35 Under 35

An Olympic Alpine skier. A clinical psychologist who’s developed an app for women to get home safely. A 25-year-old pop icon on the rise. A lawyer-turned-distiller who’s opened the first whisky distillery in Florence. A chef, who, at 32, won three Michelin stars. These are the voices of Italy’s younger generations. In a country where 24% of the population is over 65 and nonnas reign supreme (at both the dinner table and in the immaginario, or imagination), it’s not easy to be heard as a young person, especially when it comes to business. Our country certainly doesn’t have a reputation for rolling up its sleeves, but there are plenty of young people–scroll down for 35 of them!–pursuing careers here and greasing their elbows to do something impactful… even if it may not be easy.

Where to begin with the hurdles that the younger generations face to do so? We could write about youth unemployment, which, at 21%, is the third highest in the EU, per Statista. We could write about the red tape bureaucracy that plagues businesses all along the food chain and that requires employers to apply to something like a dozen different offices to hire even an apprentice; much more than a few of our 35 pointed to “bureaucracy” when asked about the greatest obstacles of working in Italy. We could write about the bafflingly low salaries (a symptom of Italy’s greater economic struggles), which prompted Millenials to coin themselves the “Generazione mille euro” (“Thousand euro generation”) in 2009 for the amount of their monthly paychecks.

There are countless more stats we could throw at you, but what really matters here is the result: that Italy suffers massive brain drain. Istat’s 2019 report counted 816,000 Italians moving away from our country in the previous 10 years, with almost three of four bringing a medium/high education degree with them. The average age of men leaving was 33; for women, 30. Considering that it’s common to graduate university here between the ages of 24 and 27, for folks like these, that leaves a few years to waffle around the broken system, become disillusioned, and, ultimately, leave.

So it’s all the more impressive when young Italians like our 35 decide to stay in Italy–or come back from abroad–and, despite the challenges, turn their eyes forward and their talents to the country’s growth. From startup founders, activists, actors, and chefs to photographers, Olympians, designers, and singers, here are 35 people under the age of 35 to keep an eye on.

Click through to each individual profile to read about their work, their reasons for remaining in Italy, the greatest satisfactions of working in a country as beautifully complex as ours, and more. (Though many such similar lists abroad focus on those under 30, you may have guessed by now that we’re a bit slower to the start in Italy, so we’ve decided to extend the age range.)

Laila Al Habash

Musical Artist

Age: 25

The voices of Italy's younger generations

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