On the occasion of Osaka Expo 2025 and the National Day of Made in Italy, Fondazione Altagamma organized the conference entitled “Creativity and Design – Craftsmanship and Innovation – Italy and Japan in Comparison” held in the Italian Pavilion on April 15.

Fabrizio Giugiaro was the only designer to represent Italy in a talk that also involved Japanese designers Kenya Hara and Ken Okuyama. The designer traced the history linking Giugiaro to Japan, starting with contacts in the 1960s with local automakers, and recounted how the influences between the two countries have been mutual: if Italian design has profoundly marked the design style of Japanese cars for decades to the present day, from the Japanese Italians have learned a production approach more focused on functionality and savings, of space and processes.

It is no coincidence that this fruitful collaboration, based on shared principles and mutual esteem, between Fabrizio Giugiaro and some of Japan’s leading companies is still ongoing and constantly renewed in every aspect of industrial design.