Six very different people - Marta, Roberta, Fiorenza, Paola, Lucia and Romeo - work together in an elegant fashion boutique in the centre of Rome. They are all in thrall to the demands of their overbearing manager, Francesca. Each character knows that between the dramas of their own lives, the journeys to and from work, the children to care for, husbands, lovers, and parents, they will find solidarity with their fellow shop workers.

Dr Pamela Cox presents this three-part series following the journey of the shopgirl from an almost invisible figure in stark Victorian stores, to being the beating heart of modern shops.