Looking Back: Europeana Fashion’s Second International Conference

Last week saw the second in our series of three international conferences, themed “Made in Italy: re-use of fashion heritage and new digital perspectives”. Speakers and attendees flocked to beautiful Victoria & Albert Museum in London to discuss fashion and digital from a particular Italian perspective, tying into the museum’s latest exhibition on the glamour of Italian fashion.

Photo: Erwin Verbruggen. CC-BY-SA.

After an introduction on the background of Europeana Fashion by Alessandra Arezzi Boza and “The Glamour of Italian Fashion 1945-2014″ exhibition by Sonnet Stanfill, Jane Reeve was the first speaker to kick off the conference. Reeve, CEO of La Camera Internazionale Della Moda Italiana, stressed how digital has opened up new opportunities of communication for fashion, but how the message would always stand or fall with a good story behind it.

Lapo Cianchi, Head of Communication and Special Events and Pitti Discovery Foundation, emphasised how digital has created new venues for Pitti Immagine. Digital lets Pitti reach buyers who cannot physically attend its tradeshows, but it also allows visitors to explore the floor of the physical tradeshow with more ease.

Jane Reeve from Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana presenting on fashion heritage and digital. Photo: Erwin Verbruggen. CC-BY-SA

For Missoni, digital represented another opportunity. Luca Missoni explained how the house’s archive originally started out as a family collection, including collage, clipping and 8mm film. That collection now plays an important role in Missoni’s branding and creating and sustaining the brand’s “digital self-portrait”.

Luca Missoni. Photo: Erwin Verbruggen. CC-BY-SA.

Equally fascinating archives were represented by Isabella Campagnol from Rubelli Textiles, Federica Fornaciari of MaxMara and Amanda Triossi of Bulgari. While the Rubelli and MaxMara collection grew along with the brand, the Bulgari Heritage Collection was reconstructed by the house through buying back pieces from the past. Digital not only allows these collections to be archived for company use, but also to show what normally cannot be seen by the public or to show in new ways. For example, a Bulgari emerald or the details of a Rubelli textile up close.

All lectures have been recorded on video and will become available shortly.
All photos are available on Facebook.
The full programme is available here.

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