My first impression of Milan was that it looked like any small American city in many ways. The main difference that I noticed first was the constant presence of scooters and bikes, which are not as common in the US. As we were told before we arrived, Italians also dress notably better than Americans on…
Tag: Anila Ghosh
Day 12 – Leaving Milan
Our only group activity for today was a visit to the Milan fashion library. This library features an extensive collection of magazines, trendbooks, and lookbooks, all made available to local students and important designers. Designers can visit the library for inspiration, and local students often do research for their papers in this library. Looking through,…
Day 11 – Bottega Velasca
This morning was our second fashion walking tour of Milan. This time our tour focused on a company visit to Excelsior, a high-end department store that sells luxury fashion and lifestyle products. Our day was dominated, however, by a lecture given by a digital marketer for Bottega Velasca, a high-quality but average price shoemaker based…
Day 10 – many company visits
Today was full of company visits. Our first visit was to a logistics center that attempts to integrate the logistics of e-commerce with in-store retail. This type of operation is particularly necessary in Italy because of multiple cultural factors. Italians enjoy the experience and the challenge of shopping in local stores, so by delivering goods…
Day 9 – Fashion Consortium
Today was an opportunity to sleep in at first, which was fortunate because it was pouring for most of the morning. In the afternoon we were able to visit the Verona Fashion Consortium, a company that helps designers and small fashion labels expand their operations and try new designs. Their main goal is maintaining a…
Day 8 – Day Trip to Venice
As a fan of the work of Canaletto, an Italian painter who painted Venetian canals almost exclusively, I was excited to go to Venice and see some of these settings in person for the first time. I was not disappointed by the picturesque visual composition that is Venice. Every corner was photo worthy, until I…
Day 7 – Last Day in Florence
I believe that Florence has become my favorite city on Earth, and I’m sad to be leaving it so soon. I mostly spent my last day relaxing, since our only planned activity was a tour of the Accademia Gallery, which houses Michelangelo’s famous sculpture David. Even though this was an artistic excursion, the sculpture itswlf…
Day 5 – Travel to Florence
Even though the majority of this day was spent on the bus, I am fond of saying that a boring day in Italy is still more fun than a good day at school. This was apparent in the fact that the Italian gas station food was of far superior quality to sone of America’s actual…
Day 4 – Como Day Trip
I’m still indecisive about whether our day trip to Como was ruined or improved by the torrential downpour we encountered while on the lake. The day started out sunny, with breakfast at the hotel followed by a factory visit to Mantero. At this location Mantero houses its extensive fabric archive, in which they have catalogued…
Day 3 – University and Leonardo Da Vinci Museum
Today was the most academically fulfilling part of the trip so far. We attended a lecture at the Milan Cattolica University, which described broadly the different business plan types in the fashion industry. Our professor educated us on the luxury, fashion, premium, and retail business models for clothing, and also discussed the different aspects of…
Day 2 – Crash Course Italian and Walking Tour
Today our group took a crash course in Italian, taught by an American who has lived in Italy for the past year. I found her perspective to be very informative since she understood the mistakes and differences most commonly encountered by Americans in Italy. From the crash course a small group of us went out…