Fashion Under Fascism
Scholars trace how totalitarian regimes in Italy and Germany weaponized fashion as propaganda and social control during the 1930s and 1940s.
Why we picked this
Fashion as state apparatus is one of those overlooked intersections that reshapes how you see both industries — this conversation gives it the serious treatment it deserves.
Scholars Eugenia Paulicelli and Rebecca Bauman examine how fascist regimes in Italy and Germany turned clothing into a tool of ideology. From regulated hemlines to national fabric campaigns, fashion became a surprisingly effective mechanism for enforcing conformity and projecting power.
The conversation traces specific propaganda strategies — how Mussolini’s regime promoted autarky through textile policy, how the Third Reich aestheticized the body as a political object — and what these histories reveal about the relationship between style, identity, and authoritarian control.
A free event at the CUNY Graduate Center, available both in person and via livestream.