Beyond Fashion
Approaching the Fashion Design System
There was a historical period when a fashion show was the pinnacle moment for a brand. The tension of preparations, size-zero models bustling backstage, the celebrity Olympus in the front row, journalists ready to determine the success or failure of a designer after just 15 short minutes on the runway. There was a time when those few moments of performance were truly crucial in deciding the commercial success of a collection, launching trends for the next season, and influencing what "ordinary" people would wear on the streets in real life. What happened then? When exactly did the focal point shift from Fashion Week to the streets and the internet? Perhaps it was when skeletons came out of the closets, when postmodernity gave us too much of everything, when we truly understood that no one has the right to tell us what is beautiful and what is not. So, what remains of fashion? A faded and dysfunctional copy of "The Devil Wears Prada," which likes to present itself as woke but continues to bask in itself, grappling with inflation and the specter of fast fashion. We have tried to imagine a different fashion industry, new, from business models to values, involving 15 emerging designers.
Lessico Familiare
«We like the concept of a fashion show because, perhaps even anachronistically, we still believe in that magic: seeing the garments worn by bodies and not just by mannequins.»
Federico Cina
«Creativity and business must go hand in hand and find a compromise between them.»
LC23
«One of the biggest problems for a creative person is to manage their creativity and to think about business at the same time. When I opened my first physical shop I knew my customer perfectly.»
Florania
«We have to predict what people want: we cannot be hermits but listen to what is happening in the world.»
Via Piave 33
«In the near future, we dream of expressing all the values of Via Piave 33 through events or physical experiences.»
Materia
«We make fashionable, functional, inclusive products, also dedicated to children or people with motor difficulties or disabilities, trying to fill a gap in the market.»
Niccolò Pasqualetti
«We rely a lot on instinct and creativity. Although in the end you always think of a person who is somehow real, who lives in the everyday.»
Zineb Hazim
«I started with the idea of giving a voice to women, especially to Muslim women who wear the veil.»
Ssheena
«Okay, creativity is important, but most companies want to do business. With Sheena, we are still fortunate because, as an emerging brand, we can do what we want without focusing too much on the numbers.»
ANNA and SILVIA
«We believe it's important to use deadstock fabrics from department stores, because they've already been produced, they're there waiting to be used.»
OLDER Studio
«No one thought it was a good idea to name a brand 'old' because the fashion industry always looks to the young and the new. But we have always loved the idea that good ideas survive the test of time.»
Romy Calzado
«In the future, fashion should be more collaborative: you can create a high-quality product with the 'Made in Italy' quality by merging other cultures.»
Gisèle Claudia
«For a fashion designer, what really matters is the material they choose to use.»
Nicolò Romano
«Style, whether it's mine or yours, shouldn't change every season. I buy a piece because I know I'll still like it in two years.»
CREDITS
LC23
Florania
Materia
Federico Cina
Niccolò Pasqualetti
Lessico Familiare
Via Piave 33
Ssheena
Zineb Hazim
Anna and Silvia
Older Studio
Gisèle Claudia Ntsama
Romy Calzado
PDF
Nicolò Romano
Director Giulia Achenza
DOP Stefano Etter
Photographers Anna Adamo, Vincenzo Schioppa
Gaffer Giorgio Messina
Sound Recorder Giovanni Isgrò
Video Editor Giovanni Greggio
Photographer Assistant Veronica Brunoni
MUAH Carolina Antonini
MUAH Assistants Serena Di Rocco, Asja Redolfi
TikTok Content Creator Davide Persi
Interview Maria Stanchieri
Production Elisa Ambrosetti, Edoardo Lasala, Cecilia Corsetti
Graphic designer Michele Sasso