Fashioning Submission : Documenting Fashion, Taste and Identity in WWII Italy through 'Bellezza' Magazine

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.