Paninaro (Italian: [paniˈnaːro]) was a social phenomenon in northern Italy during the 1980s that was characterized by an obsession with designer clothing and adherence to a lifestyle based on luxury consumption.
It rejected every form of social commitment and focussed on enjoying life without too many worries, conforming to the models of the American cinema of the period and to the advice of the commercials.
He provided a stereotyped version of the paninaro in a successful TV show, Drive In, which helped spread the fashion by codifying in turn some stylistic features to which many young people from all over Italy tried to conform.
The beginnings of the phenomenon were observed in Milan in a historical period of settlement of the Italian currency and of important signs of economic recovery, followed by relative well-being and greater availability of consumer goods.
On Saturday afternoons and evenings they were the meeting place for mass gatherings with subsequent transfer to one of the clubs that lent themselves well to exploit this phenomenon.
The places of frequentation had a period of ephemeral life or changed name and company name in a short time, based on the trend and taste of the visitors.
In Milan, by contrast, most of the various panini companies met in normal bars scattered throughout the city, and the dozens of Burghy's fast-food restaurants (with the exception of Piazza San Babila and Corso Re Vittorio Emanuele II), Wendy's and King Burger (not to be confused with Burger King which arrived in Italy only in 1999), the two so-called "second choices", were little frequented by the members of this youth subculture.
In 1986 the Pet Shop Boys, following a visit to the center of Milan, recorded the single "Paninaro", which allowed the fashion to cross national borders.