fashion design professionals. Textile designers decide on textures, patterns, and colors that will appear on a piece of cloth, which will then be tailored fashion designers according to the image in their heads.