Prada		The label appeared in 1913, its founder Mario Prada, was designing and selling exclusive bags, trunks, suitcases and shoes through two boutiques in Milan, and to some clients in Europe and America. As soon as the signature suitcase, made from heavy, cumbersome walrus skin, proved to be not suitable for air travel, Mario decided to design stylish waterproof handbags and leather accessories. In 1978, Miuccia, Mario’s granddaughter, took over the entire company. She was a mime with a PhD in political science, even though her education had nothing to do with clothing, her sense of fashion was unmistakable. The label continued to represent mainly leather goods at that early point. The company had been also having financial problems for several years. When competition from Gucci fashion house had taken its toll, Miuccia turned things around and steered the House of Prada to men's and women's haute couture. Shortly after she took the helm of Prada label, Miuccia married Patrizio Bertelli who afterwords contributed in the role of business manager, while Miuccia focused on designing and perfecting the new Prada look. Miuccia had been making black waterproof backpacks since 1970, out of a nylon fabric called “Pocone”. in In 1985 she unveiled the classic Prada handbag - simple, sleek, black nylon and it became an overnight sensation. The bag was simple, functional and sturdy, practical and fashionable. The high price tag that accompanied the Prada bags rapidly caused an onslaught of designer knock-offs, which only helped to make the genuine Prada articles more in demand. In the 1980’s, other labels were creating designs that played on sexuality. Popular frilly, lacy, brightly coloured garments that were low cut on top and short on the bottom. In 1989 Prada reveals the runway with its prêt-a-porter collection, with elegant, simple pieces featuring clean lines, luxurious fabrics, and basic colours. The fashion world took great notice, and Prada’s popularity rose to the highest levels. By the 1990’s, Prada became a leading force in men's and women's fashion.
Versace		This italian fashion designer, was born in Reggio Calabria in 1946. A dressmaker's son, Versace worked for several Italian designers before opening his own Milan studio in1978 with his brother Santo and sister Donatella. Gianni Versace became famous for designing flashy, sexy, beautifully cut outfits in strikingly extreme colours, patterns, fabrics, and leathers. His fashion empire prospered in men's, women's and children's clothing, accessories, jewelry, perfume, and housewares, spread some 130 boutiques worldwide, it's annual sales exceeded $800 million. Versace merged fashion and entertainment; his lavish shows were pop-culture events, and he drew inspiration from contemporary art, and films as well as art and design history. He also brought his styles to the stage, opera, and ballet. He was bruttaly murdered on the steps of his Miami Beach, villa by a fugitive serial killer. His sister succeeded him as his company's chief designer. Several lines shape up Versace Group today. They are: Gianni Versace Couture, Versus, Versace Jeans Couture, Versace Ceramic Designs, Versace Collection (which replaced Versace Classic in 2005) and Versace Sport. The first, with its high-end, sometimes even handmade apparel, jewellery, watches, fragrances, cosmetics and home furnishings, is the House's main line. Versace Collection, Versace Jeans Couture and Versus are all licenced diffusion lines. These collections incorporate elements of the signature line, while focusing on current seasonal trends. Versace Jeans Couture, a casual line, focuses on informal dsigner clothing: high-end denim and classic print shirts. Versace Jeans Couture is readily available and comparably affordable. Comprised of activewear and accessories, Versace Sport styles up the world of sports.
Valentino		Three Valentino generations, the grandfather Vincenzo, the son Mario, the grandson Giovanni, tell the success story of the Valentino family. In 1908, after professional training in Paris, Vincenzo returns to Naples and founds the first "Valentino" fashion house. The unique talent is soon recognised in Italy and abroad. Valentino's men's and women's clothes rapidly become the aspiration of an international clientele and the Italian Royal family. In the early 50's, Mario takes over the family business and follows in his father's footsteps with great enthusiasm and talent. In 1954, thanks to the stylistic attributes of the youth, "Vogue" France dedicates its cover, for the first time in history, to a creation bearing the "Valentino" name. His collections win the acclaim of press and public at the fashion shows in Rome, Milan and Paris and the brand boasts the most distinguished clients of the international elite.
