La Rinascente: A Symbol of Postwar Italian Rebirth with American Roots

The bombing of Milan in August 1943 rendered many of the city’s historical buildings shells of their former selves, weakening the morale of Milan’s citizens in the process. Italy’s most well known department store, in fact, the Italian department store, La Rinascente, was among the damaged and destroyed structures in the city. Located in Piazza del Duomo next to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and flanking the Duomo’s northern side, La Rinascente was just as much a Milanese symbol and landmark as its famous neighbors. Therefore, the store’s near destruction was a significant blow to its owners, the people of Milan, and the city itself.

The destruction and devastation from the war forced both La Rinascente and Italy to rebuild, restructure, and modernize. In so doing, both country and company looked to the United States for assistance and inspiration. As a result, the La Rinascente Company transformed the Italian shopping experience and the content of Italians’ shopping bags in the postwar period. The experiences and bags now resembled those of Americans, in particular, white, middle-class American women. Moreover, La Rinascente’s success in rebuilding its destroyed stores, especially that of the Milan Piazza del Duomo location, and the financial success it enjoyed in the 1950s and 1960s, served as a symbol of rebirth, prosperity, and hope for Italy and Italians—a symbol that was based on American consumer models and ideals, technology and innovation, and products.