ITS launched the competition after inaugurating the ITS Arcademy dedicated to contemporary fashion.

Contemporary fashion finally has its own museum: the ITS Arcademy Museum of Art in Fashion, which opened in Trieste. This center is dedicated to creativity and is the latest project created by Barbara Franchi, founder of the “International Talent Support (ITS)” competition for young designers in 2002, to house the archives and the community that grew up around the event. The last twenty years. For the occasion, French fashion historian Olivier Saillard’s exhibition titled “Twenty Years of Modern Fashion Evolution” was announced and the next edition of the competition was launched.

Entries are open until September 10th. The finalists will be announced in November. It will take place in March 2024, when the second exhibition opens in the ITS Arcademy. The competition’s finalists will benefit from creative residency in the new structure for the first time, and their creations will become part of the museum’s permanent collection, organizers said in a statement.

The collection is made up of the creative portfolios sent by designers from around the world to participate in the ITS competition, as well as the designs they created for the event, the organizers were asked to capture an image from each of them. The last collections. “The pieces from the original collection are often lost,” said Olivier Cellard, who managed to paint 14,758 portfolios of Barbara Franchin’s priceless treasures. 1,089 costumes, 163 accessories, 118 jewelry and 700 photographic projects for this first exhibition.

Many of the designers have made a name for themselves in the world of fashion, such as 2006 finalist Matteo Blazzi, who is currently head of style at Bottega Veneta, Nicolas de Felice, creative director of Courrèges since 2006. Finalist in the 2007 edition and Alicia Spurry-Zampetti in 2008. Former creative director of Paul Ka, now associate head of design at Alexander McQueen.

“The portfolios are amazing. They are albums of ideas, they are works of fantasy. Some of them are like works of art. We see their dreams up close before they are destroyed by fashion and the industry. These are twenty years of modern fashion. It teaches us about fashion. It is a unique fashion laboratory for the future. There is a real heritage, It is unique in the world, “said the historian, who built the exhibition around different themes, from neo-futurism to poetic compositions. Choosing models “oscillating between art and fashion, incredible headdresses and crazy accessories.

The museum is funded by the state. It is housed in a historic palace in the center of Trieste by the Fondazione CRTrieste (City Savings Bank Foundation), one of the historical sponsors of the competition. The building, which employs about thirty people, includes not only the museum and the archives, but also the new ITS headquarters and the creative works of Arcademy. The idea, in fact, is to offer creative workshops to all people. “It’s a bit like the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, which brings together a museum and a school,” emphasizes Olivier Saillard.

“ITS Arcademy should not be a place for celebrities, it should be open to everyone. With the help of former finalists, we have prepared thirty educational protocols, courses lasting from one and a half hours to six months. For children and students,” explains Barbara Franchi, who is working on a new project. “The next craze is the creativity festival in the summer, creating a time for everyone to share, our competition is parallel,” she said.