Carla Lonzi’s Wardrobe

Abstract

According to common sense, fashion and feminism do not get along. Often in history, male fashion designers have exploited the female body for their artistic whims, and just as often, women have refused to comply with the dictates of fashion as the embodiment of an aestheticizing and fetishistic male gaze. However, on many occasions, feminists have reappropriated and resemantized the domestic practices of knitting, sewing and embroidery, conceptualizing them as different ways to think about politics, community, the self, and relationality. Among the many philosophers and activists of Italian second wave feminism, the most influential is undoubtedly Carla Lonzi. Over the years, Carla Lonzi has almost been turned into an idol, exploring every nuance of her thought both in feminism and art criticism. However, her image has remained unexplored, probably considered not particularly relevant. Through her work, this article analyzes the complex dynamics between fashion and feminism, and reconstructs Carla Lonzi’s wardrobe starting from the photographs in her books and in archives, interpreting it with the help of her diary Taci, anzi parla, and of her collection of poems Scacco ragionato.

Keywords

• clothing
• feminism
• body
• sexual difference
• relationality