Gabriele Monti's 'In posa' chronicles Italian modeling history

Gabriele Monti's book 'In posa', published by Marsilio, offers a scientific yet accessible history of the Italian modeling profession from the 1950s to today. The volume, under 100 pages of text plus an iconographic atlas, is structured in three periods and examines how models like Benedetta Barzini and Marina Schiano helped define the 'made in Italy' identity. Monti, part of the group led by Maria Luisa Frisa and Mario Lupano, begins with a philological analysis of the term 'modella' (from 'manichino' and 'mannequin'), positioning the model as a representation of a lifestyle. The book highlights key figures such as Diane Vreeland, who in the 1960s sought models with personality, finding them in Italian women. It also covers the first modeling school in 1940, the Ente Nazionale della Moda, and the success of Italian models in America in the 1950s. Monti discusses the role of journalists Irene Brin and Emilia Kuster Rosselli, photographers like Mirella Petteni, and designers such as Riccardo Tisci, who collaborated with model Maria Carla Boscono. The book reframes modeling as a cultural phenomenon, not merely a fashion accessory.