Following its inauguration at Salone del Mobile. Milano, the landmark exhibition promoted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation comes to Singapore for its first international presentation
Singapore, 1° September 2026 – Following its inauguration at the Salone del Mobile. Milano earlier this year, ABITO will make its global premiere in Singapore, marking the first international presentation of an exhibition that uses some of Italy’s most recognizable expressions of fashion and design to tell a much larger story: how Italy has changed, and how the role of Italian women has evolved with it.
Promoted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and curated by Ludovica Serafini and Roberto Palomba of Palomba Serafini Associati, ABITO will be presented at the National Gallery Singapore from 3 to 17 October 2026 by the Embassy of Italy in Singapore in collaboration with Vogue Singapore/Vogue Living.
Singapore marks the beginning of ABITO’s international journey and establishes the exhibition as a new platform for Italian cultural diplomacy: one that brings together design, fashion, social history and contemporary creativity to offer international audiences a different way of experiencing Italy.
A PORTRAIT OF ITALY THROUGH THE WAY WE DRESS — AND THE WAY WE LIVE
ABITO begins with a simple but powerful idea: we inhabit our clothes just as we inhabit our homes.
Across generations, what Italians have worn and the objects and spaces with which they have surrounded themselves have reflected profound changes in society.
The exhibition places fashion and design in direct dialogue. Every design piece selected for ABITO remains in production today — some more than a century after they were first conceived — embodying the remarkable permanence and continuity of Italian design. Fashion, by contrast, is inherently seasonal. Precisely because garments belong to a particular moment, they become extraordinarily powerful witnesses to their time.
Together, they create a visual and cultural journey through Italian society.
At the center of that journey is the evolution of women.
Through clothing, furniture, objects and interiors, ABITO traces transformations that extend far beyond aesthetics: from prescribed roles and domestic spaces to greater freedom of movement; from changing relationships with the home to women’s growing presence in professional and public life; from convention to independence, creativity and leadership.
In the words of Palomba Serafini: “There is, inevitably, a great deal of love for our country in ABITO. But it is not nostalgic love. It is love for an Italy that continues to evolve. And beneath the beauty of the clothes and objects, there is another exhibition: a story about extraordinary women and the progressive expansion of their freedom — the freedom to move, to work, to create, to lead, to choose how to dress and ultimately how to inhabit their own lives.”
ABITO therefore looks at fashion and design not simply as expressions of beauty, but as records of social change.
FROM MILAN TO SINGAPORE
The choice of Singapore for ABITO’s first international presentation reflects the increasingly close relationship between Italy and Singapore and the two countries’ shared interest in design, innovation, culture and creativity.
A global crossroads between East and West, Singapore provides a natural setting in which to introduce ABITO to Asia and to begin a wider international conversation around the ideas it explores.
Ambassador of Italy to Singapore Dante Brandi said:
“Singapore is the ideal place for ABITO to begin its international journey. Italy and Singapore share an understanding that design and creativity are not merely aesthetic pursuits: they are ways of imagining how societies can live, evolve and innovate. ABITO brings this idea to life through an extraordinary Italian story, while addressing themes — identity, changing social roles and the relationship between people and the spaces they inhabit — that are universal.
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. It is particularly meaningful that, after the Salone del Mobile in Milan, this conversation will keep going in Singapore.”
A LIVING PLATFORM FOR ITALIAN CREATIVITY
ABITO is conceived not simply as an exhibition, but as a living cultural platform.
The collaboration with Vogue Singapore and Vogue Living extends this conversation beyond the traditional boundaries separating fashion, interiors, design and lifestyle — disciplines that have historically evolved in constant dialogue within the Italian creative system.
The exhibition’s arrival in Singapore therefore represents more than the export of an Italian exhibition. It marks the beginning of a wider international journey designed to use the extraordinary heritage of Made in Italy to create conversations about the future.
Throughout its Singapore presentation, ABITO will extend beyond the exhibition itself through a series of moments designed to bring its themes to life — from dedicated walkthroughs and conversations to more structured programming bringing together institutional, creative and industry voices. The Gallery will therefore become not only a place in which to experience ABITO, but a space for encounters and exchange around Italian creativity, design and contemporary culture.
With ABITO coinciding with Singapore’s international racing week, it was impossible not to explore another expression of Italian creativity that has made an extraordinary mark on the world: the intersection of design, technology, engineering and motorsport. On 8 October, Formula Italia: Italian Genius Beyond the Track will approach this world through one of ABITO’s central themes, turning the spotlight on women shaping the future of motorsport and extending the exhibition’s conversation about freedom, ambition and transformation into a very different — but equally compelling — arena of Italian excellence. Further details on this special program will be announced separately.
ABITO
Dates: 3–17 October 2026
Venue: National Gallery Singapore
Promoted by: Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
Curated by: Ludovica Serafini and Roberto Palomba / Palomba Serafini Associati
Singapore presentation: Embassy of Italy in Singapore in collaboration with Vogue Singapore / Vogue Living
Media enquiries:
Embassy of Italy in Singapore
Enrico Nicolosi
enrico.nicolosi@esteri.it
+65 8962 1070
