What’s in a name? For Ludovica Serafini and Roberto Palomba of Palomba Serafini Associati, a single word can contain an entire universe of meaning. Such is the case with ABITO, a cultural exhibition commissioned by Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to tell the story of Italian creativity abroad. Curated by the duo and first unveiled during Salone del Mobile in Milan last April, ABITO brings fashion and design into an immersive, cross-disciplinary exchange.
The English expression ‘dress your nest’ hints at just how closely fashion and interiors have become entwined. In Italian, that relationship is even more prominent: the word abito refers to what we wear, while abitare means to inhabit—a linguistic connection that became the exhibition’s starting point. “It began with the word itself. We dress our bodies, but in a sense we also ‘dress’ the spaces around us,” share the curators.
Rather than present fashion and design as separate disciplines, Serafini and Palomba approached them as parallel expressions of identity, revealing how both respond to—and often anticipate—shifts in the way we live. “For us they are two expressions of the same instinct: the desire to construct an identity and communicate something about ourselves. The chair we choose, the clothes we wear, the objects we keep around us all say something about who we are—and perhaps also about who we would like to become.”
Creative conversations
Central to ABITO is an exploration of Italian creativity and the cross-pollination that has fuelled it and allowed it to flourish. “Italy’s strength has never really existed in isolated sectors. It comes from a culture in which beauty, craftsmanship, industry, experimentation and everyday life continuously contaminate one another. ABITO grew from that idea: we inhabit our clothes just as we inhabit our homes, and both become extensions of ourselves,” they explain.
Curation, the duo say, became an exercise in restraint. “Italy offers an almost overwhelming abundance of extraordinary objects, designers, fashion houses and stories; the challenge was deciding what to leave out,” they explain. “We never wanted ABITO to become a catalogue of Italian icons or a ‘best of Italy’. Instead, we looked for relationships. We asked ourselves: what happens when an object of fashion and an object of design from the same cultural moment are placed in conversation? What do they tell us about the Italy that produced them?”
Organised by historical period, the exhibition sets more than a century of clothing from the Quinto Tinarelli Collection against made-in-Italy furniture and objects that remain in production. Photography forms a visual backdrop, connecting these layers and placing each pairing within a wider cultural moment. “Sometimes the relationship is visual; sometimes it is conceptual, social or even ironic. Together, these pairings reveal something larger: the extraordinary ability of Italian creativity to interpret change.”
In the exhibition, pieces by Giorgio Armani sit alongside the work of Ettore Sottsass, offering two distinct expressions of Italian modernity, while Gucci is juxtaposed with Piero Lissoni, striking an entirely different note. The curators explain these are not literal pairings, but unexpected encounters designed to spark personal observations. “We wanted visitors to move through the exhibition making their own connections. ABITO does not tell you what to think; it invites you to look twice.”
Beyond borders
For both the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Palomba Serafini Associati, the purpose was not simply to celebrate things that Italy has made beautifully, but to create a project that could travel internationally. “The exhibition tells the story of Italy through its ideas—an Italy that is sophisticated but also experimental, industrial yet deeply human, respectful of its heritage but constantly reinventing itself,” stress the curators.
In fact, ABITO also traces ideas of freedom, particularly through the changing lives of women. “If you look carefully at the history of fashion and interiors, you are also looking at the history of women. Clothing tells us very directly how women were expected to move, behave and present themselves. The progressive liberation of the body—changes in silhouettes, trousers, sportswear, professional clothing, the rejection or reinterpretation of certain conventions—parallels a much larger transformation in women’s lives. But interiors tell that story, too,” they add.
According to the curators, the evolution of the home also mirrors women’s evolving place in society. As their lives moved beyond traditionally prescribed roles, homes grew less rigid, furniture became more adaptable and ways of living more informal. “That transformation is deeply moving to us because ABITO spans a period in which the possibilities available to women changed dramatically.”
It is this important social dimension that gives the exhibition resonance beyond the objects themselves. “ABITO is not simply an exhibition about fashion and design,” says Allegra Baistrocchi, the deputy of the Office for Promoting Italian Excellence, who commissioned the exhibit and is tasked with promoting it globally. “At its heart, it is a story about women. Through clothing, furniture, objects and interiors, we can trace a much larger transformation: from prescribed roles and domestic spaces to independence, professional identity, creativity and leadership.”
Singapore marks ABITO’s first international stop and the start of its global journey. “Bringing ABITO to Singapore allows us to share this distinctly Italian story with a global audience, while opening a wider conversation about how design records and sometimes anticipates social change,” says His Excellency Dante Brandi, ambassador of Italy to Singapore.
For the curators, the move is about more than transplanting an exhibition. “The dialogue with the National Gallery Singapore is especially fascinating because the building itself carries layers of history and transformation. Presenting Italian creativity within that context immediately creates new relationships,” they share. “Singapore is therefore not just the first destination on a tour. It is the beginning of ABITO’s second life—as an international platform through which Italian creativity can encounter different cultures and acquire new meanings.
Vogue Living Singapore is proud to partner with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Embassy of Italy in Singapore and Palomba Serafini Associati to present the international premiere of ABITO at National Gallery Singapore, from 4 to 17 October. Admission is complimentary.
