2023/

1-2

ISBN 978-88-8368-175-2

Mario Grassi

Pag. 47-

72

, DOI 10.17426/R09C03

Keywords: Piedmont; organzine; foreign policy; fashion; 18th century.

Abstract: The Piedmontese silk industry took its first steps later than the late-medieval Italian silk manufactures, quickly becoming the producer of the best silk yarn existing in the early modern age in the West.
However, scrupulous legislation and the development of cutting-edge techniques and technologies, aimed at the production of high quality semi-finished products, did not prove sufficient to guarantee the success of the silk fabrics, one of the most profitable markets of the early modern age.
This contribution reflects on the reasons that hindered the entry of Piedmontese silk fabrics into international trade.
In particular, the case-study will dialogue with two historiographical questions that are inextricably intertwined: the role of institutions in economic development and the relationship between quality and consumption in the period in which the system of seasonal fashions and the spread of cotton fabrics took hold.