There are eras that do not merely live through their time, but end up defining it. Between 1955 and 1975, Rome was one of these.
The capital of cinema, elegance, art, and Italian creativity, the Eternal City became the stage upon which a new idea of style took shape, destined to conquer the world. The lights of Via Veneto, the sets of Cinecittà, the embassies, international hotels, artists, Heads of State, cultural protagonists, and the most famous faces of the era transformed Rome into an unrepeatable laboratory of taste, innovation, and beauty.
It is precisely to that extraordinary season that the exhibition “Moda in Luce 1955-1975. Rome between Glamour and Industrial Innovation” is dedicated, promoted by the Ministry of Culture and created by Archivio Luce Cinecittà, scheduled from June 26 to November 15, 2026 at the Capitoline Museums Centrale Montemartini in Rome.
Within this important exhibition path, a historical creation from Litrico Fashion House, made in 1958, will also be present, along with other documentary material. Not just a garment, but an authentic testimony of an era in which Rome was writing some of the most significant pages in the history of Italian and international fashion.

“Moda in Luce 1955-1975”: Rome between glamour, cinema, and industrial innovation

The exhibition “Moda in Luce 1955-1975. Rome between Glamour and Industrial Innovation” represents the natural continuation of the journey started with “Moda in Luce 1925-1955”, held in Florence last year.
The new chapter tells the story of the twenty-year period in which Italian fashion moved from the more artisanal dimension of Haute Couture to the first great industrial experiences of Prêt-à-Porter, contributing decisively to the construction of the international identity of Made in Italy.
In those years, Rome was not just a city of passage for actresses, directors, diplomats, and international personalities, but was instead a living creative center, capable of combining craftsmanship, visual culture, experimentation, social life, and industry; fashion was in dialogue with cinema, photography, politics, and society, becoming one of the languages through which Italy told the world of its rebirth, and through Litrico Fashion House, fashion also became an exceptional diplomatic tool, capable of uniting different cultures.

The presence of Litrico Fashion House in the exhibition “Moda in Luce 1955-1975”

Among the excellences selected to tell the story of this season, a 1958 creation by Litrico Fashion House will also be present, featuring particularly innovative characteristics because, for the first time, it introduced shorts paired with a jacket without lapels.
Its presence in the exhibition does not represent mere participation, but the recognition of a historical role. The chosen garment belongs to the years in which the Maison contributed to defining a new idea of Italian masculine elegance, taking Roman tailoring beyond national borders and placing it within the broader narrative of Italian Haute Couture.
That creation returns today to dialogue with its time, within a path that celebrates Rome as the capital of glamour, innovation, and sartorial culture.

Litrico Fashion House: A Maison born in the heart of the Dolce Vita

Founded in Rome in 1951 by Master Angelo Litrico, Litrico Fashion House belongs to that generation of pioneers who helped define the face of Italian elegance in the post-war period.
Having arrived in the Capital from Sicily in 1945 with a dream of tailoring and extraordinary determination, Angelo Litrico quickly transformed his talent into one of the most fascinating stories of Italian Haute Couture. His Atelier soon became a meeting place for art, culture, politics, and entertainment.
His clients included Heads of State, sovereigns, artists, poets, actors, sportsmen, doctors, hospital professors, and orchestra conductors from all over the world. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev, King Hussein of Jordan, Sandro Pertini, Levi Eshkol, Macmillan, Richard Burton, Rossano Brazzi, Vittorio Gassman, Christiaan Barnard, Björn Borg, Paulo Roberto Falcão, Giuseppe Ungaretti, and Salvatore Quasimodo are just some of the names that have crossed the history of the Maison.
The history of Litrico Fashion House, however, is not measured only through the names of its clients. It is measured above all through the concrete contribution made to the birth of the modern Italian fashion system.

The records of Litrico Fashion House in the history of Made in Italy

Litrico Fashion House was among the protagonists of the SIAM (Italian Haute Couture Syndicate), the Roman Center for Italian Haute Couture, and the National Chamber of Italian Fashion, contributing to the construction of the institutions that still represent Italian fashion in the world today.
Since 1951, it was also among the first Men’s Haute Couture Maisons to bring men to the catwalk, contributing to the birth of the professional figure of the male model and transforming the very way of presenting men’s fashion.

The 1957 fashion show in the Soviet Union

In 1957, Litrico Fashion House wrote a page destined to enter history: it was the first Men’s Haute Couture Maison to hold a fashion show in the Soviet Union, participating in the historic Italian mission together with Masters Roberto Capucci, Emilio Pucci, and Pellicceria Bertoletti.

In the height of the Cold War, fashion thus became a tool for cultural dialogue, capable of crossing political and ideological borders. From that experience, the famous relationship between Angelo Litrico and Nikita Khrushchev was born, which helped bring the name of Italian tailoring to the front pages of newspapers worldwide.

