This week marked the opening of Fashion Panorama—The Italian New Wave at the Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles. Curated by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Vogue Italia, the traveling exhibition explores contemporary Italian fashion through the lens of 10 boundary pushing, emerging designers.

On the global stage Italy may very well be the country whose national identity is most closely associated with the fashion industry, but looking inward the exhibition posits that fashion in turn offers an important framework with which Italy and Italians can examine their own ever-evolving identity.

As each of the designers explore through a synthesis of creativity, commerce, history, and craftsmanship, fashion is both uniquely intimate as a tool for self expression, and universal, as one of the few art forms that we are all participants in.  

These sentiments were echoed at the exhibition's opening celebration, which included a panel discussion with Emanuele Coccia, Professor at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, and TJ Walker, educator, designer, and Co-Founder of Cross Colours along with remarks from Consul General Raffaella Valentini and Director of the IIC LA, Emanuele Amendola.

Fashion Panorama—The Italian New Wave is on view now through August 30th at the Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles. Additional information on the participating designers is available HERE.