EBHA Conference DRAFT VERSION Frankfurt, 1-3 September 2005 PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE ADVERTISING AND SELLING FASHION: THE BOCCONI DEPARTMENT STORES’ MAIL ORDER CATALOGS in the 1880s Elisabetta Merlo, Bocconi University (
[email protected]) Francesca Polese, Bocconi University (
[email protected]) Introduction This paper investigates the early development of the Italian fashion industry by considering the specific case of Milan at the end of the 19th century. In those years the city was not only one of the most advanced industrial centers of the country, but it also boasted a quite diversified productive environment in which all actors making up the clothing and textile industry were well present. Distribution was largely made possible by the existence of a great number of artisans who manufactured and sold garments and accessories. Starting from the second half of the 19th century, these “traditional” actors were joined by large and modern department stores, the most important of which was the Grandi Magazzini “Alle Città d’Italia” founded by the Bocconi brothers (renamed La Rinascente in 1921, with a new managerial direction and property structure). The creation of a wide market for the products of the emerging fashion industry was supported not only by the attractive window displays and opulent buildings of the department stores, but also by their innovative selling methods and by their catalogs. The latter were especially important in advertising fashion products and accessories, diffusing behavior etiquettes and teaching of sewing, cutting and other techniques essential in the manufacturing process of clothing and garments. This paper analyzes one issue of the mail order catalogs published by the Grandi Magazzini “Alle Città d’Italia” at the beginning of the 1880s and compares it with other sources providing, on the one hand, information on current prices of other typologies of goods in the city of Milan, and, on the other, current wages and family incomes.