Fashioning Submission

Unlike in English and French cultural fields, where fashion during WWII is widely debated, in Italy the relationship between fashion and Fascism is an under-researched topic, separated from the study of Fascist institutions and bureaucracy. The behind-the-scene history of the fashion magazine Bellezza, the Italian Vogue founded in 1941, has never been submitted to scholarly attention. Its utopian function in defining a new culture of fashion and code of glamour contributed to the totalitarian project of building a ‘new Italian woman’. The current volume fills this gap, using the case of Bellezza as a kaleidoscope through which to examine Italian history and culture drawing on new primary sources and extraordinary iconography.