The objective of this essay is to analyse some aspects of modernist nationalism, starting with the Universal Exhibition of Turin 1911, organised to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Italian unity, the Fashion Palace being a fundamental cornerstone for the construction of a National Fashion. This in a historical moment when in a context of nationalism and imperialism fashion was perceived in Western social consciousness as one of the major indices of expansion and domination over peoples, a fundamental element in the struggle for world supremacy. In particular, the paper will show how, precisely with the Fashion Palace, the battles for an Italian fashion in that historical phase were not just an internal question of independence from French fashion, but rather of the construction of a national identity in the international networks of politics, commerce, culture, as exemplified by Enrico Corradini in 1909, identifying the designer Rosa Genoni as the woman most deserving of Italian character: I learned the name of Ms. Genoni at a women's conference where she first presented her proposals. She seemed to me the woman most deserving of Italian character. The lady's grooming is an expression of beauty and art, it can be a way of resuscitating beautiful Italian character of other times, it is a way of achieving supremacy in the world and it is a big industry and a big business, just as it is today for the French. One of the greatest bonds that Brazil and Argentina have today with France is that of women's fashion. Those distant regions are tributaries of French fashion and culture. The day that we could establish an Italian fashion (I also know that this cannot happen for 100 reasons, 99 of which do not start or end in actual dressmaking) we would have one more product that we could try to export across the ocean.