The Hall of the Temple of Vibia Sabina and Hadrian, home of the Rome Chamber of Commerce, will be the stage for the first edition of “Romantica” on 13 and 14 April, an initiative that aims to relaunch the image of the capital as a place of contemporary study and research in the fashion panorama. The event was born from the desire to create a decisive change in the representation of fashion for Rome as a city that expresses, even more today, the opportunity to be a symbolic place of creativity capable of always renewing and reinventing itself. The primary objective is to promote Rome as a laboratory station on the issues of technology and sustainability, of contemporary creativity that can collaborate with other national and international places, from a perspective that goes beyond the competition between representative places of fashion. The exhibition-performative dynamic with workshops, talks and visible processes leads to a natural involvement of enthusiasts, but also citizens and tourists.
The theme of this first edition focuses on the relationship that unites Artisanal and Artificial Intelligence, a very current topic that will be addressed from various points of view.
For the first time, 11 local fashion academies will be, together, protagonists of an initiative which, through learning and skills, will show how the city is an extraordinary starting point towards the future: Accademia Costume & Moda, Academy of Luxury, Academy of Fine Arts of Frosinone, Academy of Fine Arts of Rome, Italian Academy, Koefia Academy, Ied – European Institute of Design, Burgo Fashion Institute, MAM – Maiani Accademia Moda, NABA, New Academy of Fine Arts and Rufa – Rome University of Fine Arts.
Each Academy will have a station, where clothes and works on the themes of artificial and artisanal intelligence will be displayed, to conceptually simulate a starting platform, with a background image of the school itself and a number that we will find in a railway timetable set up between the columns of the Temple of Vibia Sabina and Hadrian.
The heart of the event will be represented by a large central table, the “Station Scientific Laboratory” where children from all the schools involved will work together, using both traditional methods and digital design, as well as graphic and artistic techniques developed in the two ways. They will be part of the same plan, without privileges determined by the different opportunities offered by the schools and without logistical penalties, they will work together in a new project for fashion in Rome, which arises from the spirit of sharing, collaboration and inclusion. Among them also a Coloriage Social Tailoring School, a reality of creative meetings, where designers and artisans, from different backgrounds, share knowledge and techniques to create unique and original garments.
“Sustainability, innovation and support for young people. These are the values - states the President of the Rome Chamber of Commerce, Lorenzo Tagliavanti – on which our institution has always focused and worked to guarantee support for the brands of our territory and of the entire country. In recent years, as the Rome Chamber of Commerce, we have always guaranteed a commitment, investing numerous resources in all fashion initiatives, focusing our attention in particular on young talents, some of whom have had the opportunity to express their skills creative and be appreciated on a national and international level by winning high-level prizes and recognitions. The commitment of the Rome Chamber of Commerce to fashion remains unchanged, solid and constant, and this first edition of ‘Romantica’ is its ‘continuatio operis’. We continue to support – concludes Tagliavanti – a sector that creates wealth and promotes the growth of the GDP of our territory and of the entire country”.
A debate between experts, scholars, companies, experts, critics and theorists of fashion, through talks divided throughout the day on Saturday 13 April, will tell and expose, thanks to their privileged point of view, the characteristics that connect and harmonize the craftsmanship with new technologies.
Four moments of reflection and four proposed focuses:
- Companies between new technologies, memory and sustainability: Stefano Micelli, member of the Unicredit Advisory Board, Compasso d’Oro 2014, Professor of International Management at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice with Simone Salomoni, Vitruvio Virtual Lab Bologna and Viktoriia Shiriaeva, Dedagroup Spa Trento.
- New talents for new paths: Clara Tosi Pamphili, curator of “Romantica” in conversation with the artist and designer Gianluca Traina, the prosthetic designer and supervisor of Imaginari Factory, Leonardo Cruciano and Roberto Scappaticcio of the VesteMMundi project.
- The culture of new spaces, from rooms to exhibitions and museums: Maria Luisa Frisa theoretician and fashion curator in conversation with Tiziana Amicuzi, set designer, teacher and member of the ASC association of costume designers and set designers and the game designer, teacher and digital expert, Fabio Viola .
- The narration and communication of new creatives: Alessio de’Navasques, curator and teacher in conversation with the journalist and founder of ASVOFF, Diane Pernet and the creative director of RED-EYE, Gloria Maria Cappelletti.
During the two days of the “Romantica” initiative, three workshops will also take place to show and explore the concept of transformation of materials, with as many Roman realities:
MENSURE. Historic company specialized in the creation of busts and mannequins, it will show the construction methodology with completely recyclable materials, a technique of Italian excellence, requested all over the world.
Finally, Sunday 14 April will host the workshop for the presentation of digital archiving of Fashion and Costume, capable of creating not only a virtual image, but of allowing a new model for cataloging and studying heritage with D_ARCHIVE. Experimental project, which collaborates with public and private entities, recently with the MoMu museum in Antwerp, to create connections between cultural heritage, sense of belonging and new technologies applied to fashion culture.