Made in Italy | Sold in America

Fashion in ‘Attenzione’ Magazine, 1979-1987

An exhibition of historical magazines, including fashion from the NYU Costume Studies MA Study Collection

March 2 – May 5, 2023

Curated by:
Marcella Martin
PhD Candidate, Department of Italian Studies, NYU

This exhibition highlights the Italian lifestyle magazine Attenzione, which was published in the United States in the early 1980s for an elite readership of Italophiles. Attenzione covered a range of topics relating to Italian culture including politics, the arts, society, food, and most notably, fashion. Though the topic of fashion was seen by some readers as undermining the magazine’s purpose of spreading knowledge about Italian heritage and history, for others coverage of the successful careers of Made in Italy designers was inspirational and a point of pride. By viewing the magazine alongside examples of designer fashions from the 1980s to today, this exhibition begins to contextualize the presence of Italian fashion in the United States just as Made in Italy was conquering the international market.