Fashion under Fascism
Authors: Paulicelli Eugenia 
Published: January 2025

Looking at the dark history of Italian fashion by focusing on the impact of 1930s Fascism, this is the second edition of Eugenia Paulicelli's classic text.

InFashion under Fascism, Paulicelli explores the subtle yet sinister changes to the seemingly innocuous practices of everyday dress and shows why they were such a concern for the state. Importantly, she also demonstrates how these developments impacted on the global dominance of Italian fashion today. Alongside interviews with major designers, such as Fernanda Gattinoni and Micol Fontana, this newly expanded revised edition includes updated material on gender and masculinity, the role of uniforms in standardizing individuality, race and colonial Italy, and the reception of 1930s cinema. It sheds new light on the complicated relationship between style and politics and is an essential read for all those interested in the history of fashion, politics, national identity and the culture of fascism.

When we think of Italian fashion, Gucci, Prada, Fendi, Armani immediately spring to mind. But Italian fashion has a long and dark history that this book explores in a wide interdisciplinary perspective. The Fascism of 1930s Italy dominated more than just politics – it spilled over into modes of dress, fashion and uniforms. Fashion under Fascism considers these interconnected links in detail.

Fashion often functions as a tacit means of making social statements, but under Mussolini it reflected the political project of a totalitarian regime. One’s allegiance to the regime was choreographed by the dictatorship with the intent of creating a new national consciousness. Women, men and children of all ages were manipulated through fashion to create an ‘authentic’ Italian femininity and masculinity. Paulicelli explores the subtle yet sinister changes to the seemingly innocuous practices of everyday dress and shows why they were such a concern for the regime. Indeed, fashion materialized in concrete terms and processes of embodiment fascist ideology. Importantly, she also demonstrates how developments in the fashion and textile industries impacted the global dominance of Italian fashion today.

This fascinating book sheds new light both on the history of fashion and the history of Fascism; and on the complicated relationship between style and politics. It includes an interview with a major designer such as Micol Fontana, and the first translations into English of a 1935 pioneering text by Gianna Manzini on fashion theory and a short story by Alba de Céspedes.

KEY WORDS OF INDIVIDUAL CHAPTERSHistoriography, Gianna Manzini, Time, Rhythm, PhotographyOrigins, Totalitarianism, Ente Nazionale della Moda (ENM), Uniforms, GenderItalian Style, Modernity, Tradition, Regional Dress, Fascist Parades, Rosa Genoni, Futurism, Lydia De LiguoroLanguage of Fashion, Cesare Meano, Bellezza, Lo sport fascista, Motherhood, GenderFilm, Media, Istituto Luce, Feature Films, Fashion Film, Propaganda, Alessandro Blasetti, Mario CameriniIntelligent Fibers, Rayon, Autarchy, Race, Ethiopian war, New York World Fair (NYWF), Alta moda, Ready to WearHistory, Memory, Fendi, Kelela, Post-Fascism, the Palazzo della Civiltà, Rome, Italian colonial past, post-colonial Italian identity