Do Italian Tights Brands Make The Best Leg Wear In The World?
Italian tights have a very special place in the world of fashion. What we do here at UK Tights falls under that term. Fashion is a phenomenon that covers far more than just catwalk clothing. Whether it is an everyday item or a seasonal one. Whether its high end or more affordable. If you wear it, and it helps you express yourself, it is fashion. But who makes the best fashion tights out there? Many people would instinctively say Italy. But is that true? Do Italians make the best leg wear in the world? Let’s take a look.
Firstly, Where Is The World’s Fashion Capital?
There are few places that are more respected for fashion than Italy. But there are two other contenders, France and Britain. These three have been the greatest producers of apparel in history, with richer traditions than any other. There is also New York as the newest contender, but London, Paris, and Milan are the traditional centres of style. That’s for many reasons, but in short, here is an explanation for each. London invented the modern suit and tuxedo at Saville Row. Paris was a cultural pilgrimage for everything refined and made seasonal wealth displays something the rich did. And Italy is a boutique culture of manufacturing, with thousands of small designers, maximising creativity. And they are a natural place for seaports in the Mediterranean. But see our full post on this fascinating history for more.
So, Why Is Italian Fashion So Beloved?
If you want to talk about Italian tights specifically, then the reasons for Italy’s prestige are fascinating. They are also varied and multiplicitous. The number of great fashion houses in general in Italy is impressive. But the reasons for that are the same reasons for the number of tights designers. So what are they exactly? Well we have narrowed them down to three main influences. The location of Italy in the Mediterranean, the climate of the country, and the culture of design.
The Location Makes Italy, And Italian Tights, Special
Italy is right in the middle of the Mediterranean. It also sticks out into the seas, providing a long coastline for seaports. It is a natural location to land your trade ships. You can see this in the legacy of Italy’s trade networks. Most obvious is Venice. At the very top of the Adriatic sea, it is the perfect place to land a vessel. From there, you can off-load your cargo in order to bring it to all of Europe. There are passages through or around the Alps. The Danube is not a million miles away if to take cargo down a river barge. And go westward and you have France and Spain. And of course, perhaps more importantly, everything made in Europe can come out of Italy. From there it makes its way to North Africa, the Middle East, and down the Silk Road to China.
What Makes Italy’s Location So Perfect For Legwear?
Like we mentioned before, being a trading hub has real advantages. It means you have all kinds of influences on your designs. But for tights specifically, it is even more interesting. So many Italian fashion tights have influences from North Africa and the Middle East. You can find some wonderful arabesque patterns in Italian fashion tights. Yes, most of them are baroque inspired from the Italian architectural tradition. But occasionally they are filled with Arabesque influences, which are more geometric and regimented. Plenty of diamonds and squares and octagons, all interlocking and interacting.
Italy’s Climate Is Superb For Fabrics
Italy is a very longitudinal country, which is a fancy way of saying it is long. It runs north to south, and as such, it has a pretty variable climate. In its northern climes, it is very mountainous and colder. In its southern regions, it is warmer and more arid. This makes the type of fabrics and dyes you can get there quite diverse. For example, wool from Northern Italy is some of the best in the world. It is some of the softest and most healthy. That is because of the superior grazing in the Alps at a higher climate. The sheep there are bred for larger yields of wool and for warmer and higher quality wool too. If you have an Italian wool coat, the softness and the heat retention is noticeably higher.
How Does Italy’s Climate Make For Great Italian Tights?
If you want wool tights, you will get the most beautiful Italian Lana. Or maybe even plush and soft merino from the Alps. Cotton is also grown in Italy, thanks to its hot climate. In fact, it is a net exporter of cotton, producing a little more than it consumes. It is not by much, admittedly, but the organic cotton industry is growing steadily in Italy. And there is also a silk industry in Italy, as silk can be made in a relatively small space. It requires more skill and investment than the other fabrics here. But as Italy’s sense of craftsmanship is unrivalled, this is no problem for them. And that leads us to our next point.
Italian Tights And The Boutique Approach
Everything in Italy is boutique and discreet. What do we mean by that exactly? They specialise in small craft industry, and small companies that just do a handful of things. A boutique manufacturer might be workshop of a dozen people. A discreet brand might just make scarves, or woollen products for example. Yes, Italy has the giants too. Armani, Versace, Valentino, Prada, etc. But they also have perhaps the largest number of tiny brands too. Italy is an ocean of smaller beautiful brands that each do something special. This means you get lots of experimentation. And plenty of new and interesting trends come out of these fashion houses.
How Does The Boutique Approach Make Italian Tights So Amazing?
Tights are one of the easiest things to imprint upon. A blank canvas to knit and weave and adorn anything you want upon the fabric. It is perfect for the creation of something beautiful and stunningly sexy, or something elegant, or something outrageously experimental. Thanks to the boutique manufacturing approach of Italy, a thousand talented designers are producing a dozen items apiece. Elsewhere in the world, it might be those same thousand designers working for a dozen big named brands. And then, the majority of their work would be rejected. The small business model has always been the best way towards fostering variety. And variety is at the heart of any good fashion range.
Conclusion
All of the above elements are as present in leg wear as they are in regular clothing. The historic influence, location, climate, and boutique approach to fashion. All of these are tributaries that lead into a great river, the perfect fashion tights, Italian fashion tights. When you combine all the elements above, there is nothing you cannot design beautifully. These are the ingredients that form a great recipe. A recipe for beautiful and elegant and sumptuous fashion tights. Tights that are rarely rivalled by any other nation or culture for their quality and variety and excellence. If you want the very best tights, choose Italian tights.
