In an effort to bolster Miami's fashion industry, the Beacon Council is hosting an Italian delegation this week during a whirlwind, three-day visit meant to promote Miami as a promising business locale and a launch pad to Latin America.

The group includes 29 people representing commerce in the Lombardy region, the hub of Italy's vibrant fashion industry.

They came at the behest of the Beacon Council, Miami-Dade County's business recruitment organization, which wants to create new fashion shows, trade shows and ultimately upscale showrooms and ateliers by European designers here.

Although luxe labels cite Florida as an important retail market, fashion showrooms, headquarters and manufacturing here is negligible as compared to New York or Los Angeles.

Entertainment giant IMG holds a series of swimsuit runway shows each summer, but how much traction it has among fashion media and designers remains an open question.

At a press conference at the council's offices, Diego Stecchi, chairman of the council's Fashion and Lifestyle Committee, said the fashion ventures could result in up to 700 new jobs in Miami, some with average salaries as high as $70,000.

''If we can attract the fashion world . . . in this way, Miami will grow up,'' said Stecchi, who is also director of Salvatore Ferragamo for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Beacon Council members, including CEO Frank Nero, twice flew to Europe this year to explore collaborations with Italian and French fashion companies.

At the press conference, Nero emphasized Miami's geographical advantage over other American cities.

''Miami is known as the Wall Street of Latin America,'' he told the delegates.

The visitors are taking in Miami, partly by touring the city's port and design district and lunching at Versailles restaurant.

But they are also doing some promotion of their own -- throwing a gala dinner at the Biltmore Hotel Tuesday night (with a fashion show by Italian design house Coveri and performance by Italian pop singer Paolo Meneguzzi) and, together with Miami Dade College, bringing an exhibit from Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan by Italian masters, including Leonardo da Vinci, to the Freedom Tower.

The delegation also included representatives from eight Italian fashion companies already hoping to spread awareness of their lines and perhaps find business partners here.

The council's plan first calls for the glitziest fashion labels -- companies like Versace, Ermenegildo Zegna and Chanel -- to debut collections at a new fashion week in May. The show would be for resort collections, which are a limited number of lightweight garments that arrive on racks in October.

No such fashion week of any import exists currently, said Giovanni Bozzetti, chairman of the Fashion Committee for Lombardy Commerce.

But Bozzetti acknowledged that the most recognizable companies aren't those likely to invest in showrooms here. Rather, it's companies little known beyond Italy or Europe that have the most to gain by moving some operations to Miami.

''Our goal is to promote the small and medium fashion companies because the biggest ones have their own distribution channel,'' Bozzetti said after the conference, at which council officials and Italian commerce officials signed memorandums of understanding to collaborate in building business ties.

Stecchi noted that several brands have already thrown splashy runway shows here recently, including Chanel, Victoria's Secret, Diesel and Alberta Feretti.

The Beacon Council's efforts dovetail with those in Italy to expand the country's fashion exports.

''We want to have more [fashion] shows around the world,'' especially in a troubled world economy, said Remo Eder, chancellor of the Milan Chamber of Commerce. ``These shows help us to improve our market [demand] around the world.''

The United States is already an important consumer of Italian goods, buying up 22 percent of Italy's clothing exports, 16 percent of its handbags and 11 percent of its textiles, Bozzetti said.

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