Made in Italy: A 60-Year Journey at Scotts Square

PUBLISHED October 29th, 2014 04:00 pm | UPDATED July 25th, 2024 02:42 pm

Fashionistas, listen up! Scott Square, will be playing host to the 60 Years of Made in Italy exhibition from 31 October to 9 November 2014. Curated by fashion journalists Alessia Tota and Fiorella Galgano, this exhibition tells the story of Italian fashion from 1950s, when Hollywood stars like Elizabeth Taylor hung out in designer ateliers of Rome and Florence, all the way to the current day.

With a total of 30 treasured dresses from fashion house archives and private collectors on display, 60 Years of Made in Italy is a celebration of sartorial genius, elegance, and a certain finesse we’ve come to know and love. Expect an impressive showing of haute couture by established Italian luminaries such as Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Fendi, as well as the pret-à-porter creations by the more contemporary fashion houses (founded post World War II) like Max Mara, Roberto Cavalli, and Versace.

This exhibition isn’t just for the full-on fashionistas though. Cinema buffs might just recognize a few memorable dresses from iconic films – Gattinoni’s mythical ‘Impero’ dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in War and Peace (1956) and Claudia Cardinale’s trendsetting Palazzo Pyjamas in The Pink Panther (1963) by Galitzine. If you love discussing the hits and misses on the red carpet like us, you’ll also catch the Prada dress that Cate Blanchett wore to the BAFTA Awards and Elizabeth Hurley’s unique Valentino Red piece she sported to the 1998 Estee Lauder charity ball at the exhibition.

Traditional tours of Italy are mostly focused on art and architecture, so if those of you interested in the country and Italian culture have already done that, this exhibition at Scotts Square is a golden opportunity to embark on another sort Grand Tour, especially since the Italian Embassy and Italian Cultural Institute have officially given it their stamp of approval. And we won’t blame you if you feel a (totally logical) desire to hit the shops at Scotts Square afterwards either!

60 Years of Made in Italy is happening 31 October to 9 November 2014, 10am-10pm daily, at Scotts Square, 6 Scotts Road, Singapore 228209. Admission is free.

All Images by Simone Santinelli