Giorgio Riello

Giorgio Riello is a Full-time Professor and Chair of Early Modern Global History at the European University Institute in Florence, where he joined in 2019 after a distinguished career at the University of Warwick. He previously served as Professor of Global History and Culture at Warwick University (2011-present), Director of the Warwick Institute of Advanced Study (2014-17), and Chair of the Pasold Research Fund (2016-19). His academic journey began with a Ph.D. in History from University College London (2002) following a Laurea in Economia Aziendale from Ca' Foscari University, Venice (1998).

Riello's research fundamentally explores the intersections of material culture, trade, and consumption in early modern Europe and Asia, with particular focus on textiles, fashion, and luxury goods. His work challenges Eurocentric narratives by demonstrating how Asian commodities and production techniques shaped global economic development. Key research areas include global cotton trade networks, the material culture of fashion, early modern capitalism, and Indian Ocean trade systems. His methodological approach combines economic history with material culture studies, using objects as primary sources for understanding global connections.

His influential publications include Cotton: The Fabric that Made the Modern World (2013), which won the World History Association Bentley Prize, Luxury: A Rich History (2016, co-authored with Peter McNeil), and Back In Fashion: Western Fashion since the Middle Ages (2020). His recent work has focused on the 'Diamond-shaped Trade' concept connecting Atlantic and Indian Ocean systems, and he is currently co-authoring 'Cultures of Innovation: Silk in Pre-Modern Eurasia' with Dagmar Schaefer.

• World History Association Bentley Book Prize (2014)
• Iris Foundation Award for Decorative Arts (2016)
• Philip Leverhulme Prize (2011)
• Fernand Braudel Senior Fellowship (2012)
• Stanford Humanities Center Fellow (2010-11)

Riello leads the ERC Advanced Grant project 'CAPASIA: The Asian Origins of Global Capitalism' and has successfully secured numerous major research grants including a Marie Curie COFUND and Leverhulme International Network funding. He supervises approximately 10 PhD students at the EUI and serves as second reader for another 8 students. His collaborative work extends to major international museums including the Victoria and Albert Museum, Peabody Essex Museum, and MUDEC Museum in Milan, where he participated in the redisplay of their permanent collection between 2019-2022.