If you’re not going to travel to Milan this spring or transport yourself to the 1950s Hollywood of Roman Holiday, or see a working garment factory in 1920s Kingston, the upcoming Italian Fashion Show in Saugerties will provide the ability to experience them in one afternoon. In a three-hour luncheon and show on April 6, the Ulster County Italian American Foundation (UCIAF) will celebrate the many ways that Italian fashion has become woven into American life for many decades and into the homes, families, businesses, and places in the Hudson Valley today – the “Ciao Primavera Italian Fashion Show.” The show will take place at Diamond Mills.
Information and tickets are available at ucitalianamericanfoundation.org.
This is far more than a simple walk down the runway, though that is undoubtedly important. “Ciao primavera” translates to “Hello spring,” an entirely fitting phrase for a gathering that is producing an abundance of ways to explore Italian fashion and its interconnectedness to regional life and culture. The 90-minute fashion show, from 3:30-5pm in the Grand Ballroom, will showcase varied collections: ones that tell the story of how Italian fashion became prized; made by hand clothing; vintage Italian pieces that members own; Italian fashion that local stores sell; and shopping treasures from Italy. Its finale will feature the fashion collection of celebrated contemporary Italian designer Francesa Liberatore, the show’s special guest.
The pre-event from 2-3:30pm will encompass all things Italian through food, community, education, history, and fun. A casual luncheon (not sit-down) will offer Italian specialties. There will be displays of “Made in Italy” clothes and accessories from local stores; prizes of Italian-made products; an Italian fashion-themed photo booth; and live entertainment. Underpinning the afternoon’s offerings is the connection of Italian craftsmanship and fashion to the Hudson Valley and especially Kingston’s 20th century garment industry.
The UCIAF, a 501(c)(3) organization with approximately 400 members, does cultural programs, language classes, educational lectures, Education Awards for students, and other endeavors to preserve and promote the culture of Italian Americans in Ulster County. However, the organization had not done a fashion show before. As Linda Saccoman, the program’s wardrobe coordinator, recounted, an Italian fashion show was the “brainchild” of Mary Ann Forgey-Lombardi. A professor emeritus from Fordham University, Forgey-Lombardi first proposed the idea for it to the UCIAF’s Cultural Committee early last year and it prompted a positive response. It became apparent how an Italian fashion show would meld support for local stores, honor the traditions of craftsmanship, invite multiple creative expressions, and foster community, says Forgey-Lombardi, who notes that she is Italian by marriage to her husband, former foundation president Les Lombardi.
The fashion show’s elements have inspired an exploration of many tie-ins to Italy, New York City’s Garment District, and Kingston’s garment industry, which had its heyday starting in the 1920s and lasted into the 1970s. In constructing the show UCIAF members have traveled to Italy and New York City’s Garment District.
The foundation plans a multisensory pre-event and show so that those who attend will virtually discover Italian fashion design and craftsmanship in Italy’s towns and cities, New York neighborhoods, and the 1950s Hollywood movie industry. The luncheon and the runway show will aim to capture the craftsmanship, inventiveness, and history of Italian design and craftsmanship. It will, in short, honor all kinds of Italian garment making and sewing, including the work of Italian and Italian American seamstresses and clothing designs made with historic Italian patterns. Slides and narration will accompany each fashion collection.
As Forgey-Lombardi describes the occasion, one can visualize Italian or Italian American shops and homes where ideas and designs were born and stitched into clothing – and continue to be. In fact, that’s the objective — seeking to build the atmosphere and examine the contexts of Italian fashion over time in varied settings, ranging from studios on winding Italian streets to factory floors in American towns and cities. For the luncheon, mannequins will be used to display clothing and engender a storefront feel, Forgey-Lombardi says. The Reher Center for Immigrant Culture and History is going to do a display on sewing in Kingston, based on the exhibit it had in 2022 on the history and contemporary stories of sewing and garment manufacturing in the city. The American Italian Heritage Museum and Cultural Center of Albany is lending sewing artifacts for a display, according to Forgey-Lombardi.
The show also delves into how Italy became a major fashion destination after World War II with the boost of American aid. With concerns that Italy, a nation left impoverished by World War II, would become Communist, the Marshall Plan supplied aid to restore and stabilize the country’s textile businesses. The operations, many family-based, designed and produced clothes that were well-made, stylish, suave, and comfortable.
Meanwhile, Rome became known as “Hollywood’s on the Tiber” as filmmakers shifted production there to lower costs and take advantage of its incredible historic landmarks and stunning views. Hollywood stars like Audrey Hepburn, who romped through Rome in Roman Holiday, Rita Hayworth, and Ava Gardner, among other actresses, donned Italian designs.
This Italian design and craftsmanship have long made their way into America through sewing patterns as well. The UCIAF fashion show hearkens to this tradition in its “made by hand” segment. The “fatto a mano” committee made trips to New York City in preparation for the fashion show, and during these trips, told their “sewing stories,” Forgey-Lombardi says, adding, “It’s about creating fashion and admiring the tedious craft of it.” Members are going to make clothes by hand for the show using Marfy patterns, a Ferrara, Italy-based design studio. Since 1966, Marfy has made High Fashion patterns that are pre-cut and ready-to-use.
While much in the Italian fashion show conjures up journeys to Italy and trips back in time, the journey that culminated in renowned contemporary fashion designer Francesca Liberatore becoming a special guest quite literally was a matter of “serendipity” right down the road, according to Forgey-Lombardi. Liberatore, whose designs have been in key fashion shows such as New York Fashion Week and Milan Fashion Week, has an extensive relationship with the Marist University Fashion Program and has been a judge in its Silver Needle Runway show. She is a past winner of Italy’s prestigious Next Generation design competition. Her designs have paid tribute to her artist father, renowned sculptor Bruno Liberatore. Her fashion conceptions have also drawn on themes of sustainability, reuse, and ecology, and how crucial it is to safeguard the future of the planet.
Community models will present recent designs of Liberatore’s. In fact, local community participation is integral. All in all, the fashion show expects to have 42 models from the area taking part, including male models. Marist’s Fashion Program and Ulster BOCES students are helping in various ways. BOCES students will do the cosmetics, Forgey says. In addition, Bruderhof community members are going to be ushers. A team of five hairdressers from Kingston are helping with hairstyling. Local entities are also providing entertainment and doing production.
The foundation wants to highlight local stores that sell Italian fashion, as in “Think globally, buy locally.” One UCIAF team, splitting into pairs, scoured local stores in various towns, including Kingston, Woodstock, Saugerties, New Paltz, and Rhinebeck, in search of Italian brands. They found a good representation of clothing and accessories. Thus, the show’s models will sport Italian fashion from various local retailers, including vintage and consignment stores.
This program has such a bounty that different facets will resonate with individuals in the audience, to be sure, and perhaps that is what a fashion show is all about – the clothing and accessories that mean something as we each step into the world and connect with others – and how it produces special memories. As Forgey-Lombardi observes, “Fashion is about how you express yourself. It’s about expression.”
Among the participants whose clothing is part of the family vintage collection is Tiziana Rinaldi, who has brought back her wedding gown from her mother’s home in Italy.
It’s just one of many, many stories that are sure to shape the day of the Ciao Primavera Italian Fashion Show on April 6.
Join the family! 
