Fashion Benefaction: Luxury and Brand Heritage in the Eternal City

Authors

  • Stephanie Hagan University of Pennsylvania

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5617/clara.9646

Abstract

In 2011, the exclusive Italian shoe and accessory brand Tod’s pledged €25 million towards the cleaning and restoration of the Colosseum. They were the first among several luxury fashion companies who have recently lent major sponsorship support to the restoration and upkeep of Roman monuments. The list of patrons grew longer after 2014, when Italy’s Ministry of Culture introduced the ‘Art Bonus’ programme. The act invited would-be benefactors to contribute to the restoration and maintenance of any one of dozens of archaeological sites, theatres and concert halls in the country, in exchange for a generous tax break. Fendi took on the Trevi Fountain and several other urban water features, as well as the Temple of Venus and Roma; Bulgari shouldered the bill for the refurbishment of the Spanish Steps and mosaics in the Baths of Caracalla. This patronage of iconic cultural heritage sites permits luxury fashion firms to centre their brand narratives and identities on Italy, monumentalise their reputation for good craftsmanship, cultivate exclusivity and create tensile and dynamic relationships to the past.

Downloads

Published

2022-04-29

Issue

Vol. 8 (2021): CLARA Special issue no 2: The Classical in Contemporary Art and Visual Culture

Section

Special issue

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).