Ciao, Philadelphia! Italy’s Most Stylish Exhibition Lands at Drexel University

Drexel University is hosting the only U.S. stop of an international touring exhibition, Italia è Moda, presented by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. The exhibition was designed as a living archive of historic and current Italian fashion, art, beauty and textile industries. 

The Great Court in Main Building has now been transformed into an open wardrobe filled with costumes, garments, footwear, sunglasses, beauty products and other fashionable objects. Everything displayed comes from historic, established and emerging Italian fashion companies and designers. Outfits are shown without mannequins and with digital installations providing more information on the creative processes behind objects in the show.

The displayed objects span decades of Italian history and culture. For example, two authentic costumes from “Fellini’s Casanova,” a 1976 Italian film directed by Federico Fellini are on display, including one worn by Donald Sutherland in the title role (the designer, Danilo Donati, received the 1977 Academy Award for Best Costume Design for the film). A documentary exploring Italian arts and crafts education, “Grand Tour: A Journey through the Academies of Arts and Crafts,” can also be seen on screens throughout the exhibition.

Italia è Moda will be displayed in Drexel’s Main Building (3141 Chestnut St.) from Sept. 14–26. It is free and open to the public.

“Bringing Italia è Moda to Philadelphia, especially in an academic setting like Drexel University, allows us to present ‘Made in Italy’ as a cultural message as well as an economic force,” said architect, applied arts historian and multidisciplinary curator Clara Tosi Pamphili, who curated the show. 

Drexel has its own history of art and fashion; it was founded in 1891 as the Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry, and has taught art and fashion classes throughout its 135-year history. The University’s Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design is incorporated into some of the exhibition programming, and an art history class, “History of Modern Design,” will bring students to the exhibition for some experiential education.

Lynn Clouser Waddell, executive director of University Collections & Exhibitions in Drexel’s Libraries, Collections & Archives, and design graduate student Anushka Agarkar, an intern in the Drexel Founding Collection, partnered with the Consulate General of Italy in Philadelphia for support with the exhibition. University President Antonio Merlo, PhD, who is from Italy, spoke about that Drexel legacy at the exhibition’s opening on Sept. 13.

The University’s Library, Collections & Archives incorporated Italia è Moda into its annual campus-wide scavenger hunt for incoming Drexel students, held this year on Sept. 14. Three clues were related to the exhibition:

• What word is written three times on one of the outfits? (“Dance!” which appears written in black on a pleated white skirt by Moja Rowa.)
• What year was the “Casanova” costume made? (1976)
• What material are the green shorts made of? (Leather. The designer: Domenico Orefice.)

As part of the exhibition, the University will present complementary programming related to Italian fashion that will be free and open to the public.

On Sept. 22, a screening of "CostumItaly," a documentary film about the history and professions related to Italian costume design, will be shown at 5:30 p.m. in the A.J. Drexel Picture Gallery on the third floor of Drexel’s Main Building.

Two lectures on Italian fashion will be presented in the same A.J. Drexel Picture Gallery on Sept. 23 (registration is required). The event will feature Clare Sauro, Cara Keegan Fry Curator and director of the Robert and Penny Fox Historic Costume Collection, and associate professor of design and art history in the Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, who will incorporate Fox Collection works by Italian designers like Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvatore Ferragamo into her discussion on how American consumers have embraced Italian fashion. That talk will be held from 7–8 p.m. and will follow a discussion from 6–7 p.m. by Luca Cottini, PhD, a professor of Italian studies at Villanova University, who will present “Genealogies and Models of Italian Fashion and Speaking Details: The Accessories of Italian Fashion.”