by InTrieste
ITS Arcademy – Museum of Art in Fashion, the first contemporary fashion museum in Italy, was officially inaugurated on Thursday, 4 May, in Trieste in the presence of government authorities and international press. In attendance, Undersecretary for Culture Sen. Lucia Borgonzoni (declaration), Mayor of Trieste Roberto Dipiazza, Friuli Venezia Giulia Councillor Alessia Rosolen, Generali Group CFO Cristiano Borean and Fondazione CRTrieste President Massimo Paniccia, hosted by Fondazione ITS President Barbara Franchin.
ITS Arcademy will host international exhibitions – the first is curated by renowned historian Olivier Saillard who addressed the guests today – and is a place for exchange, experimentation, education and training at the intersection of fashion, art and culture. It offers visitors a unique experience, immersed in creativity, a journey through the projects and stories of the most exciting design talents of the last twenty years.
“ITS Arcademy is the culmination of over twenty years of research and dialogue with new generations of creatives. Creatives discovered in schools all over the world, tracked and brought to Trieste to become part of a family that continues to grow. The ITS Arcademy archive is an unfolding account of the ‘times’ and of how creativity has reacted to an ever changing historical and cultural context. Systematising our heritage to make it available to the wider public is a deeply felt mission. It stems from the desire to enhance the material we have by using it as a stimulus to build new futures. Because the ITS Arcademy observatory is both history and future. It is an open-door project where the visitor is invited to discover, guided by their own curiosity. The entire project is ultimately a mission of conservation and purpose. In preserving and exhibiting creative ideas and products, it embodies a vocation to open a gateway, activating a flow: creativity that stimulates connections and thoughts, in a continuous and fruitful way.” says Barbara Franchin, ITS Foundation President and Artistic Director.
The Collection
The ITS Arcademy Collection is unparalleled in the world because it is entirely composed of extremely rare early works by some of the world’s most exciting talents. It offers a unique snapshot of their creative worlds at the very beginning of their careers – artistic, radical and innovative, free from commercial logic. It encompasses 14,758 portfolios, 1,089 fashion items, 163 accessories, 118 jewellery pieces and over 700 photography projects, gathered over the twenty editions of ITS Contest – one of the most important talent competitions in the world dedicated to contemporary fashion – and now finally shared with the public.
Inspiring creativity
Each piece of the Collection is preserved with a mission to create a future archive that will inspire and stimulate visitors’ creativity. Through art and craft it tells a powerful personal and artistic story, which makes the experience of viewing it exciting for everyone, not just those who appreciate fashion.
ITS Arcademy is also a place for training and education, offering courses, laboratories and workshops aimed at a wide range of audiences: from fashion and design students and professionals to school children and families, to people who want to have fun experimenting with crafts. Tutors include many finalists from previous ITS editions, who will return to Trieste, in a circular economy of knowledge, talent, and skills.
Trieste, City of Creativity
The project, supported with a shared perspective throughout its development by Regione Friuli-Venezia Giulia brings together the public and private sectors. It contributes to restoring Trieste to its historical position at the centre of Europe, at the crossroads of East and West. The Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region with PromoTurismo FVG and the Municipality of Trieste confirm their fundamental support in making Trieste a City of Creativity with ITS Arcademy at its heart. International businesses that originated in Trieste such as Generali and illy also participate as partners.
The city is experiencing a renaissance as an emerging cultural destination, sought after by Italian and foreign tourists. ITS Arcademy is housed in a magnificent late nineteenth-century building in the heart of the city. It is the historical headquarters of the Cassa di Risparmio di Trieste, now owned by Fondazione CRTrieste which has lent the space, now entirely redesigned for its new cultural purpose.
The First Exhibition, curated by Olivier Saillard
From 18 April 2023 to 4 February 2024, you can visit the inaugural exhibition ‘The First Exhibition – 20 Years of Contemporary Fashion Evolution‘, which traces the evolution of contemporary creativity, under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture. RAI FVG is the exhibition’s media partner.
The exhibition is curated by Olivier Saillard, fashion historian and for many years director of the Palais Galliera, one of the most important fashion museums in the world. It is an exciting journey through the untold story of contemporary fashion of the last two decades, and a glimpse into our future.
Close to one hundred works are on display, chosen by the curator from the ITS Arcademy collection and organised into six sections, each representing a universal theme or artistic current: Expressionists, Neo-Futurists, Lyrical Abstractions, Art Brut, Free Figurations and Self-Portraits.
“This ever-growing heritage, to which new and valuable portfolios, fashion items, accessories and jewellery are constantly being added, can compete with the collections of the world’s great museums and become the first fashion museum entirely dedicated to the most contemporary forms and expressions of our time” says Olivier Saillard.
Visitors will be able to admire examples of early creations by names that have now entered the history of contemporary design, such as Demna (creative director of Balenciaga), Matthieu Blazy (creative director of Bottega Veneta), Justin Smith (prolific English milliner chosen by Amal Clooney for her wedding and favourite of the cinema: his is Angelina Jolie’s famous headgear in Maleficent and Carrie Fisher’s in Star Wars – Episode VIII), Thomasine Barnekow (Swedish couturière of gloves whose Parisian atelier has produced creations for stars such as Beyoncé, Cate Blanchett, JLo, Billie Eilish and for Lily Collins and the cast of the hit Netflix series ‘Emily In Paris’), Richard Quinn (the first designer to receive the design award instituted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2018) and Japan’s Maiko Takeda (whose headwear on display appears on the cover of Icelandic singer Bjork’s ‘Vulnicura’ album).
ITS Contest 2023: Born To Create
ITS Contest continues its journey of more than two decades – it began in 2002. The international award for young creatives launches the 2023 edition on May 10th, 2023 with the Born to Create concept. The contest is open to emerging designers and fashion, accessories and jewellery design students from all over the world.
More information is available at itsarcademy.org.
