High Fashion in Milan Audio Guide: The Style Capital of Italy

Milan has long been regarded as the world's fashion capital, with its close links to high-end brands like Gucci, Prada, Versace, and Valentino. On this walking tour with fashion designer and Context Travel expert, Thea Cozzi, you'll discover how the city's fashion scene and famous Italian brands have evolved over time. 

The tour starts in Quadrilatero della Moda (the Fashion Quadrangle), in front of the Emporio Armani Caffe and Ristorante. Here, you'll learn about the relationship between art and design when it comes to creating fabulous garments, and hear about the industry's subsets like ‘High Fashion’, ‘Ready to Wear’, and ‘Fast Fashion’. On this self-paced journey of Milan's fashion district, you'll uncover the visceral connection between this city and how art, fashion, and design are all deeply connected within Milan. Home to a variety of Italian historically significant fashion brands from Gucci, Prada, Versace, Valentino and Miu Miu, you'll learn about history of fashion in Italy, the close relationship between fashion and art and the different sectors of fashion. You'll learn about concept stores, how Italian culture is reflected in fashion and art, and the city's clear connection between fashion and culture. You'll dive into Valentino's pioneering role in the industry, and find out how the brand evolved from post-war haute couture to maintain a prominent position in the fashion world today. You'll also discover how Prada embodies Milanese style and hear the backstory to the brand becoming the official sponsor of the Italian monarchy, starting with Vittorio Emanuele II. 

After you stroll through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, considered one of the world's first shopping malls and home to exclusively to high-end and luxury shops, the tour's focus will shift away from luxury stores and brands known worldwide and move towards a more artsy and vintage area, clearly linked to Milan's fashion and clothing culture. As you travel through the elegant Brera District to Madame Pauline Vintage, where the tour ends, you'll discover the relationship between craftsmanship and the quality of materials, from leather goods to fabrics. 

On this Milan tour, you'll

• Stroll through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, one of the world's first shopping malls and home to exclusive high-end and luxury shops

• Weigh up the pros and cons of having brands under large fashion holdings or being owned by founders or individuals

• Pass by Miu Miu, Prada's younger sister which targets a younger clientele, and see Portrait Milano, a new shopping and foodie hub

• Hear how Gucci started out in the 1930s with a focus on sports accessories, particularly for equestrians

• Stop in front of Antonia, one of the foremost high-end fashion stores in Milan and among the most important in Italy

• Discover the crucial role that Bar Jamaica played as a meeting point for artists, writers and politicians at the beginning of the 1900s

• Find recent, high-design pieces for a fraction of the price at shops that only locals know about

• Find out about Italy's restrictive laws regarding sales and discounts
• Gain an understanding and visit some of the most iconic concept stores in Milan
• Stroll through the Brera district, renowned as the vintage area of Milan

By the end of this 75-minute tour, you'll have a better understanding of the whole process that goes into making a single item of clothing, from the idea and the brand identity, down to the pattern making and fabric selection. You'll also gain insight into the most interesting brands, aesthetics, and trends that the world desires today. 

Although some areas of the tour are flagstone or cobblestone, this tour is wheelchair accessible and can be experienced by travelers of all capabilities. The total distance of the audio tour is 2.18 miles.