---
node: fashion_kingdom_of_italy
type: fashion
slug: kingdom_of_italy_fashion
title: "Fashion in the Kingdom of Italy"
lead: "In the Kingdom of Italy, elite dress still followed Paris, but efforts to grow a distinctly Italian fashion began; under Fascism a national fashion independent of Paris was promoted as state policy."
published: 2026-07-28
updated: 2026-07-28
image_file: kingdom_of_italy_fashion.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woman_at_the_mirror_(c.1896),_by_Giovanni_Boldini.jpg"
image_author: "Giovanni Boldini"
image_license: "Public domain"
change: "Created as a fashion sub-page under the history section, with a period image (italy region)"
requester: internal
reason: "Per the owner's decision, fashion lives under each history era"
---

## Overview

After unification Paris still set the fashion, but a domestic clothing industry grew on the base of Italy's silk and tailoring traditions.

## Key garments and style

In the 1930s the Fascist regime, under its autarky policy, set up the Ente Nazionale della Moda and promoted an Italian fashion independent of Paris. Home-made fibres such as rayon and the milk-based lanital were encouraged.

## Transition

After the Second World War, on this base, Italy leapt to become a global fashion power.