_Italian View 2017 - Made in Italy

Some Italian names and brands have become so iconic, they transcend their primary purpose. A Vespa is not just a scooter; it spells freedom, glamour and romance, as modelled by Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn in Roman

Holiday in 1953 before it became quite literally the image of La Dolce Vita when Anita Ekberg buzzed around Rome on one in the film of the same name.

Likewise, a Ferrari is far more than a car. Celebrating its 70th birthday this year, Enzo Ferrari’s vision remains the apogee of style, elegance and innovation, mixed with enough macho muscle to keep generations enthralled. Interior designers today still call on the 1960’s classics such as the Ferrari Dino when seeking to evoke the essence of cool design for men.

From the catwalk to the kitchen, and from its streets to its race tracks, Italy is synonymous with exquisite design, and certain cities are inextricably linked to their design heritage.

Milan is the fashion capital, with its Fashion Week — which turns 60 next year — one of the world’s big four along with London, Paris and New York.

But Milan is also known for its prestigious Salone del Mobile, the world’s biggest furniture fair, which sets the barometer for what’s going to be hot in the coming year. Rome, as the capital, leads the way in all that is iconic about Italian design, from its ancient monuments to cutting edge boutiques.

Among the most famous Florentines, Brunelleschi is considered the world’s first modern engineer in the 14th century, Michelangelo is credited with influencing Western art more than any other artist, and of course there is Leonardo da Vinci, the ultimate polymath and ‘Renaissance man’.

Today, the different worlds of Italy’s globally revered spheres of design are increasingly combining. Fashion houses including Armani and Versace have entered the world of home interiors with their Armani Casa and Versace Home ranges, and several now lend their name to branded residences around the world, with homes and hotel rooms designed by Bulgari, Bottega Veneta, Fendi and Versace.

Some leading Italian luxury car marques are heading in a similar direction, keen to extend their influence in other areas of their consumers’ lives. Bugatti, founded by Milanborn Ettore Bugatti, are building high-end villas in Dubai, with glass-walled car parking spaces so owners can admire their wheels from their sofas.

There is also a new furniture collection from Bugatti, called Bugatti Home, as launched last year at Milan’s Salone del Mobile. It includes the Cobra chair, designed by Ettore Bugatti’s father in 1902 and now made in carbon fibre and painted in Bugatti blue.

Or you may prefer to fill your home with sound courtesy of the latest top-of-the-range speakers from Lamborghini or fill your wardrobe with the new clothing collection from Maserati, who have teamed up teamed up with the Italian fashion house Ermenegildo Zegna.

No kitchen is complete without the hallmarks of great Italian design either, whether it’s wall-to-wall Boffi, who recently recruited the Italian designer Piero Lissoni to come up with customisable range for them, or an iconic item by Alessi, who showed us how even kitchen utensils can be desirable when they are designed by famous names, including the singing kettle by Michael Graves and Philippe Starck’s juicer.

And there are few coffee purists without a Moka Pot — or macchinetta — the 1930’s-designed stovetop espresso maker that is a simple, classic antidote to all singing and dancing coffee machines that are too complex to use.

So what makes the Italians so good at design? Is it genius or genetics? Are the Italians born to design — or is it their daily exposure to great art, beauty and culture, as “heirs of the ancient Greek civilisation,” as Rosita Missoni, co-founder of the Missoni fashion label puts it, that inspires them from an early age?

This is a country, after all, where even the Italian policewear uniforms designed by Armani. To be immersed in Italian life, with your daily routine playing out among the perfectly preserved ancient cores of its towns and cities, must surely inspire a heightened sense of beauty and design.

The country’s culture and climate lend themselves to being outdoors, which goes hand in hand with the cultural importance placed on looking good, particularly for the traditional evening passegiata.

Others attribute Italy’s design flair to the country’s lack of natural resources. Without those sources of wealth to fall back on, the Italians have, over the centuries, had to nurture their creative side in the spirit of self-preservation and use their imagination to create something beautiful from limited materials.

By the middle of the 20th century, thanks to globalisation, Italian furniture design was seen as something of a gold standard, its automobile industry was leading the way in stylish innovation and Italian couture was in a class of its own.

The British furniture and lighting designer Tom Dixon thinks Italians’ superlative understanding of designing and making things comes from the family nature of many of its businesses, handed down from father to son, with an appreciation of how every aspect works.

Certainly one of its greatest names in architecture  Renzo Piano, says his greatest influence was his father, a builder.

Whatever the secret, one thing is certain; the Italians have lead the way in all sorts of spheres of design for centuries.

Nothing is going to change that any time soon.

Knight Frank's International Team market some of the best properties across Italy. To view a selection of some of these breathtaking properties download the latest edition of Italian View.