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''Paninaro'' () was a
social phenomenon Social phenomena or social phenomenon (singular) are any behaviours, actions, or events that takes place because of social influence, including from contemporary as well as historical societal influences. They are often a result of multifaceted pro ...
in northern Italy during the 1980s that was characterized by an obsession with
designer clothing Designer clothing refers to apparel created by a specific fashion designer or licensed by a person or brand. It is often considered luxury clothing, known for its high quality and haute couture appeal, made for the general public and bearing the ...
and adherence to a lifestyle based on luxury consumption. It began in the Milanese metropolitan area, later spreading throughout continental Italy. The phenomenon led to the creation of magazines, films and television programs. Italian designer brands associated with ''Paninaro'' such as Stone Island, C.P. Company,
Armani Giorgio Armani S.p.A. (), commonly known as Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in Milan by Giorgio Armani which designs, manufactures, distributes and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, accessories, and ...
, and Fila were adopted by members of the football casual subculture in the United Kingdom.


History

In the early 1980s the areas of Milan were frequented by groups of young people with their own rules and styles, such as metalheads or
goths The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...
. Within this context, a group was established, which consisted predominantly of youngsters, who met at the local area of Piazza San Babila. This group defined its own vocabulary and created a trend based on the ostentation of very expensive designer garments. At the same time the fashion industry, having identified the new style, began to provide conforming garments and accessories at affordable prices. This phenomenon evolved initially in the sandwich bars and fast food restaurants of the center of
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
, then having spread throughout Italy, also spread abroad. The meeting places, sandwich shops and fast food restaurants, where quick meals could be eaten, therefore also determined their name. The term derives, more specifically, from a bar in Milan, the ''Al panino'' bar, the usual haunt of the first group of ''paninari'', a group of boys who had coded their own jargon and their own clothing, based fundamentally on certain items of clothing and accessories of famous Italian or foreign brands. The phenomenon was born in the early eighties as an expression of the wave of
reflux Reflux is a technique involving the condensation of vapors and the return of this condensate to the system from which it originated. It is used in industrial and laboratory distillations. It is also used in chemistry to supply energy to Chemical ...
and disengagement that followed the turbulent and politicized previous decade. It rejected every form of social commitment and focussed on enjoying life without too many worries, conforming to the models of the
American cinema The cinema of the United States, primarily associated with major film studios collectively referred to as Hollywood, has significantly influenced the global film industry since the early 20th century. Classical Hollywood cinema, a filmmakin ...
of the period and to the advice of the
commercials A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...
. advertising broadcast by
commercial television Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model ...
stations in accordance with Reagan's
hedonism Hedonism is a family of Philosophy, philosophical views that prioritize pleasure. Psychological hedonism is the theory that all human behavior is Motivation, motivated by the desire to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. As a form of Psycholo ...
. The new values that were affirmed are: "to function, to show that you are worthy, have a perfect body and image, be fashionable, make a career." Curiously, however, the ''paninari'' did not wear the typical clothing of American
yuppie Yuppie, short for "young urban professional" or "young upwardly-mobile professional", is a term coined in the early 1980s for a young professional person working in a city. The term is first attested in 1980, when it was used as a fairly neu ...
s, the young in career, but typical clothing of the American working class such as Timberland boots,
Levi's Levi Strauss & Co. ( ) is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's ( ) brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, ...
jeans,
checkered Check (also checker, Brit: chequer, or dicing) is a pattern of modified stripes consisting of crossed horizontal and vertical lines which form squares. The pattern typically contains two colours where a single checker (that is a single square with ...
shirts, boots and belts typical of woodcutters, but all strictly branded and very expensive. The female counterpart of the ''paninaro'' was called a ''sfitinzia'' or ''squinzia'' which, according to the dictionaries, can be defined as a girl with a smirk, not very intelligent, flirtatious, often in fashion but according to the original meaning of 1986, written by Lina Sotis, who is a communist columnist, the squinzia is "The most widespread female category of the moment. They all had an imprinting, the television show of the second evening shows, clothes, tones of voice, lengths, courtships and stiletto heels: in the ''squinzia'' everything, except the brain, is exaggerated. The ''squinzia'' is the one that would like to catch more and pecks less, it is the eternal turkey and never taken." The phenomenon quickly spread throughout Italy thanks to commercial television that exploited the phenomenon by amplifying the message and spreading the style. Its fame increased further due to a character played by the actor Enzo Braschi. He provided a stereotyped version of the ''paninaro'' in a successful TV show, ''Drive In'', which helped spread the fashion by codifying in turn some stylistic features to which many young people from all over Italy tried to conform. The success is such that even magazines dedicated to the phenomenon and addressed to the ''paninari'' like ''Il Paninaro'', with a circulation that reached 100,000 monthly copies, followed by ''Wild Boys'', inspired by the homonymous song of
Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...
and sung by Braschi in his parody, ''Zippo Panino'', ''Il Cucador'' as well as the female versions like ''Preppy'' and ''Sfitty''. The beginnings of the phenomenon were observed in Milan in a historical period of settlement of the Italian currency and of important signs of
economic recovery An economic recovery is the phase of the business cycle following a recession. The overall business outlook for an industry looks optimistic during the economic recovery phase. During the recovery period, the economy goes through a process of ec ...
, followed by relative well-being and greater availability of consumer goods. With the expansion of fashion, the formation of groups was natural, each with its own meeting point as a bar and a relative territory in the neighborhood; even very large groups, whose attendance could reach hundreds of people. On Saturday afternoons and evenings they were the meeting place for mass gatherings with subsequent transfer to one of the clubs that lent themselves well to exploit this phenomenon. Some of these groups, the most important ones, had very popular local leaders, usually with nicknames. The places of frequentation had a period of ephemeral life or changed name and company name in a short time, based on the trend and taste of the visitors. A characteristic feature of the ''paninari'' was the food consumed in some fast-food restaurant chains, which began to spread throughout Italy in those years. In
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, for example, the opening of the first
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...
restaurant in 1986 in
Piazza di Spagna The Piazza di Spagna is a square in the centre of Rome, the capital of Italy. It lies at the foot of the Spanish Steps and owes its name to the Palazzo di Spagna, the seat of the Embassy of Spain to the Holy See. The Column of the Immaculate Con ...
was a memorable event for the ''paninari'' of the Italian capital. In Milan, by contrast, most of the various ''panini'' companies met in normal bars scattered throughout the city, and the dozens of ''Burghy's'' fast-food restaurants (with the exception of Piazza San Babila and Corso Re Vittorio Emanuele II),
Wendy's Wendy's International, LLC, is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (businessman), Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of D ...
and ''King Burger'' (not to be confused with
Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...
which arrived in Italy only in 1999), the two so-called "second choices", were little frequented by the members of this youth subculture. In a short time the ''paninari'' become a phenomenon of custom by acquiring a discreet reputation on a national level, above all thanks to the publication of some comics dedicated to the ''paninari'' and the character played by Enzo Braschi in ''Drive In''. In 1986 the
Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music h ...
, following a visit to the center of Milan, recorded the single " Paninaro", which allowed the fashion to cross national borders. The protagonists of the video clip, shot in Milan, were some young men perfectly dressed according to the dictates of fashion. The phenomenon initially did not have political connotations because social commitment was not in the interests of the groups that conformed to paninar aesthetics. Instead, there was a sort of class consciousness that led them to refuse contacts with other young people from different social backgrounds: the ''paninari'', at least in the original Milanese core which had the premises in the Piazza San Babila area, were the sons of the bourgeoisie medium-high class and therefore had monetary freedom that allowed the purchase of particularly expensive clothing. Subsequently, a political conscience of
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
inspiration began to arise, which led to conflicts with groups of different political identities. However, the phenomenon was brief and had effectively ended by the end of the decade; replaced by other subcultures that took note of the end of the period characterized by optimism and carefree. Fashion was exhausted in Milan at the end of the decade and in the rest of Italy shortly thereafter, replaced by other
subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture, cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the conservative, standard or dominant culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures ...
s that reflected the end of a decade consumed under the banner of
hedonism Hedonism is a family of Philosophy, philosophical views that prioritize pleasure. Psychological hedonism is the theory that all human behavior is Motivation, motivated by the desire to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. As a form of Psycholo ...
and superficiality. In general it can be said that ''paninari'' fashion has been linked to the very young middle and high school students. At least, in Milan the ''paninari'' were almost totally absent from the universities. The header on the main headboard, ''Paninaro'', initially ''I veri galli'' (), accompanied the time of leaving the scene with ''Pochi, duri, giusti'' (). As with any past fashion, especially in Milan, revival evenings are held at discos, whose customers are now adult veterans, encouraged to dress in the fashions of the time.


See also

* Raggare * Fashion in
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
*
Italian economic miracle The Italian economic miracle or Italian economic boom ( or ''il boom economico italiano'') is the term used by historians, economists, and the mass media to designate the prolonged period of strong economic growth in Italy after World War II to th ...


References

{{Reflist


External links


Paninaro (Italian)

Documentary on Paninari subculture from 1986 on Youtube.com (Italian)
Subcultures Culture of Italy Social class subcultures History of subcultures