Erica Di Giovancarlo grew up near Rome, studied economics, and has spent her career moving across continents — including India, Japan, and Brazil — always in the service of the same mission: showing the world what Italy produces and why it matters.
In January 2024, she arrived in New York as the first woman in history to serve as Italy’s Trade Commissioner, taking charge of the Italian Trade Agency’s American network through five offices spread across the country, from coast to coast. Her headquarters is a five-story neo-Georgian townhouse built in 1904, half a block from Madison Avenue, which once belonged to the Bouvier family. Yes, that Bouvier family.
This May, once again, she will open its doors to the city and turn it into Italy.
We sat down with her to understand what all of this really means, and why, after four editions, getting a reservation has become increasingly difficult.
You are the first woman in history to be appointed Italy’s Trade Commissioner. What does that mean in practical, day-to-day terms?
Fashion, food, wine, beauty, design, technology, aerospace. Five offices across the country, each focused on a different sector. New York is the headquarters, with a particular focus on fashion, accessories, food, wine, and cosmetics. My job is to make sure that the best Italian companies find the right partners, the right audience, and the right moment. It is an important role, and one I care deeply about. And Italy on Madison was born precisely from this — directly from this building. The moment I crossed the threshold for the first time, after arriving in New York, I thought: it’s like the White House. I immediately began imagining what we could do with it, how we could use it to tell Italy’s story in a way that no showroom, trade fair, or advertising campaign could ever replicate. That intuition became Italy on Madison.
For those who have never heard of it, what is it?
It is very different from anything else we do. The real shift came with the third edition, when we decided to stop treating this building as just an office. We opened it to New Yorkers and invited them in. But simply opening the doors was not enough. We wanted it to be authentically Italian, with every room furnished with Italian furniture, objects, and products, down to the smallest detail. This year’s concept is Il Teatro, the Theater of Excellence of Made in Italy. I won’t reveal everything, it’s a surprise, but almost every sector of Italian daily life will be represented: furniture, fashion, footwear, jewelry, fragrance, beauty, food, and wine. The Italian lifestyle, in its entirety, here in New York.
The building has a history of its own. Does that play a role in the event?
Enormously. This was the residence of Jacqueline Bouvier, before she became Kennedy and one of the most iconic women in American history. She lived here. Since 2000, this place has been Italian territory. People walk past it every day and stop to ask whether they can come inside. That curiosity exists regardless of anything we do. Then you add the fact that the people inside are Italian, with everything that implies: beauty, creativity, la dolce vita, but also innovation and products that surprise even those who think they already know Italy very well.
How do you choose the brands that take part?
Design, quality, beauty, and excellence, which, frankly, are the defining traits of Made in Italy. These are not abstract concepts. They are the criteria by which every company is assessed. This year’s curation was led by Paola Navone, who conceived the entire spatial experience. There is a thread running through the whole building: a journey through Italy, its places, its landscapes, and its products. It is not a catalogue. It is a story told through rooms.
Is there still something Italy does that can truly surprise Americans?
The American consumer is very informed, and we are good at promotion, so the combination works. When it comes to fashion, design, and food, very high expectations are always met. But beauty, especially niche fragrance, still has enormous room for discovery here. There are Italian perfumers working at an extraordinary level, with packaging that is itself a design object and formulas rooted in centuries of tradition. From ancient pharmacies to herbalist shops, there is a tradition of knowledge of plants that dates back to the Renaissance. Last year, beauty was one of the great surprises of Italy on Madison, and New York’s response was extraordinary. This year we will go even further.
In New York, there is always something better to do. Why should someone spend their afternoon here?
Because this is something you cannot find anywhere else. To enter an Italian home — not a showroom, not a set, not a television commercial — and experience something close to the Italian lifestyle for a few hours. To taste it, smell it, touch it. Italy is already known in America for food and design, and those expectations will be met. But what I hope people take with them is something beyond the simple confirmation of what they already knew. Italy always has something unexpected, even for those who think they know it well.
What surprised you most about the way New York reacted?
How much people wanted to come in. The building was a revelation. They had walked past it for years without knowing what was behind that door. Then, suddenly, they found it open and discovered Italian furniture, fragrances, food, and clothes. People understood something they may have always sensed but never clearly expressed: that the Italian way of living is not a luxury reserved for those who travel to Italy. It can be experienced, at least for an afternoon, on 67th Street.
Italy competes with the whole world and continues to win. What is the secret?
Other countries do many things very well. But what we communicate, better than almost anyone else, is our joy of living, our saper vivere. When you encounter it, you recognize it immediately. It comes from something very specific: a culture that, over many centuries, decided that beauty matters. That the way a table is set matters. That the espresso cup matters. That the way a jacket falls on the shoulder matters. Not vanity, not status. The attention to how things are made and how they are lived is itself a form of respect, for those who create and for those who receive.
What will the future of Italy on Madison be?
That is the challenge we set ourselves every year. This year we worked very hard to do something different from the last edition. Next year we will have to raise the bar even higher, and we will figure out how when the time comes. What I would most like people to understand is what makes all of this unique. It was born from a very simple idea: Italian life, lived in our home. Not a perfectly curated showroom. The Italian product, in all its beauty, but lived: the morning when you wake up and the sheets are beautiful and slightly rumpled; the smell of coffee filling the house; the fragrance you put on before leaving for the office. This is lifestyle in the real sense of the word, not the version you see in television commercials. The real one, the one that happens every day, without an audience, simply because that is how people live.
Last question. What is the most Italian thing in the world?
Breakfast, absolutely.
