It all began in the 1950s, in postwar Italy, when the country was rising again after terrible upheavals and women were finally becoming emancipated. Only a few years earlier, they had achieved a most important goal: the right to vote.
Milan was the capital of fashion press. Novità, la rivista pratica per la donna moderna, founded and directed by Emilia Kuster Rosselli, first appeared in 1950.
Although not yet sophisticated, the magazine had a rapid circulation among an upper middle class female audience.
It had a correspondent from Paris - Jean Pierre Guerin - and one from Florence - Franca Pecori Giraldi -, as well as an editor for interior design, Architect Alessandro Pasquali. Lidia Tabacchi was one of the fashion editors. After Kuster's death in 1958, Tabacchi became the Editor in chief of the magazine.
Novità was a magazine open to fashion, interior design, art and society. It recorded sociocultural events with due levity, addressing women who were only recently experiencing their social emancipation and needed advice about elegance in attire, interior design and furnishings.
Novità greatly appealed to the Americans, to the point that Condé Montrose Nast, the publisher of Vogue, decided to invest in the magazine.
Thomas Kernan, on behalf of Nast, purchased the magazine from its owner, Roberto Kuster, for about seven million lire. The first issue of Novità under the Condé Nast brand was published in March 1962; the Editor in chief was Lidia Tabacchi and Thomas Kernan was the Managing Director.
This was the beginning of a time of great changes for the magazine. Italian society was evolving rapidly: it was the decade of the economic boom, baby boom, youth and student protest, mass motorization, cinema celebrities, spaceflights… Italian fashion with its elegance and unique style began a climb that was unimaginable until recently: this was the kick off for the birth of a very new magazine, a magazine capable of recording all the socio-cultural and economic changes, and a showcase of many talents, designers, photographers, the right medium for that fashion industry that has made Italian life style and Made in Italy great in Italy and all over the world.
With the arrival of Daniel Salem, the new Managing Director, Novità became Vogue Italia & Novità. It was November 1965 and Lidia Tabacchi wrote in her editorial:
“Dear Friends,
I wish to present the first Italian issue of Vogue to you. Novità has earned that title, a prestigious brand of Condé Nast editions, by bringing the magazine step by step to a high level of quality. [...]
Our program is a spotlight on basic subjects, as well as occasional and prominent topics. To convey an up to date, lively, personalized, richly detailed image of fashion. Stimulate beauty in all its aspects. Discover new faces on both sides of the Ocean. Capture the most noteworthy elements of reality, cultural events, famous people. Choose the best of home architecture and home furniture as to rigour, glamour and art. Interpret a new way of living and a new art of receiving guests; propose smart solutions, practical address books, notebooks, carnets […].”
And the first issue could not fail to have the portrait of one of the most photographed models of American Vogue on its cover: Benedetta Barzini, wearing a jewel set with very rare pink topazes and diamonds, enhanced by a short and stylized hairstyle. The photographer was Gian Paolo Barbieri.
The Sixties were a whirlwind of changes. The first issue of Vogue Italia was in June 1966 with Franco Sartori, the Editorial Director of Novità since February 1964, as Head Editor and Flavio Lucchini as Artistic Director.
Vogue Italia now celebrates its 60th anniversary! Year of birth: 1964, the year when Franco Sartori and Flavio Lucchini joined the editorial staff of Novità and began to dream big. As Flavio Lucchini himself recounts in the Vogue Italia issue of January 2024, they had "the idea of gradually transforming Novità into Vogue, which was the pinnacle of fashion, photography, information: it was the most beautiful magazine in the world, the apotheosis of femininity.”
For the twenty years of Vogue Italia, Sartori highlighted how much the transition from Novità to Vogue had coincided with a "decisive turning point in the made-in-Italy fashion industry", an industry overwhelmingly and brilliantly established worldwide.
The magazine and Italian fashion have nurtured each other and have grown thanks to each other's input and contribution.
On the one hand, incredibly talented fashion creators, on the other, great photographers who have been able to immortalize fashion and models as worldwide icons of a unique style.
