Italian glamour on show

Ankle boots, Dolce&Gabbana.

"Italy was at the forefront of convincing the elite consumer to buy ready-to-wear fashion, mostly because the Italian factories were so skilled at making it," says Sonnet Stanfill, curator of 20th century and contemporary fashion at the V&A. Indeed, the show, which runs until July 27 and is sponsored by Bulgari, highlights the starring role that textiles and manufacturing played in the industry's swift expansion.

"Knitwear grew out of undergarment manufacturing, so it was never bulky, and there are so many examples of Italian designers pushing for the right effect in the cut and construction of the textiles," Stanfill says.

In one room, a digital wall map of Italy shows the regions that have become world famous for their materials: Como for silk, Biella for wool and Tuscany for leather, to name a few.

Franca Sozzani, the editor-in-chief of Italian Vogue who co-hosted the dinner at the V&A to mark the exhibit's opening, says Italy was reborn after the war thanks to entrepreneurial clans such as the Maramotti family, the founders of Max Mara, and the Della Valles, who started Tod's.

"It was a way to survive in a certain kind of area where there was nothing," Sozzani says. "Soon, those districts became specialized ... while Roma was all about the small boutiques, tailoring and dressmaking."