ABITO Exhibition at Salone del Mobile 2026 Explores Design Through Body and Fashion

At Salone del Mobile 2026, the exhibition ABITO, curated by Palomba Serafini Associati, presented a sensitive reading of the relationship between design, fashion, and social transformation. The concept of "abito" embodies a dual meaning: both what one wears and the way one inhabits space. The show constructed a dialogue between garments and design objects spanning over a century, with each piece functioning as a record of a specific moment. A key focus was the evolution of women's roles, where clothing reflected not only aesthetic changes but also gains in movement, public presence, and redefinition of daily life. The exhibition also explored the tension between fashion's ephemeral nature and design's permanence, proposing that design transcends the material to inscribe itself in collective memory. By integrating body, clothing, and space into a single narrative, ABITO shifted the traditional focus from objects to a broader understanding of inhabiting.