5 questions to Barbara Franchin, founder and director of ITS Arcademy

The International Talent Support has confirmed that it has found a new home
within the palace of Fondazione CRTrieste, where its ITS Arcademy, a space
for creativity will open to coincide with the 20th edition of ITS in July
2021.

Arcademy encompasses and sums up the core elements of the mission
envisaged by ITS: Archive, Arc and Academy, with the aim of providing a
“dynamic and lively space” where former finalists, jurors and the contest’s
international network will have an active space for exchange and
development for innovators.

FashionUnited spoke to ITS founder Barbara Franchin about the ITS
Arcademy.

Can you please tell a bit more about the idea of creating the ITS
Arcademy?

“Two decades of development and transformation are leading us from ITS
– a platform to support young creativity – to ITS Arcademy, the natural
evolution of our journey: a global training ground for creativity, a
formative, research space not just open to professionals but to all curious
experimenters, from young to old people. It was a natural step that
triggered us to present our unique creative archive – a history of fashion
evolution – which represents its solid foundations. The name itself
combines three words describing what the Arcademy will be. Archive, or the
Art of Archiving to preserve for future generations. Ark, where all species
are collected and diversity is embraced. Academy, a place for all ages to
exchange knowledge, research, and inspire each other.”

Does the Arcademy also offer courses for students?

”ITS Arcademy will be a physical and digital destination involving wide
and varied audiences through exhibitions and educational opportunities.
Workshops, courses and tailored events will explore the world of creativity
at large in collaboration with local and global partners. There will be two
different levels for courses and workshops. ‘Pop’ ones will be dedicated to
elementary, middle and high school students, tourists and the local
community. ‘Pro’ ones will be for insiders from the industry, companies and
up-and-coming designers. To highlight the importance of circularity former
finalists will come back as teachers: when they first approached ITS they
were students, now they will be the source of knowledge, passion and
experience for the next generation.”

What’s the goal of ITS Arcademy?

”Our goal with ITS Arcademy is to create an inclusive meeting space for
talents, innovators, professionals, students as well as anyone who is
simply interested or passionate about creativity. Cross-contamination is
what we want to achieve. Exchanging experiences, ideas, visions and skills,
embracing a constant dialogue between different declinations of creativity,
connecting the worlds of fashion, arts, cinema and design. ITS Arcademy
will also be on a quest for responsible creativity, strongly focusing on
the application of sustainability to play an active part in the crucial
transformation of the fashion sector.”

Arcademy also houses the ITS Creative Archive, featuring portfolios,
outfits, accessories and jewellery pieces, and photographs. How did you
collect this?

”Research has always been at the core of our mission, spotting
creativity and talent all over the planet. But from the very beginning we
knew we also wanted to physically store what we found, to document the
evolution of young creativity throughout the years. Since the first
edition of ITS in 2002 we’ve kept every single portfolio we received and
collected pieces from every finalist: over 240 outfits, 125 accessories, 86
jewellery pieces and more than 700 photography projects. Seeds blossomed in
a fully-blown tree, endlessly branching out to describe the infinite
expressions of creativity. The ITS Creative Archive is an open laboratory
on the future of creativity allowing a conversation between design,
industry and innovation.”

When will the Arcademy open?

”The opening is scheduled for July 2021. We will celebrate our 20th
anniversary, symbolically connecting our journey up to now with this new,
untrodden path. The home of ITS Arcademy is an historical palace in the
center of Trieste, owned by Fondazione CRTrieste which has believed in our
activity from the very beginning, offering these prestigious spaces to host
our new project. I also would like to underline the ongoing support from
our territorial institutions, Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia and the
Municipality of Trieste. The link with our territory is strong, vitally
important in allowing us to exist in these last two decades. We’ve always
been geographically rooted, while keeping all our senses alert and open on
the whole world.”