An insight from Colombia: how to embrace local and high fashion
There have always been two sides to my professional life. On the one hand, I feel like a designer building a corporate career, with the opportunity to work with luxury brands from Italy and my home country – Colombia. On the other hand, my entrepreneur heart always leads me to support local brands, considering this attitude as the only way to be sustainable when buying fashion.
In April 2022, as a Master’s student at ESDEN Business School in Spain, I had the opportunity to attend the tailored short course “Fashion Collections Design and Architecture - Italian Luxury Fashion Experience” at Istituto Marangoni Milano. This is the 9th year of this partnership, allowing students to broaden their knowledge of the Italian fashion and design system.
It was an unforgettable, unique experience, but it also opened my eyes to something that has always been a massive dilemma: how can local fashion and luxury brands coexist in my life without being contradictive?
An overview on Istituto Marangoni’s workshop
From Day 1, we worked together in a workshop to create a fashion collection based on a mood board created by us. I instantly realised there these two worlds have many things in common: a passion for making collections with a story to tell and with consistent colours, trends, and styles, looking for more than just a product to sell. It is all about a desire to engage the audience.
On Day 2, we attended a class focusing on innovation through the past. Seeing and touching various natural and sustainable materials showed me how any fabulous story needs to come with an unforgettable product experience. This made me think about how we often take fabrics for granted and forget they result from years of evolution in different cultures worldwide.
On Day 3, we visited the Armani Silos, where I fell in love with every little detail and appreciated the history of a brand that has evolved over the years without losing its DNA. This confirmed to me that any brand can show its relevance when it has a powerful message to share.
On Day 4, a dream came true: we had the opportunity to visit the Ratti Company in Milan. Seeing the fabric printing process and how illustrators work to create unique designs got me thinking that technique is everything and quality can make a product genuinely memorable.
Later that day, we went to Bonaudo, a well-known tannery with production sites in different cities, including Milan. What I had learned in the morning became even clearer to me; I got to see unique leather creations resulting from meticulous processes and great attention to detail.
On the last day – Day 5 – we had a special guest. Antonio Masciariello’s visit was an incredible surprise and filled my heart with joy as I had worked with Versace before.
As Director of Heritage at Versace, he gave us an idea of what it is like to work for such a prestigious brand and bring new ideas without losing Gianni Versace’s great legacy.
It was the perfect way to end a memorable week: what I brought home is an important reminder to help me with my future career: after gathering all the right ingredients, any brand (no matter the size) can go a long way.
Laura Moreno Posada
Student
In Partnership with ESDEN Business School
