Fashion is a research topic of increasing interest to economic and business historians as it points towards new understandings of economic growth and decline. This book explores the role of institutions and institutional change in the Italian fashion system from the 1940s to the 1980s.

Starting from the premise that institutions play a central role in explaining the peculiarity and development of the Italian fashion system, this book analyses the diverse institutional entities involved in supporting and promoting Italian fashion. The objective is twofold: to highlight, with a comparative approach, the distinctly polycentric nature of Italian fashion and to explain the emergence of the stylist as the outcome of a lengthy process of institutional change.

The book explores the role that institutions and institutional actors have played in making Italian fashion a key player into the world economy, enriching the existing interpretative framework through unique interdisciplinary analysis. This book will be of interest to researchers and students working in economic and business history, the history of fashion, and cultural studies.