Armani		Born in Piacenza in 1934, a small town near Milan, Giorgio Armani went to the local public school and developed a passion for the theater and cinema. He made his public appearance as a fashion designer in 1973-74, at the prestigious Sala Bianca fashion show in Florence, presenting his famous bomber jackets which treated leather as a regular, everyday fabric. By using materials in unexpected contexts and combinations made a defining characteristic of his talant. In 1975, Armani and Galeotti started their own company, Giorgio Armani S.p.A., and at this point founded the Armani label. That July, a revolutionary unlined and unconstructed man's jacket was launched. In 1982, Armani became the second fashion designer to appear on the cover of Time magazine after Christian Dior in the 1940s. He was one of the first designers to approach celebrities to wear his creations, beginning with then Los Angeles Lakers coach Pat Riley in 1988. He also welcomed Hollywood stars to wear his men's and women's clothing designs at the Academy Awards, winning Michelle Pfeiffer and Jodie Foster. Giorgio Armani has launched numerous lines, including: Armani Exchange (A|X), the most affordable diffusion line, sold in freestanding boutiques that sell this line exclusively. Armani Jeans, a moderate priced collection of jeans and clothes aimed at a younger market. Armani Casa, a novative line of furniture and accessories for the home. Armani Junior, a line of clothes for children. Emporio Armani, a line of ready-to-wear clothes and accessories for a younger market. Armani Collezioni the most expensive line of ready-to-wear clothes aimed at an older market. Armani Occhiali, an eyewear line designing both frames and sunglasses. Armani Privé, the haute couture line. Armani Collezioni for example is a high-end line from fashion designer Giorgio Armani.
D&G		The world-wide famous duet Domenico Dolce (born in 1958, near Palermo, Sicily) and Stefano Gabbana (born in 1962, Milan, Italy) met while working as assistants in an atelier in Milan. Sharing a love of the baroque, they made their name together in 1985, when the organisers of the Milano Collezioni invited them to take part in a fashion show to launch "New Talents". Next year, they presented their independent women's ready-to-wear D&G show. Since then, they have introduced menswear collections and a line of signature fragrances, and opened their shops in Italy, Japan, Hong Kong and London (the London salon, designed by British architect David Chipperfield, shows the designers' love of mixing their own Mediterranean spirit with English eccentricity). The company is comprized of two central lines for adults: D&G and Dolce & Gabbana. The first one forms more casual lines with slightly cheaper prices and follows an urban inspiration and preffers the trends of culture of the time and is trend-setting, whereas Dolce & Gabbana tends to use more luxury materials and is slightly more expensive than the latter. Dolce&Gabbana line does not change as much as D&G, and is influenced by sartorial designs, they describe it as "timeless". D&G Junior is a separate line for children under 13 y.o. that follows the general styles and embodies youth with the styles of its clothes. Each season follows a set-named trend for a season and is named for boys and girls. The line contains clothes for different age groups of children, influenced by popular culture compared to D&G. The Junior collections are distributed to more stores than the adult brands and are available outside of boutiques and department stores.
Fendi		Started in 1918, when Adele Casagrande opened a leather and fur shop in via del Plebiscito in central Rome. When Adele married Edoardo Fendi in 1925, they took a decision to change the name to Fendi. The business prospered, a new Fendi shop was opened in via Piave in 1932. By 1946 Paola, 15, the eldest of the couple's five daughters, started to work for the firm, followed by her sisters Carla, Anna, Franca, and Alda. In 1965 a marriage between the Fendis and German designer Karl Lagerfeld was sealed, and it proved to be fortunate for both. Karl immediately created the inverted FF logo that joined the growing list of international status symbols, and then set about, aided and abetted by the sisters, to revolutionize the treatment of fur and other attributes. What had once been a precious but stiff and heavy garment, transformed into a light, soft, easy-to-wear and above all flattering outfit. The Fendi team went on to invent new ways of working with fur, tanning, dying, and treating, and took previously unused skins and turned them into fashionable garments. By 1966 Fendi had presented the first couture fur collection, designed by Lagerfeld. It became an immediate success with foreign buyers. The president of Bloomingdale's Marvin Traub, discovered Fendi's leather goods and introduced them to the United States. Soon other outlets followed, and today Fendi has a large store on New York's Fifth Avenue, as well as numerous Fendi boutiques in the US and around the world. In 1969 Fendi presented its first ready-to-wear fur collection at Palazzo Pitti in Florence, bringing continuously evolving techniques and imaginative designs to lower-priced furs without sacrificing their quality. When the sisters couldn't find the fabric clothes they wanted to show under the furs, their ready-to-wear line was born, again with great success. It wasn't long before the "young" Fendissime line was created, followed by perfume and other licenses... Fendi lines today are: Fendissime; this "young" line (akin to Prada's Miu Miu line) was formed by Karl Lagerfeld in 1962. Fendi writing instruments; Fendi licensed their name and logo to Cross Pens in 1989. As of 2000, the line discontinued. Fendi watches; Fendi currently licenses out their name for their watches, which feature Swiss movements. Fendi Perfumes; In 1985 Fendi launched its first perfume, Fendi for Women. The line has been expanded to Theorema Uomo and Fendi Uomo for men and Celebration and Fantasia for women. Fendi eyewear; this line creates sunglasses and eyeglasses frames. Zucca; this is the name of Fendi's iconic "double F" logo pattern that covers purses and luggage from this line. Fendi furs; the fur line was what helped push Fendi to the forefront of luxury fashion brands. Fendi prêt-à-porter.