Milan was the capital of fashion press. Novità, la rivista pratica per la donna moderna, founded and directed by Emilia Kuster Rosselli, first appeared in 1950.
Although not yet sophisticated, the magazine had a rapid circulation among an upper middle class female audience.
It had a correspondent from Paris - Jean Pierre Guerin - and one from Florence - Franca Pecori Giraldi -, as well as an editor for interior design, Architect Alessandro Pasquali. Lidia Tabacchi was one of the fashion editors. After Kuster's death in 1958, Tabacchi became the Editor in chief of the magazine.
Novità was a magazine open to fashion, interior design, art and society. It recorded sociocultural events with due levity, addressing women who were only recently experiencing their social emancipation and needed advice about elegance in attire, interior design and furnishings.
Novità greatly appealed to the Americans, to the point that Condé Montrose Nast, the publisher of Vogue, decided to invest in the magazine.
Thomas Kernan, on behalf of Nast, purchased the magazine from its owner, Roberto Kuster, for about seven million lire. The first issue of Novità under the Condé Nast brand was published in March 1962; the Editor in chief was Lidia Tabacchi and Thomas Kernan was the Managing Director.
This was the beginning of a time of great changes for the magazine. Italian society was evolving rapidly: it was the decade of the economic boom, baby boom, youth and student protest, mass motorization, cinema celebrities, spaceflights… Italian fashion with its elegance and unique style began a climb that was unimaginable until recently: this was the kick off for the birth of a very new magazine, a magazine capable of recording all the socio-cultural and economic changes, and a showcase of many talents, designers, photographers, the right medium for that fashion industry that has made Italian life style and Made in Italy great in Italy and all over the world.
With the arrival of Daniel Salem, the new Managing Director, Novità became Vogue Italia & Novità. It was November 1965 and Lidia Tabacchi wrote in her editorial:
“Dear Friends,
I wish to present the first Italian issue of Vogue to you. Novità has earned that title, a prestigious brand of Condé Nast editions, by bringing the magazine step by step to a high level of quality. [...]
Our program is a spotlight on basic subjects, as well as occasional and prominent topics. To convey an up to date, lively, personalized, richly detailed image of fashion. Stimulate beauty in all its aspects. Discover new faces on both sides of the Ocean. Capture the most noteworthy elements of reality, cultural events, famous people. Choose the best of home architecture and home furniture as to rigour, glamour and art. Interpret a new way of living and a new art of receiving guests; propose smart solutions, practical address books, notebooks, carnets […].”
And the first issue could not fail to have the portrait of one of the most photographed models of American Vogue on its cover: Benedetta Barzini, wearing a jewel set with very rare pink topazes and diamonds, enhanced by a short and stylized hairstyle. The photographer was Gian Paolo Barbieri.
The Sixties were a whirlwind of changes. The first issue of Vogue Italia was in June 1966 with Franco Sartori, the Editorial Director of Novità since February 1964, as Head Editor and Flavio Lucchini as Artistic Director.
Vogue Italia now celebrates its 60th anniversary! Year of birth: 1964, the year when Franco Sartori and Flavio Lucchini joined the editorial staff of Novità and began to dream big. As Flavio Lucchini himself recounts in the Vogue Italia issue of January 2024, they had "the idea of gradually transforming Novità into Vogue, which was the pinnacle of fashion, photography, information: it was the most beautiful magazine in the world, the apotheosis of femininity.”
For the twenty years of Vogue Italia, Sartori highlighted how much the transition from Novità to Vogue had coincided with a "decisive turning point in the made-in-Italy fashion industry", an industry overwhelmingly and brilliantly established worldwide.
The magazine and Italian fashion have nurtured each other and have grown thanks to each other's input and contribution.
On the one hand, incredibly talented fashion creators, on the other, great photographers who have been able to immortalize fashion and models as worldwide icons of a unique style.
