Joan Petroboni and a friend riding a moped

The Vespa scooter was a style symbol in the 1960's. Beginning in the mid 1960s, the mass media began to use the term Mod, associating it with anything deemed to be popular, fashionable, or modern. “Mod” was closely connected to the youth movement of Mods or Modernists – and inspired subsequent movements beyond the UK, where it was born. With their modern aesthetic and political charge, the Mods acted as a mouthpiece for the youth’s desire for change. They used the road as their stage and looked to Italy as a reference point, both in terms of style and mobility.