In “Il corpo alla moda”, Maria Luisa Frisa analyses the dress not as a mere decoration, but
considering it a tool for negotiating identity. Through a process which connects intimate
confessions and cultural theory, the author explores the deep bond between flesh and fabric. From iconic runways to the daily ritual of looking in the mirror; a reflection on how fashion defines the way we exist in the world.
by Domenico Casoria
Getting dressed is never a neutral act. Every morning, when we reach into the closet with our hands, we are not just selecting the clothes that we will be wearing, we are actually deciding which version of ourselves to present to the world. It is precisely this awareness that drives Maria Luisa Frisa in her latest essay, Il corpo alla moda (published in italian by Einaudi). With a rather critical clarity, Frisa takes a step back from the glossy surface of the fashion industry to look at what lies immediately beneath. Our skin, the biological shell that constantly adapts, clashes and interacts with the fabric.
A shared vulnerability
The analysis begins with a personal and courageous admission by the author. The difficulty of looking at her own naked body in the mirror, a vulnerability shared by many, that leads to the need for a protective centre of gravity. “I have a great difficulty at looking at my own body. Or, to be more specific, I can’t actually look at my own naked body. In the morning, right when I wake up, the first thing I do, since I prefer to sleep naked, is to immediately put something back on. I have trouble even talking about it, even in that safe space where friends share secrets and confessions with one another” as stated by Frisa. Starting from this extremely personal matter, the book expands itself through a wider reflection, based on how fashion serves as an interface between
the individual and society.
Beyond frivolousness
The book’s main thesis also debunks an old prejudice: the idea that fashion is merely a superficial and frivolous pastime. Quite the opposite, the dress is described as a true cultural device, a semiotic machine capable of producing meaning and identity. If we often tend to treat the choice of clothing lightly, it is because we fear confronting its true significance: getting dressed forces us to deal with our status as social beings. The piece of clothing acts as a border, a negotiation space in which we hope to be seen and recognized by others. But, no one actually teaches us how to take advantage of fashion as an instrument to reach personal emancipation, rather than a set of rigid aesthetic standards to which one must passively conform.
The other chapters
Throughout the book, the author traces a fascinating account of the physical transformations imposed and documented by the runways. The body of fashion is never static, it evolves as eras and cultural sensibilities change. In this way, we move from the ethereal abstraction of the model to the celebration of curves in contemporary pop culture, demonstrating that there is no single, absolute ideal, but rather a diversity of forms in constant evolution.
“In male territories”
One of the various chapters, for example, is dedicated to the decomposition and reconstruction of the male figure. Through the historical insights of Giorgio Armani and Gianni Versace, masculinity has shed its supposed neutrality to become overtly performative. This evolution has truly paved the way for the fluid
experiments of recent fashion, from Alessandro Michele to Tom Ford, demonstrating that gender can be deconstructed and reshaped. A point in which the body is a space of ongoing negotiation. And there’s also a reflection of the concept of the muse, as well as an entire chapter dedicated on make-up and self-representation. Which inevitably goes through the body. In conclusion, Frisa creates an open-ended work in which invites us to cultivate doubt and train our gaze to understand that the act of getting dressed is, in every respect, our most intimate and everyday way and gesture of actually
inhabiting the world.
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