If today you happen to be in Italy and open Google, you will see a Doodle that pays homage to one of those bizarre anniversaries that the people working at the search engine like to celebrate. According to the Doodle, today it is indeed the 238th anniversary of the opening of the Teatro Alla Scala in Milan. 
Inaugurated in 1778, La Scala became a legendary opera house not just for the performers who graced its stage or for the costume and set designers who created iconic looks and spaces for the various opera, ballet, and classical performances.
Throughout the decades La Scala was indeed also the place where the wealthy and famous hosted their own glamorous catwalk shows on the opening night. Between the ‘50s and the late ‘60s, the opening night was indeed a veritable orgy of feathers, jewels, designer clothes and furs. In the '50s most women opted for designs by Jole Veneziani, Gigliola Curiel, Pirovano, Livoli, Tizzoni, Farioli, Federico Forquet, Germana Marucelli, Mila Schön, Dior and Balmain. One perfect example of the style favoured in those years is this picture of Marika Piccardo Carniti in 1959 wearing a glamorous Veneziani gown with a matching turban that gave her a statuesque look.
But there are very fun photographs from the mid-to-late '60s that document a change in fashion at La Scala. As fashion entered into the Space Age, the opening night became indeed a chance to experiment with futuristic designs: in 1967 model Giovanna Bergonzoni opted to go to the opening with an all-white outfit comprising a top, shorts, a fur trimmed jacket and knee high flat boots. Her hairstyle was also unforgettable: ribbons of rigid fake hair extended indeed from her head forming a sort of abstract tentacle-like sculpture.
The previous year fashion designer Emmanuelle Khanh was instead photographed in a long silvery gown accessoried with an architectural Plexiglass necklace and metallic ballerina shoes with a little spherical heel.
From 1968 on the opening night at La Scala assumed new meanings turning into an opportunity to raise awareness about various issues and causes, from anti-fur demonstrations to more recent demos about equality, housing rights and jobs. No Google Doodles have so far taken into consideration how fashion shaped the opening nights at La Scala, but, who knows, maybe in future?
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