Though a few companies already produced ice creams in Italy in the '50s, the trend for prepackaged ice creams developed in the following decades, registering for brands such as Motta, Sammontana, Besana and Algida a boom in sales and an expansion between the '70s and the '80s.
It was easy to find ice cream adverts on the back cover of comic books: some of the most popular ones featured Italian bands such as the Matia Bazar or advertised ice lollies and ice creams decorated with granola in garish colours (the "Cono Atomic" was definitely a post-nuclear age ice cream, that, despite its popularity, quietly disappeared from the market after the Chernobyl disaster…). 
There was also one ritual among kids who grew up in those years: when you saw a bar or grocery shop putting out the tin board advertising the ice creams with their prices, you knew that Summer was around the corner and the holidays were finally coming.
A quick browse online will introduce you to some examples of ice cream boards from those years (the best ice cream boards have become in recent years interior design items for vintage fans). But can they be a fashion inspiration?
For Jeremy Scott at Moschino, yes, they can: a recent capsule collection developed by the Italian brand (in collaboration with Smileys) features indeed shirts, jackets, trousers and accessories with prints replicating ice cream boards featuring coloured ice lollies and cornetti with fantasy names inspired by the brand tropes ("Coppa M", "Mucchino" or "Cono Sciamoci" where "cono" means "cone", but "Cono Sciamoci" is also a pun on the verb "conosciamoci", meaning "let's get to know each other").
The drawings and illustrations employed for the prints in the Moschino capsule collection evoke some of the ice creams that were popular between the '70s and the '80s and the sky blue background is also borrowed from some of the boards.
While this is a print aimed at a young generation, it may resonate also with older consumers who may find it nostalgic since it immediately evokes childhood memories and the promise of fun, nice weather, ice creams and, above all, a three-month long holiday (yes, the school summer holidays last for about three months in Italy).
If you like the ice cream advert trend but you're looking for less garish and more elegant inspirations, try going back to the '50s and you will discover stylish vintage adverts like the Motta ones. Have a lovely Sunday!