Bibliography
Books
Sartori, Franco. 20 anni di Vogue Italia, 1964-1984. Storia, attualità, costume, moda, personaggi che hanno fatto epoca, attraverso l'obiettivo dei maestri fotografi. (Exhibition catalogue, Milano, 1984), Vogue Italia 415/1984 supplement
Acquarone, Lele (testi di). 1964-1994 Vogue (30 anni di Vogue). Milano: Edizioni Condé Nast, 1994. (Exhibition catalogue, Milan, Triennale, Palazzo dell'Arte, 3-30 October 1994)
Sozzani, Franca (ed.). D.P. doppie pagine di Anna Piaggi in Vogue, fashion algebra. Milano: Leonardo Arte, 1998
Borioli, Gisella (ed.). Flavio Lucchini, from fashion to art, the Vogue lesson. Milano: Skira, 2010
Vergani, Guido (a cura di). Dizionario della moda. Milano: Baldini Castoldi Dalai, 2010 s.v.
Franca, chaos and creation. New York: Assouline, 2019
Savi, Lucia. A new history of "Made in Italy". Fashion and textiles in post-war Italy. London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2023
Magazines
Novità, la rivista pratica per la donna moderna. Milano: Editrice Novità, poi Condé Nast, 1950-1965
Vogue Italia & Novità. Milano: Edizioni Condé Nast, 1965-1966
Vogue Italia. Milano: Edizioni Condé Nast, 1966-
Vogue Italia. Ann Arbor: Proquest. (accessed September 25, 2024)
Scalia, Lella. 60 anni di futuro in Vogue Italia, 880/2024, p. 18-21
Faccani, Francesca. I semi della creatività in Vogue Italia, 880/2024, p. 22-23 (Interview to Flavio Lucchini)
60 anni di stile in Vogue Italia, 888/2024
Books
Sartori, Franco. 20 anni di Vogue Italia, 1964-1984. Storia, attualità, costume, moda, personaggi che hanno fatto epoca, attraverso l'obiettivo dei maestri fotografi. (Exhibition catalogue, Milano, 1984), Vogue Italia 415/1984 supplement
Acquarone, Lele (testi di). 1964-1994 Vogue (30 anni di Vogue). Milano: Edizioni Condé Nast, 1994. (Exhibition catalogue, Milan, Triennale, Palazzo dell'Arte, 3-30 October 1994)
Sozzani, Franca (ed.). D.P. doppie pagine di Anna Piaggi in Vogue, fashion algebra. Milano: Leonardo Arte, 1998
Borioli, Gisella (ed.). Flavio Lucchini, from fashion to art, the Vogue lesson. Milano: Skira, 2010
Vergani, Guido (a cura di). Dizionario della moda. Milano: Baldini Castoldi Dalai, 2010 s.v.
Franca, chaos and creation. New York: Assouline, 2019
Savi, Lucia. A new history of "Made in Italy". Fashion and textiles in post-war Italy. London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2023
Magazines
Novità, la rivista pratica per la donna moderna. Milano: Editrice Novità, poi Condé Nast, 1950-1965
Vogue Italia & Novità. Milano: Edizioni Condé Nast, 1965-1966
Vogue Italia. Milano: Edizioni Condé Nast, 1966-
Vogue Italia. Ann Arbor: Proquest. (accessed September 25, 2024)
Scalia, Lella. 60 anni di futuro in Vogue Italia, 880/2024, p. 18-21
Faccani, Francesca. I semi della creatività in Vogue Italia, 880/2024, p. 22-23 (Interview to Flavio Lucchini)
60 anni di stile in Vogue Italia, 888/2024
Documentary (DVD)
Carrozzini, Francesco. Franca, chaos and creation. ITA, 2016
From the Internet
Vogue.com (accessed 10/09/2024)
"Flavio Lucchini. Tutto comincia con Vogue". AT Superstudio Magazine https://www.at-superstudiomagazine.com/it/flaviolucchini.tuttocominciaconvogue./fromhome (accessed 25/09/2024)
[Marcella Mazzetti]