[ad_1]
To receive the Vogue Business newsletter, Register here.
In the year Stella Jean and other members of the high-profile group, which was set up to support Italian designers in 2020, said they would not be attending Milan Fashion Week. It is a stark reminder of the tensions beneath the surface of Italian industry, where diversification and integration efforts have lagged behind those of other countries.
Jean, who co-founded We Are Made in Italy (WAMI), interrupted the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italia (CNMI) fashion week press conference on February 8 to say that CNMI had “abandoned” the initiative. Diversity and inclusion underpinned in the Italian fashion industry.
CNMI refuted the claim of lack of support, the Stella Jean brand and WAMI were invited to attend the schedule and WAMI was also given free access to Fashion Hub space and communications. “The joint team of Stella Jean and WAMI decided to withdraw from the calendar, stating that there was no financial support from the CNMI,” said Carlo Casasa, president of the CNMI. Vogue business. “I want to reiterate that we will support WAMI and Afro Fashion Association projects in various ways based on our current capacity.”
Jean co-founded WAMI in 2020 with Edward Buchanan, founder of knitwear label Sansovino 6, and Michelle Ngonmo, founder of Talent Scout and Afro Fashion Association. At the time, Jean was boycotting Milan Fashion Week because she was the only black Italian designer on the show’s schedule. WAMI Collective participated in Milan Fashion Week in September 2020 with a fashion film. It has digitally delivered collections in February 2021, September 2021 and February 2022. And they host their first physical show in September 2022. The CNMI supported WAMI’s participation in the schedule, and Cassa joined the group’s board.
But Casasa resigned from the board shortly after the September show, and WAMI says CNMI support has dried up. “WAMI is an independent initiative in collaboration with the Italian Fashion Council for three seasons. When they told us in September that they did not support this initiative with visibility, product financing and approaches to designers, we had to prepare the talent and start to propose solutions,” says Buchanan. Vogue business. “Basically we weren’t invited.”
“President Capasa supported us for two years when he realized that Italian designers are not white, but now we have been abandoned since September,” Jean said during the press conference. She said she has received death threats – an ongoing issue since she first spoke out about racism in Italy at a Black Lives Matter protest in June 2020. Vogue business – And Kapasa said that she has started a hunger strike until she guarantees that there is no one. [in the WAMI and BIPOC community] He will be abused anyway in the future. […] And the whole community is protected.
[ad_2]
Source link