The Litrico-Lebole agreement and the birth of Italian Prêt-à-Porter

In 1960, another innovation arrived that was destined to leave its mark: the famous agreement with Lebole, which went down in history as the “Double L” contract, Litrico-Lebole.
This agreement is considered one of the first and most important examples of licensing in Italian men’s fashion and one of the fundamental steps toward the birth of modern Prêt-à-Porter.
Angelo Litrico’s vision thus managed to combine sartorial culture, entrepreneurial ability, and international distribution, anticipating dynamics that would later become central to the contemporary fashion system.

The expansion of Made in Italy in Japan

In 1964, the Maison was the first Italian men’s entity to sign a licensing agreement in Japan, paving the way for the spread of Made in Italy in the Asia-Pacific region many years before the Japanese market became central to international luxury.
In this case too, Litrico Fashion House demonstrated a rare anticipatory capacity: understanding that Italian elegance could speak to different cultures while keeping its artisanal identity intact.

Men and women together on the catwalk

In 1968, Angelo Litrico introduced a further innovation destined to set a precedent: he was the first Haute Couture creator to pair men and women on the catwalk.
A formula that is familiar today in major international presentations, but was deeply innovative then. Once again, the Maison was able to read its time before others, transforming the fashion show into a broader narrative of style, relationship, and modernity.

The Historical Archive of Litrico Fashion House: An Italian cultural heritage

The history of Litrico Fashion House does not belong only to fashion. It belongs to Italian cultural history.
Over more than seventy-five years of activity, the Maison has preserved a vast heritage consisting of press reviews, photographs, documents, correspondence, sketches, films, awards, honors, and historical creations.
This archive tells not only the evolution of a tailoring house but also that of Italian society in the second half of the twentieth century. For this reason, in 2008, the Ministry of Culture declared the Historical Archive of Litrico Fashion House a Cultural Asset of Particularly Important Historical Interest.
This is a recognition that confirms the documentary, artistic, and identity value of a Maison that has been able to cross time while remaining faithful to its vocation: to preserve and renew Italian masculine elegance.

Litrico Fashion House today: sartorial tradition and Italian craftsmanship

Today, this heritage continues to live within the historic Roman Atelier, now in the third generation of the Litrico family.
Led by Luca Litrico, his wife Stefania, and a technical staff of absolute excellence, the Maison continues its journey by combining culture, craftsmanship, and innovation.
Production remains strictly Italian and completely artisanal. Every garment is born from deep technical knowledge, a direct relationship with the client, and an attention to detail that belongs to the most authentic sartorial tradition.
Litrico Fashion House thus continues to represent a form of elegance that does not simply follow fashion, but moves through it, interprets it, and makes it personal.

Awards and Recognitions of Litrico Fashion House

Throughout its history, the Maison has received numerous national and international awards, including:
• Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, 1962
• Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, 1965
• Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, 1968
• Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, 1972
• Caswell-Massey International Eagle Award, United States
• Trofeo Destaque, Brazil
• World Prize for Culture, 1984
• Gran Premio Vita da Sarto from the National Academy of Tailors, 1986
• Naming of Via Angelo Litrico in the city of Catania, 2003
• Historical Archive recognized as a Cultural Asset of Particularly Important National Historical Interest by the Ministry of Culture
• Presence in the exhibition “The Glamour of Italian Fashion 1945-2014” at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, 2015

Litrico Fashion House and the exhibition “Moda in Luce 1955-1975”: the story continues

The presence of a creation by Litrico Fashion House within the exhibition “Moda in Luce 1955-1975” represents much more than mere participation.
It is the recognition of a history that spans over seventy years of Italian culture, elegance, and craftsmanship. It is the return of an authentic testimony to the season that generated it. It is the confirmation that Made in Italy is not born only from products, but from people, ideas, visions, and the hands that helped build it.
A 1958 creation returns today to dialogue with its time, telling new generations about an extraordinary season in which Rome dressed the world.
The story continues, stitch by stitch, seam by seam.

Information about the exhibition “Moda in Luce 1955-1975”

The exhibition “Moda in Luce 1955-1975. Rome between Glamour and Industrial Innovation ” will be open to visitors from June 26 to November 15, 2026 at the Centrale Montemartini in Rome.

For information and ticket purchases:
https://www.centralemontemartini.org/it/mostra-evento/moda-luce-1955-1975-roma-fra-glamour-e-innovazione-industriale

Litrico Fashion House wishes to thank the Ministry of Culture, Archivio Luce Cinecittà, Roma Capitale, and the exhibition organizers for including one of its historical creations within this important exhibition project dedicated to the memory and evolution of Italian Fashion.