Resumen de Fashion Stories in Rome: Place-Making Narratives Within Fashion Branded City Guides
Studies on urban tourism have broadly considered the importance of travel guides in the construction of the imaginaries associated with cities. These promotional phenomena are fashioned both by urban marketing policies (emanating from local public authorities) and by tourist promoters or entrepreneurs (usually private actors). The aim of this essay is to investigate the way fashion houses narrate and promote cities through the production of tourist guides. The phenomenon is very recent and affects only a small percentage of fashion brands but still a good lens through which to study the involvement of these latter in touristification and aestheticization of urban areas. It highlights the relevance of “fashion branded” place-making narratives considered here as key factors contributing to spillover effects in urban reputation, tourism perception, and brand identity.
