MILAN — The Palazzo Pitti fashion show in the Sala Bianca, held in July 1952, represents an important turning point in the history of Italian fashion, marking its debut on the international scene.
But the history of Italian fashion began much earlier.
To celebrate the three decades that led to that historic event, the Museum of Costume and Fashion in Florence is hosting the exhibition “Moda in luce 1925-1955. Alle origini del made in Italy [Fashion in the spotlight 1925-1955: The origins of Made in Italy].” The show is promoted by the Ministry of Culture, organized and produced by Archivio Luce Cinecittà in collaboration with the Uffizi Galleries and curated by journalist Fabiana Giacomotti.
WWD spoke with Chiara Sbarigia, president of Cinecittà, about the exhibition, which explores the intrinsic link between Italian fashion and cinema.
The exhibition, to be held from June 18 until Sept. 28, retraces the history of Made in Italy through over 50 garments, accessories, and audiovisual and photographic contributions, highlighting the textile innovation, aesthetic research and commercial strategies that characterized this period.
Fashion shooting in boutique, 1955.
Courtesy of Archivio Luce Cinecittà
At the center of the exhibition is the heritage of the Archivio Luce Cinecittà, one of Italy’s richest audiovisual archives of the 20th century, which is included in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.
“There’s an intense bond between cinema and fashion. Especially through the archive material, we’ve managed to tell the great history of Italian tailoring, which is one of the cornerstones of our industry. During the years the Italian cinema blossomed, when Rome became known as ‘Hollywood on the Tiber,’ collaborations were born between the great divas of our country and the tailor shops,” said Sbarigia. “The documents in the archive recount our Italian culture in a comprehensive way, and this story somehow needs to be returned to the public.”
The exhibition has been enriched by the contribution of 17 other historical archives and museums, such as the Palazzo Madama in Turin, which have added designs from historic fashion houses, some of which are now no longer active. These include pieces from brands Gandini, Montorsi, Fontana, Palmer, Biki, Carosa, alongside Maria Monaci Gallenga, Mariano Fortuny, Simonetta Visconti, and a rare piece from the “Tessitrice dell’Isola,” the Baroness Clarette Gallotti.
An evening Gucci bag from the late 1920s will be exhibited for the first time, and dubbed “the number one” in the exhibition, along with the “invisible” sandal from 1947 by Salvatore Ferragamo and the first designs by Emilio Pucci labeled “Emilio.”
Fashion in Florence, 1953.
Courtesy of Archivio Luce Cinecittà
As Sbarigia said, “Through these ‘first’ pieces, we want to enrich the narrative about Made in Italy, but also celebrate the evolution of taste, visual language, and how we managed to turn this craftsmanship into an industry.”
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog published by Italian publishing house Silvana Editoriale and includes numerous unpublished items from the ’40s and ’50s by directors and sound artists, such as Romolo Marcellini and Roman Vlad. An important work in the exhibition is the restored version of the short documentary called “Sette canne per un vestito [Seven reeds, one suit],” which is about the production of rayon and was made in 1948 by director Michelangelo Antonioni.
The exhibition offers a broad overview of the history of Italian fashion and its relationships with international fashion, both before and immediately after World War II.
“There are so many interesting videos which outline our history. For instance, within the exhibition, a 1948 video that testifies to the existence of a school for models in Varenna, on Lake Como, where courses on textile merchandising, hairstyling, and poise were taught. Another video highlights the importance of the textile sector within the Autarchia exhibition in Turin in 1938,” said Sbarigia.
There are also fabric catalogs, certificates of Italian-made products, and a photograph of a winter fashion show in Venice in 1941, where clothes made from material produced locally were presented under the guidance of the National Fashion Board and the National Clothing Federation. Another piece is a 1955 evening gown made by Emilio Federico Schuberth, from the Massimo Cantini Parrini collection in Florence, which belonged to Loretta De Angelis and was donated by Gaia Pace.
The Luce Archive, founded in 1924 during the fascist regime, counts 3.5 million photos and tens of thousands of films that range from art to fashion, passing through literature.
A 1955 evening gown made by Emilio Federico Schuberth.
Courtesy of Archivio Luce Cinecittà
