A partnership between the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Embassy of Italy in Singapore, Studio Palomba Serafini Associati, and Vogue Singapore, the ABITO exhibition is set to coincide with the launch of Vogue Living Singapore this October
Fashion often possesses an air of fleetingness and temporality; a cyclical phenomenon that shifts with every season, year, and era. It is, after all, no new insight that the garments of a generation often reflect its zeitgeist, preserving in silhouette and fabric the attitudes, freedoms, and conventions of a particular moment. Yet perhaps it is precisely this transience that makes us value its opposite: the timeless objects and ideas that endure year after year, accumulating meaning as they pass from one generation to the next.
For a deeper exploration of the relationship between these two axes—the transient and the timeless—the ABITO exhibition is set to offer a compelling place to begin. Making its global premiere at National Gallery Singapore from 3 to 17 October 2026, following its debut at Salone del Mobile in Milan, the exhibition brings fashion and design into conversation across generations.
Curated by Roberto Palomba and Ludovica Serafini, ABITO takes its name from the Italian word that carries the dual meaning of “garment” and “to inhabit”. The exhibition draws these two worlds together through fashion, furniture, objects and imagery, tracing the evolving role, identity and agency of women across generations—and the broader social transformations reflected in what they wear and how they live.
“ABITO is not simply an exhibition about fashion and design,” says Allegra Baistrocchi, Deputy of the Office for Promoting Italian Excellence, who commissioned the exhibition. “At its heart, it is a story about women.” Through clothing, furniture, objects and interiors, she explains, we can trace a broader transformation from prescribed roles and domestic spaces towards independence, professional identity, creativity and leadership.
For its Singapore presentation, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Embassy of Italy in Singapore and Studio Palomba Serafini Associati have partnered with Vogue Singapore to bring the exhibition to National Gallery Singapore. The collaboration coincides with the launch of Vogue Living Singapore, a new print and digital vertical that extends the publication’s lens into art, interiors, design and architecture.
This relationship between fashion, design and the ways we inhabit our surroundings will also extend beyond the exhibition. On 16 October, Vogue Living Conversations will bring together more than 15 voices from Singapore and Southeast Asia at the Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium at National Gallery Singapore. Centred on those designing the spaces of tomorrow, the programme will include a dedicated conversation on ABITO with the Italian minds behind the exhibition.
The programme arrives as Vogue Singapore marks its sixth anniversary. Vogue Living Singapore will make its print debut as a 48-page special with a bespoke cover in the magazine’s October issue, while a dedicated Living section on the publication’s website will spotlight news and developments across art, design, interiors and architecture.
