Dressed: The History of Fashion · Dressed Media

Fashion Under Fascism, an interview with Dr. Eugenia Paulicelli (Dressed Classic)

February 20, 2026·1 hr 10 min·6 clips

Fascism began in Italy in 1915, with Mussolini using violence to suppress leftist movements and establish a totalitarian regime.

An ad opens the recording. After the Dressed archive introduction, Cassie turns to fashion's collision with extreme politics and extreme political events. The conversation tightens fast. The guest presents Genoni as a designer, educator, socialist, pacifist, and thinker. With no schools in place, evening classes for workers in Milan become part of the story. Fashion education was practical labor, not just cultural ambition. Art stays close to the politics. Genoni's idea of Italian fashion drew on artisanal skill, Italian tradition, and Renaissance reference, while nationalism pressed in from every side. Mussolini enters as someone taking things over. The guest says the regime used ideas Genoni had already shaped, especially around Italian institutions and fashion as part of nation-building. That contradiction gives the episode its bite. Genoni cared about the female body, women's liberation, workers, and pacifism, yet the guest says she was under control during the regime. The archives keep the story grounded. Police material gives the account the feel of watched dissent, not abstract theory. The Primavera dress carries a lot of weight here. Inspired by Botticelli and awarded first prize at the 1906 Universal Exhibition in Milan, it makes beauty and politics hard to separate. Genoni also imagined modern women moving by bike, through department stores, and through an Italy where Milan mattered as a fashion center. The hosts mostly make room for the guest's answer, with brief reactions that keep the tension visible. The close returns to the show's usual warm rhythm: Bookshop recommendations and an ad-free subscription note.

As heard by us

A measured look at how fashion, modernity, and Mussolini's regime tangled in Italy.

Fashion under Mussolini's regime is treated as material history and political argument, and Eugenia Paulicelli and the hosts use Rosa Genoni to show how Italian dress touched nationalism, art, labor, and the modern female body all at once.

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Why you'd press play

For a measured look at fashion, politics, and one fiercely modern Italian designer.

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