ROME — Italian luxury brands are typically associated with style, quality and understated elegance. But increasingly, some fashion leaders also want to be known for legacies of a different kind.

My grandfather Agostino Coppola came to America from the southern Italian village of Bernalda, in the region now known as Basilicata. An irascible character known for his stories, he had seven sons, who all tended to imitate him and to whom he passed his stories. Of those seven sons, only two are left (my father, Carmine, died in 1991): my 98-year-old uncle Mikey, who is my godfather, and my uncle Anton, a noted composer and conductor still working at the age of 95. In the past 12 years he’s written an opera, “Sacco and Vanzetti”; rewritten the libretto of Puccini’s only failure, “Edgar;” and done extensive revisions for “The Merry Widow.” Anton became known to us as Uncle Kiki, so named because my brother, as a child, had a friend named Dickie and called everyone “Kiki.” The name stuck.

How to choose between two great loves? Frida Giannini, the creative director of Gucci since 2006, was brought up in Rome and is passionate about the Eternal City. Yet her heart also belongs to Florence, home of the leather goods company, which has recently opened a museum in its ancestral home there. The designer now moves between the two great Italian cities but lives in Rome.

Italian researchers on Wednesday announced they had found a key mechanism in the functioning of the HIV virus, a turn which experts say could lead to the development of an effective vaccine against the disease. 

Italian-American blockbuster-film celebrity Sylvester Stallone said that neither he nor his character Rambo were "ones to retire" while speaking to the press on Wednesday at the International Rome Film Festival. The Hollywood star is in the Italian capital for the world premiere of his latest film 'Bullet to the Head,' directed by Walter Hill. 

Three days of heavy rains and winds have left large parts of northern and central Italy under water Tuesday, turning streets into canals and causing the collapse of a bridge as utility workers drove across.

Italy have owned France in recent head-to-head battles, and that dominance will continue on Wednesday. France will be trying to end the Azzuri's recent dominance over them, but the disciplined and effective Italian defense will be the major factor.

The political campaign ahead of Italy’s national elections next spring got into full gear Monday evening with a U.S.-style, prime-time televised debate between the five politicians jockeying to run as prime ministerial candidate for the center-left Democratic Party.

Hopefully, President Obama is a fan of rare, pricey mushrooms.President Obama, who is known to appreciate a fine meal and good drink, will soon be receiving a 2.23 pound white truffle from the people of Acqualangna, Italy.