America and the Italian textile industry were a force to be reckoned with following World War II, collaborating to revamp traditional means of design and the manufacturing of fine fabrics. Long before American fashion became the powerhouse we see today, Italian designers were the brains of the operation-making them responsible for the clothing that many American women bought and sought after.
Despite America being the global face of factory-made clothing at the time, it was no secret that clothing design was simply not their expertise. This was a match made in heaven seeing as though the Italian fashion industry had grown significantly stronger; majorly due to the absence of Paris fashion influences during wartime. As the United States grew heavily involved in Italy’s reconstruction post-war, Italy became a significant part of the United States fashion industry; making the two countries intensely intertwined both economically and socially. Italian designers such as Guido Carli, Emilio Pucci, and Alberta Ferretti approached fashion in a way that fully immersed the two cultures as one. These Italian influences are responsible for a plethora of garments and aesthetics that we still enjoy today, such as activewear, slip dresses, and the entire idea of haute couture fashion.