Hello all
When anyone silently mouths ‘Italian fashion’ the giants of the couture fashion world spring to mind like a Lotus flower obeys the omnipotent Sun, Gucci and Prada are but a few of these epic wonders that run the multi Billion dollar fashion industry for the moment . But it seems that this prestigious Italian fashion culture has a somewhat tarnished history that is usually glossed over rather rapidly. A publication by Eugenia Paulicelli who is the Associate Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature for Queens College, New York has published a magnificent book that delves into the 1930’s Mussolini fascism and how it spilled over into the fashion industry.
As we all know fashion is a means of making a social statement and the National Fascist Party did this successfully with regards to managing the cultural expressions of a nation, class and gender. The fashion industry at this time focused on the New Italian Woman and would be the model of femininity as represented by the body. Saying this she would also accept her place in the patriarchal family, bound up in the hand-tatted lace and embroidered aprons of traditional matronly attire. These guys didn’t mess around and in 1939 Mussolini himself organized ‘The Great Parade of the Female Forces,’ a Propaganda like rally that was filmed and publicised throughout Italy. Sound familiar? It should Hitler did a very similar type stunt in Leni Reifenstahl’s 1934 documentary, ‘Triumph of the Will’
After the invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 and ensuing international sanctions the Fascist fashion program took on economic significance with regards to managing and coordinating fashion production and consumption when Italy was forced into self reliance. The ENM (National Fashion Body) solved this by overseeing new research into development of textiles as well as directing public attention in film and cinema toward fantasies of consumption, not very different to what were subjected today although now it goes by the blanket name of ‘target marketing.’
ENM’s inability at controlling production and consumption with general market flow seems was the ultimate downfall of the Fascist fashion program but Eugenia Paulicelli’s book is the only way to find out. ‘Fashion under Fascism’ by Eugenia Paulicelli looks to be a good read and will defiantly be on my Christmas list.
All the best
Alex
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