A beachwear collection between Italy and Mexico: on display the works of AFOL Moda students
If there is a sector that makes use of teamwork more than others, that is fashion. And if there is a school that has made a didactic mission from the synergy and collaboration of various talents, that is AFOL Moda. A demonstration will take place on the next 26 and 27 June, when the latest creations of the students of the AFOL courses will be exhibited at Palazzo Isimbardi in Milan. The exhibition is promoted by AFOL Milano and the Province of Milan, and has as its theme a cultural twinning between Italy and Mexico, entitled Italy Mexico - Mexico Italy - Color • Textile • Beachwear.
The students of the courses dealt with the theme of the encounter between cultures, mutual contamination and dialogue, seen from the contemporary point of view of globalization. They thus approached Mexican style and culture, its colors, its traditions, transporting them into a collection of women's swimwear, which you can see in these images. The work, in fact, was the result of a constant synergy between different talents: the students of the course Digital Textile Design designed the designs for fabric, an innovative Sensitive fabric offered by Eurojersey, Cristina Forte, a former student of the Fashion Collections, has created the models of the costumes and cover-ups, then made by the students of the course Model making. And finally, the staging of the exhibition on 26 and 27 June was conceived and created by the students of the course Fashion product & showroom assistant.
To find out more about this extraordinary example of synergy teaching, we asked the AFOL Moda staff a few questions.
The theme of this year's exhibition is dedicated to beachwear inspired by the colors and style of Mexico. Why this choice?
The World Color Congress will be held next October in Oaxaca, Mexico Color and Culture AIC 2014, promoted by the Asociación Mexicana de Investigadores del Color. The theme is very interesting for those involved in visual design, such as in Afol's Fashion courses; we will participate in the Congress with work Mexico and its color between stereotype and Globalization and we proposed the same theme to be developed in a visual way to the students of the Digital Textile Design course. The Eurojersey company saw the collection and printed it on Sensitive jersey, with these fabrics we had the opportunity to work in joined classes, creating a synergy that characterizes us as a school: from the Fashion Collezioni course come the costume designs, from Underwear modeling course their realization and from the Fashion Visual Merchandiser course the design of the event.
The title of the exhibition reads: The image and colors of Mexico between stereotype and globalization. How do you, in the fashion world, create immediate references to a "different culture and a particular style, without falling into stereotypes?
In reality, the work of printed fabrics was done precisely by trying to understand what the image of a country is today in the digitized world, or rather by looking for the stereotypes that are present on the Internet and that form the widespread and globalized knowledge of the masses.
Globalization seems a phenomenon very similar to the fashion system, which creates locally with the excellences on the territory but exports globally. What is the key aspect by which a local talent, for example a stylist, becomes globally interesting?
Can we really still talk about local talent and creations today? Globalization is a universal trend to which the fashion system could not help but yield and adapt. With its pros and cons. The real-time exchange of information, images, thoughts and anything else forces us to be constantly updated on everything that happens around us. It is a pity that the reality that surrounds us is none other than the whole world. Milan and Italy are always a true creative forge, a great artistic and artisan laboratory looked upon with respect and admiration by the rest of the world. The inspiration to which an Italian designer yields may at the same time correspond to that of a colleague on the other side of the globe. And so, knowing how to grasp the taste and expectations of the market, one can perhaps also learn to become globally interesting.
AFOL Moda works a lot on the synergy between the various talents involved in a sector (design, prints, modeling, set-up), and organizes its courses precisely in favor of that synergy. How do you get such a delicate but crucial balance between different talents?
AFOL Moda has always worked with the aim of creating young talents who can boast transversal skills and abilities. Today's world of work, and in particular the world of fashion, no longer allow the development of professional figures similar to those of the past. The real difference in this sector is guaranteed by the multidisciplinarity of those who work in the field. The continuous and constant communication between the various professionals who contribute to creating the fashion product is truly an essential element, and even more so within the educational realities of the sector.All our courses are structured in order to recreate as much as possible the dynamics of companies and stylistic studies through the continuous collaboration between the different profiles. Only by really knowing the functioning and the logic of every single element of the entire supply chain is it possible to open up to the professionalism of the other and a continuous exchange of knowledge and skills. Teamwork in this sector is of fundamental importance!
To find out more: afolmoda.com