Gucci		Born in 1881, Guccio, craftsman’s son founded the House of Gucci as a saddlery shop in Florence in 1906. Guccio's first talent was his craftsmanship in leather goods. He started out by selling leather bags to horsemen in the 1920’s and advanced to luxury luggage as his clients graduated from equine transportation to horseless carriages. In 1938 Guccio Gucci opened their first retail shop on now famous Via Condotti in Rome. The immediately recognizable Gucci icon, the leather bag with bamboo handle, is created in 1947 . In the 1950’s the trademark red striped webbing is introduced, taken from its original form place on a saddle girth. This became an emblem much like the leather moccasin with leather bit. He created most of his classic styles early during the 1950’s; men's and women's products such as luggage, ties, shoes, and the famous handbags sporting the bamboo handle. After his death in 1953, the family took the enormously successful company to new heights by opening stores in Paris, Beverly Hills, London, Palm Beach, and Tokyo. The 1960’s brought ever greater fame to the Gucci Empire. Such Hollywood stars as Grace Kelly, Peter Sellers and Audrey Hepburn made the brand Gucci synonymous with “chic”. Jackie Kennedy helped by being photographed with the Gucci shoulder bag, which subsequently became known as the “Jackie O”. At this point the company adopts the “GG” logo. In the 1990’s, Tom Ford, Gucci’s newest executive head, has brought Gucci to the center of the chic world, and now forwards a varied line of products including leather fashions, perfumes, colognes, cosmetics, shoes (including the moccasin with the distinctive Gucci snaffle-bit), the "Flora" foulard created for Grace Kelly by Rodolfo Gucci, suitcases, watches, jewelry, silk scarves, sports articles, belt clasps (the one with the Guccio Gucci initials, was introduced 1964), ties, and eyeglasses. In 2005, Tom Ford started designing a line of cosmetics for Estee Lauder, and planned his own line of ready-to-wear and accessories under a Tom Ford label.
Diesel		Founded by Renzo Rosso in 1978, the company now is an innovative international design company, manufacturing jeans and casual men's and women's clothing as well as accessories. Diesel is present in over 80 countries with 10,000 points of sale and almost 50 company-owned stores. He surrounded himself with creative, talented people - innovators who, like him, rejected the slavish trend-following typical overused fashion industry. Renzo wanted to come up with a more dynamic and imaginative line than was available anywhere else. He gave his open-minded new designers broad stylistic freedom, hoping they could create a line especially for people who follow their own independent path in life. Particularly for those who express their individuality also by the way they dress up. It is for this reason that the company immediately became a world leader in developing styles, fabrics, manufacturing methods and quality control, guaranteeing an outstanding quality product. The company views the world as a single, border-less macro-culture and the Diesel staff reflects this: a wide variety of people from all parts of the globe, creating an unpredictable, dynamic vitality and energy. Diesel people and their creative working methods are so unconventional, and yet productive, that they have been profiled in countless magazines, newspapers and documentary television programmes, and have been studied by international conglomerates, consulting organizations, universities and business schools. Today Diesel is a global concern with a consolidated annual turnover of US$ 330 millions, 85% of which is generated outside Italy. The Headquarters are located in Molvena, the north-eastern part of Italy, managing 12 subsidiaries across Europe, Asia and the Americas. Diesel employs over 1,300 people worldwide.The Diesel brand was born more than 20 years ago and today became an innovative international design company, manufacturing jeans and casual wear as well as accessories.