The ABITO exhibition, which pairs Italian fashion with Italian furniture to tell how the lives of Italian women have changed, is open at National Gallery Singapore until 17 October 2026. The Embassy of Italy in Singapore presents it with Vogue Singapore and Vogue Living, and admission is complimentary.
ABITO opened on 3 October in the Concourse Gallery on Level B1 and runs daily from 10am to 7pm. It is curated by Ludovica Serafini and Roberto Palomba of Palomba Serafini Associati and promoted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Singapore is its first stop outside Italy. The exhibition was first shown at the Salone del Mobile in Milan earlier this year.
Clothes and chairs side by side
The idea behind ABITO is that people inhabit their clothes the way they inhabit their homes. Every design piece in the show is still in production, some more than a century after it was first made. The garments belong to particular seasons, and the exhibition uses them as markers of their time.
Placed together, the clothes, furniture, objects and interiors trace a shift from prescribed roles and domestic spaces towards freedom of movement, then to women’s growing presence in professional and public life, and from convention to independence, creativity and leadership.
Walkthroughs and conversations are planned through the Singapore run, with the Gallery used as a meeting space for creative and industry voices as well as an exhibition hall.
Formula Italia on 8 October
ABITO overlaps with Grand Prix Season Singapore, and the embassy has built a motorsport evening around it. Formula Italia: Italian Genius Beyond the Track takes place on Thursday 8 October from 5.30pm to 7.30pm at the Embassy of Italy, 9 Raffles Place, #33-01 Republic Plaza. It is an embassy evening for guests from the creative industries, luxury brands, business, institutions and media.
The evening brings the Asian premiere of the Italian documentary of the same name, and a conversation on women in motorsport moderated by Vogue Singapore. The speakers are Sadia Asim of Ferrari; Amanda Chew, chairperson of the Volunteers and Race Officials Commission at the Automobile Association of Singapore; former racing driver and presenter Claire Jedrek; and Rui Li of Pirelli.
Getting there during race week
National Gallery Singapore is at 1 St Andrew’s Road, a seven-minute walk from Exit B of City Hall MRT station via the Art Connector.
Some Gallery entrances and nearby roads are affected by the Formula 1 road closures. The Padang Atrium Entrance facing the Padang is shut from 5 to 11 October, and Supreme Court Lane is closed from 9 to 11 October, 7pm to 2am. The Coleman Street and Parliament Place entrances, and the Padang Atrium Entrance facing the Supreme Court, are unaffected.
The Gallery carpark opens only from 7am to 10am on 7 to 9 October, then closes fully from 10am on 9 October and reopens at 7am on 13 October.
