Make It! The Research Area at Pitti Filati 77

Celebrating the concept of skills and crafts in a journey through mankind’s history looking at objects that have survived through the years The Spazio Ricerca at Pitti Filati, the fulcrum of all creative expression and experimental observatory where trends are analysed and launched, presented MAKE IT, the season’s title- theme celebrating the concept of crafts and skills.

The Spazio Ricerca, presented under the artistic direction of fashion designer Angelo Figus and knitwear expert Nicola Miller, was located on the Lower Level of the Main Pavilion; setting designed by Alessandro Moradei.

MAKE IT is conceived as a journey through the history of mankind, looking at objects that have survived through the ages. They are not only important design items, but ordinary, commonplace, everyday things in which craftsmanship becomes one with need and knowing how to make do.

“Without dwelling on nostalgia, we conceived of Make It as a journey that starts from olden times to reach the contemporary mode of producing”, says Angelo Figus.

“And we have achieved it by recreating different atmospheres related to specific crafts that will influence the way of understanding products for the 2016/17 fall-winter season. In the past, we repaired everything and didn’t throw anything away. Each piece of clothing, each item acquired a history and a value that increased, everything became richer and was handed down from generation to generation, extraordinary examples of craftsmanship that have survived to the present with an added human touch and added value. All this was possible thanks to skills that are no longer common and crafts that have been lost or forgotten or become nearly extinct. And even though we no longer really need these crafts, they are still fascinating and we see their potential in our way of defining luxury”.

“We started from the idea that difference between luxurious and non-luxurious, between value and no-value, between disposable and conservable- inheritable can be found in the skills associated with the object itself”, adds Nicola Miller.

“Objects that have survived through the centuries are like a history book. The MAKE IT journey is one of character, it has personality: nothing gets thrown away, everything is repaired. Repair and enhance. Acquire a history, make an item unique.”

The 11 atmospheres interpreting MAKE IT are:
Repair, Mending, Rug, Cracks, Charbon, Mechanic, Meat, Binding, Mattress, Barber, Tick Tock.

Click on the Gallery on top of the screen or view larger images by clicking on the thumbnails.

These titles evoke trends, trends that point the way on this journey through time and through the value of crafts and skills. They are a guide to a mood that can serve as the basis for developing products, adapting tones and feelings in a truly personal way.

PITTI IMMAGINE

Pitti Immagine is an Italian company devoted to promoting the fashion industry worldwide. From the top down, its motivated staff fully believes in the concept of the modern trade fair as an event that is in a constant stage of renewal and development – indeed Pitti Immagine has recently expanded its scope to include other industries such as food and fragrance. According to Pitti Immagine the trade fair must create clear and stimulating relationships involving the exhibitors, their collections and the buyers and public, by offering information, and knowledge.

The Pitti Immagine events are centered in the Fortezza da Basso, a Renaissance era military complex that comprises structures built from the eighteenth century to the present; and facilities outside the fortress walls: the former customs house – Dogana on Via Valfonda, the nineteenth century Villa Vittoria and the late twentieth century Palazzo degli Affari.

The Stazione Leopolda, the city’s first railroad station is now the venue Pitti Immagine uses to stage events and exhibitions dedicated to the various languages of contemporary living, art and culture.

Over the years Pitti Immagine has built up an important historical archive. Part has already been digitized and it can be accessed – on request – by scholars, members of the trades and students. It is an invaluable resource on the development of Italian fashion from the ‘fifties to the present.

For more information please visit www.pittimmagine.com

All photos courtesy of Pitti Imagine/AKAstudio-Collective