Fashion under Fascism

This book demonstrates why fashion is such a great lever to activate our thinking about politics – politics of space, material and the body. The holistic understanding of such multiple politics, grounded in historical studies of moving clothes and moving images, emerges here forcefully from Eugenia Paulicelli’s study of Fascism’s cultural genealogy. Her book exposes Italian Fascism as an insidious ideology of the everyday, of a ‘way of life', and she strongly reminds us that Fascism may change its guise but, alas, has yet to go out of fashion. * Ulrich Lehmann, The New School, New York, USA *
This is a timely update to a book that at once responds to the sociopolitical circumstances of the past, but also explains their continuing relevance in the present. New content added since the first edition twenty years ago has transformed a classic text into a comprehensive guide to how fashion has shaped Italian identity under fascist rule and beyond. * Julia Petrov, Royal Ontario Museum, Canada *
This illuminating book offers a critical reinterpretation of the cultural role of the fashion industry under Fascism and the regime's policies. Seamstresses, journalists, artists from the Futurist movement and cinema were key players in a transformation that helped shape the identity of Italian fashion. Eugenia Paulicelli offers an innovative guide to Fascist-era fashion and its controversial legacy. * Emanuela Scarpellini, University of Milan, Italy *
The new edition of Eugenia Paulicelli's pioneering Fashion under Fascism provides a rich and deeply illuminating analysis of the cultural, social and economic processes of Mussolini's Italy. Informed by a wealth of new research, it deals authoritatively with male as well as female fashion, the role of cinema, the birth of Italian style and the legacy of fascist fashion. The book is an indispensable work for anyone interested in modern Italian culture and society. * Stephen Gundle, University of Warwick, UK *