According to Breaking a Taboo, High Fashion Starts Making Goods Overseas, Italian craftsmanship has long held a certain mystique, but even luxury good production has moved to developing nations:
The ‘Made in Italy’ mystique dates back to the early 20th century when artisans throughout the Italian peninsula began exporting their products and know-how. Neapolitan shoemaker Salvatore Ferragamo was one of the first to venture abroad when he hand-stitched shoes for Jean Harlow, Douglas Fairbanks and other 1920s Hollywood stars. Florentine leather-goods maker Gucci soon followed suit.After World War II, Italian craftsmen developed a second expertise. Using new ways to wash yarn, the key to high-quality knits, Italy soon surpassed Scotland as the world’s best knitwear producer. By the mid-1950s, the ‘Made in Italy’ label had developed unparalleled snob appeal around the world. Even French companies such as Louis Vuitton and Chanel transferred some production to Italy.
The first shift came during the 1990s luxury-goods boom. Some high-end fashion companies quietly began moving production of secondary, cheaper lines to Eastern Europe to help meet rising demand. Italian handbag maker Francesco Biasia, whose purses sell for between $350 and $500, started shifting production to China and Eastern Europe in the late 1990s. Creative Director Claudio Biasia says the company gambled on what it saw as shifting tastes. ‘Younger consumers don’t care where a product is made,’ he says. ‘They care about creativity.’