For decades Palermo's Ucciardone prison has been known to its inmates as "The Grand Hotel" – a place where not even a custodial sentence could prevent well-connected mafiosi from enjoying the pleasures of a fine meal and a well-cut suit.

One mobster, Michele Catalano, was even able to hold a champagne and lobster birthday banquet in the gym of the Sicilian jail, while a fellow godfather arranged a formal wedding for his daughter in the prison chapel.

But the new governor, Rita Barbera, is calling an end to the good times, starting with a ban on several designer labels such as Prada, Gucci, Valentino, Versace, Louis Vuitton and Armani.

"The popular image of this jail is linked to the silk suits of godfathers and we need to cancel that image," she was quoted as saying to La Stampa newspaper.

"We need to cancel class differences and the showing off of status, power and wealth," added Barbera, who has also banned Nike and Adidas sportswear.

Prisoners' wives, who were refused permission to deliver designer clothes to the 19th-century jail after the introduction of the new rules, said they were furious with the governor.

"My husband will be left naked," said one.

"He only has designer clothes, and that's not because he's flashy but because they last much longer and are better quality. Why humiliate him? Why force us to buy clothes at street markets?"

Other wives accused guards of making up the rules as they went along after a pair of Trussardi jeans were rejected.

Not all inmates at Ucciardone are pampered. The jail, which was designed to accommodate 500 prisoners, is now home to 700 inmates, including poor Italians and immigrants whose secondhand clothes are donated by prisoner charities.

A charity worker, Giovanna Gioia, said: "If this new rule stamps out ostentatious displays of wealth then it is very welcome."