Ciao everyone! Today we woke up bright and early to make our way to Cattolica, a local university here in Milan. We started off with a lecture in fashion by professor Rinaldi. The lesson began by explaining the difference between fashion and luxury. It was an interesting concept to me that the two were different because I had always thought that luxury goods were just an extension of fashion. However, we learned that fashion is a form of speech. Therefore, it tends to change as different trends gain and lose their popularity. This is the key difference between the two because luxury is known to be timeless by always staying relevant despite trends in other areas. It was also interesting to learn that leather good companies such as Gucci and Hermès border the line between luxury and fashion. With time, they tend to stray further away from luxury by implementing seasonal collections that are affected by the timing of trends in the fashion industry.
As we all know, Milan is referenced as the fashion capital of the world. This being said, it makes sense that many designer brands are mostly Italian and based here in Italy. It is more convenient for these companies due to the many fashion shows and buyers that are located here. Finally, we discussed the fast fashion business model that got me thinking back to a course I just finished up this past semester. It seems as though this model implements a pull operations strategy which looks to the consumer to determine how much of a product should be produced. Despite this typically being associated with a better gauge on actual demand, it still comes with risks. In order to avoid these risks companies, such as Zara, produce products that are always changing in small batches, forcing consumers to buy now in the fear that it will no longer be available tomorrow. It was really reassuring to have the opportunity to see first hand how something I learned in the classroom could be applied to the fashion industry, which I hope to one day find my career in.
After our lesson, we took a tour of the university with some local Italian students. We also got to eat at their “canteen”, which many of us associated with our Market Central at Pitt. Something that differed from our market dinners is that every table had a full bottle of olive oil in the center. This was something that is absent at most tables in the United States. Our last stop on our itinerary today was to the National Museum of Science and Technology. Here we continued to gain knowledge on Italy’s past, yet mainly focused on the stories of Leonardo Da Vinci.
Of course, I couldn’t finish the day without stopping for gelato and trying a new spot here in Milan. We ended up breaking the rules and eating dessert before dinner. For our dinner, we ventured into a new part of Milan and were able to enjoy the beauty of the canals. We also got to experience eating at an aperitivo which is basically a type of buffet styled dinner here in Milan.
Ciao for now!