Students in RISD’s Apparel Design and Textiles departments recently collaborated with the Italian Trade Commission and 23 Italian fabric and yarn mills to design and create garments using these high-quality materials. During the fall 2007 semester, 10 seniors from Apparel Design teamed up with 10 undergraduate and graduate students from Textiles to create unique collections based on the guiding theme of global travel.
Prior to the beginning of the semester, each team began working together to share ideas and inspiration as students in the two departments learned about their partners’ individual strengths and skills. Simultaneously, RISD professors traveled to Milan and the Como region of Italy with representatives from the ITC to select fabrics and yarns from various mill owners and spinners. Together, they selected a range of materials that would inspire the 10 teams and allow them to fulfill their creative vision.
For Apparel students, the ITC course was part of a senior studio in which students research, design and execute a coat as a key component of a collection. They also fabricate at least two companion pieces to complement the coat, integrating it into a cohesive collection through color, fabrication, draping, shape and other details. For Textiles students, the advanced-level ITC studio offered exposure to the fashion industry and an opportunity to design and create fabrics for use in apparel. Students were free to select a technique or group of techniques with which to experiment — from knitting or weaving, to silkscreening or digitally printing, to using an electronic Jacquard loom.
“Working with the Italian Trade Commission and the fabric and yarn mills was a great opportunity for RISD to both foster relationships with important industry partners and encourage a collaborative design process among students,” notes Assistant Professor Liz Collins [RISD ’91 Textiles/MFA ’99], the faculty leader on the Textiles side of the equation. “The resulting pieces represent a cross-pollination of work and techniques,” adds Apparel Design Department Head Donna Gustavsen, “with each collection being a unique, balanced vision of two designers creating together and learning from each other.”
The 10 student collections emerging from the studio is being shown in a fashion show at The RISD Museum of Art held in conjunction with EVOLUTION/REVOLUTION, an exhibition of contemporary fashion and textiles curated by Joanne Dolan Ingersoll, the museum’s curator of Costume and Textiles. The student work is also being shared with industry leaders in New York.
“We’re very pleased to provide the opportunity for RISD student designers to become familiar with some of the most innovative and creative fabrics and yarns available in the world,” notes Aniello Musella, Italian Trade Commissioner and Executive Director for the USA. “The companies involved represent the top tier of Italian-made goods, with leaders in the fields of technical, menswear, and couture fabrics and yarns generously donating products for use in this studio.”
The Italian fabric companies participating were Seterie Giovanni Ones, Marioboselli Jersey, Marini & Cecconi, Luigi Boggio Casero, Puro Tessuto, Vitale Barberis Canonico, Serikos, Taroni, Seterie Argenti, Teseo, Tesso, Gaetano Rossini, Giancarlo Ones, Styletex. Participating Italian yarn companies were Manifattura di Legnano, Botto Poala, Filatura di Crosa, Zegna Baruffa, Luigi Boldrini, Filatura di Grignasco, Monticolor, BE.MI.VA and Lineapiù.
