Fashion, politics, and Dante Alighieri

Why bother the Tuscan poet?

From fashion to politics, Dante Alighieri has become a recurrent name in the news. Sadly, people like to speak out of turn to make an impression. But, on the contrary, their mentions have the opposite effect of making them appear absurd.

Dante on the Italian scene: sad but true

Not a piece of fake news, so please take a deep breath if you don’t already know it. Recently, Gennaro Sangiuliano, Italy’s culture minister, claimed that the poet Dante Alighieri was the founder of right-wing thinking. Of course, this statement caused a great stir leaving many people perplexed. However, understanding why modern politicians look like caricatures more than real leaders would be really interesting. But that needs a deep reflection we will not tackle here.

Dante Alighieri & the Paris Haute Couture

Yesterday, Daniel Roseberry for Schiapparelli opened the Haute Couture week in Paris. And for the Maison, the creative director sent on the runway a show inspired by the Inferno by Dante Alighieri. Specifically, he focused on the three fairs the poet encounters in the forest dark: the leopard, the lion and the she-wolf.

Cultured reference or not, animal trophies embroidered onto evening gowns were a horrible concept. Even more considering that those animals are in danger of extinction. Furthermore, models no longer young had the face skin smooth as a child’s butt.

Bad taste dominated the show. Most of all, it is unclear what kind of women the fashion industry wants to appeal to.

It made sense to ignore what the Italian culture minister said. Better avoid highlighting stupidity. But now Dante is back again! From Paris Haute Couture week!

Understandably, we are living in an unprecedented time of disruption and change. But why bother Dante? From fashion to politics, by forcing out-of-context cultural references. The only plausible answer is they want to impress but have nothing to say.

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