ARTBOOK BLOG

RECENT POSTS

DATE 11/27/2023

The Academy Museum presents Peter Spirer and Big Boy for a Los Angeles screening and signing of 'Book of Rhyme & Reason'

DATE 11/27/2023

Forever Valentino

DATE 11/25/2023

Indigenous wisdom in 'Let's Become Fungal'

DATE 11/23/2023

Happy Thanksgiving from Artbook | D.A.P.!

DATE 11/20/2023

Holiday Gift Staff Pick: Kerry James Marshall: The Complete Prints

DATE 11/17/2023

Fotografiska presents a book signing with Andrew Dosunmu

DATE 11/17/2023

Shaggy and spontaneous, 'The New York Tapes' collects Alan Solomon’s mid-60s interviews for television

DATE 11/17/2023

Book Soup presents the LA launch of 'Stephen Hilger: In the Alley'

DATE 11/15/2023

Holiday Gift Guide 2023: Stocking Stuffers

DATE 11/15/2023

Havoc and stardust in Bruce Gilden's 'Haiti'

DATE 11/14/2023

Holiday Gift Guide 2023: For the Art Obsessed

DATE 11/13/2023

Holiday Gift Guide 2023: For the Photo Lover

DATE 11/13/2023

‘Going Dark’ probes the stakes of being seen


AT FIRST SIGHT

ELEANOR STREHL | DATE 9/30/2009

Fashion at the Time of Fascism
From Damiani, 2009

Last week saw the arrival of a new title from the Italian publisher Damiani, Fashion at the Time of Fascism. This book has been much anticipated because of its provocative concept, aided by a catchy title. One is of course curious to see how the editors address the potentially controversial notion of putting fascism on display. The answer is: with impeccable neutrality.
The book is an exploration of the mutual influence of Mussolini’s fascist government and the producers of Italian culture and fashion between the years of 1922 and 1943, the results of which are uncomfortably yet undeniably pleasing to the eye. We see page after page of lovely brunettes in elegantly draped garments or smart suits with sculptural caps perched over their immaculate curls.
Fashion at the Time of Fascism
Fashion at the Time of Fascism
The book is organized thematically under very general subject headers that encompass the process of fashion from conception through production to display. The subject titles are more evocative than definitive: “Measurement,” “Model,” “Mark” and “Parade.” Within each general subject category every related association that occurred to the editors Mario Lupano and Alessandra Vaccari is documented with a two-page spread or two of period photographs and ephemera.
For example, the “Measurement” section which covers the nuts and bolts of clothing production contains spreads with titles like “Zip,” “Paper-Patterns,” “Fitting” and “Rationing.”
Fashion at the Time of Fascism
The images predominate, largely speaking for themselves with assistance from exhaustive but unobtrusive captions. Essays expanding on the ideas raised by the images are kept to a minimum, taking up a column of space here and there. The informality of the presentation makes what could otherwise be an intimidatingly large and weighty tome (literally and figuratively—the book is the product of three years of research and clocks in at four pounds) a pleasure to pick up and flip through.
Fashion at the Time of Fascism
Fashion at the Time of Fascism
Fashion at the Time of Fascism
Fashion at the Time of Fascism
Fashion at the Time of Fascism

Fashion at the Time of Fascism

Fashion at the Time of Fascism

DAMIANI
Hbk, 9.5 x 12 in. / 400 pgs / 700 color.