ISKO I-SKOOL™ is Well Underway
Here’s the latest news about the fourth edition of ISKO I-SKOOL™, the global fashion talent by ISKO™, world leader in denim production and textile innovation, and its style and design think-tank CREATIVE ROOM™. From the educational activities of the Denim Design Award to the goals of the Marketing Award, here are all the details of this brand-new chapter of the contest!
Facebook selection: and the winner is…
Ana Maria Sierra from Colegiatura Colombiana is the winner of the ISKO I-SKOOL™ Denim Design Digital Shortlist, the Facebook competition that asked the virtual audience to pick a favorite project to send to the finals. The poll collected over 18k votes: a sweeping success for these fresh faces of tomorrow’s fashion! Ana Maria Sierra is the latest shortlisted student to be sent on to the next phase of the contest, together with:
- Sara Armellin – POLIMODA, (Florence, Italy);
- Izadora Verlic – POLIMODA, (Florence, Italy);
- Giulia Masciangelo – NABA – Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti (Milan,Italy);
- Veronica Campigotto – Università Iuav di Venezia (Venice, Italy);
- Massimiliano Mucciarelli – Università Iuav di Venezia (Venice, Italy);
- Kevin Göetzelmann – AMD – Akademie Mode & Design (Düsseldorf, Germany);
- Wang Hui – UAL – Chelsea College of Arts (Chelsea, UK);
- Lisa Anne Slingerland – AMFI – Amsterdam Fashion Institute (Amsterdam, Netherlands);
- Jussi-Pekka Ojala – AALTO University – School of Art, Design and Architecture (Helsinki, Finland);
- Maria Kuusela – Design School Kolding (independent student from Kolding, Denmark);
- Morine Uramoto – BUNKA Fashion college (Tokyo, Japan);
- Quinton Lovelace – FIDM – Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (Los Angeles, USA);
- Mianchen Wang – The New School – Parsons (New York, USA);
- Manuela Barrios – Colegiatura Colombiana (Medellìn, Colombia).
Denim Seminar in the CREATIVE ROOM™.
The Denim Seminar, the first of ISKO I-SKOOL™’s educational activities, was hosted in the CREATIVE ROOM™’s headquarters in Castelfranco Veneto (Italy) from March 13 to 15. It saw the participation of all the shortlisted students, with the goal of learning about the supply chain. The three-day seminar was held thanks to the invaluable contribution of some of the project’s prestigious partners: Lenzing, Archroma, Itema, Reca Group, Tonello, Swarovski and Betabrand. During their first three “Indigo Days”, contest participants got an up-close look at many aspects of the denim industry. Marco Lucietti, Global Marketing Director SANKO/ISKO™ division opened with an overview then students learned and experienced all the steps of denim production, from cotton bolls to the latest washing technologies and forecasting trends. This real indigo experience will be crucial for their project focused on the creative theme “Genderful”, a celebration of the new, inclusive ways to conceive the multiple forms of self-expression, that are now overtaking normative gender categories for the promotion of new and evolving forms of gender identity.
Marketing Award: sustainability is the key.
Students will be working on one of the hottest topics in contemporary industry, sustainability. Consumers are constantly more conscious about what they buy: environmental protection and the increasing consumer attention to the company’s choices are two central issues for modern producers of fashion. Basically, when they can, consumers choose eco-sustainability, because it is increasingly seen as being cool and smart; a symbol of a gratifying lifestyle. Given these premises, students are asked to think about the relationship between fashion and sustainability and have to design a marketing strategy for such a product, complete with tactical activities. The goal was to effectively transmit a message of transparent development and production in the denim sector and give consumers those values they are demanding and have appreciated for some time in other product sectors. The Marketing Award of the fourth edition of ISKO I-SKOOL™ has summon some of the most important international institutions of this field: POLIMODA (Florence, Italy), Sapienza University (Rome, Italy), Politecnico di Milano (Milan, Italy), Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi (Milan, Italy), Milano Fashion Institute (Milan, Italy), AMFI – Amsterdam Fashion Institute (Amsterdam, Netherlands) and FIDM – Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (Los Angeles, USA).
“We are always thrilled to meet these young talented students from all over the world. It is a ferment of growth and cross-fertilization—which is the point of the whole ISKO I-SKOOL™ project”, explains Marco Lucietti, Global Marketing Director at SANKO/ISKO™ division. “Every year students’ projects get more original and astonishing: there is a lot of talent out there and we can’t wait to discover all the ideas of our young creatives and marketers. Our hope is that they feel inspired and their enthusiasm keeps flowing throughout our journey together with them”.
ISKO I-SKOOL™ – Fourth edition
ISKO I-SKOOL™ is once again lighting up young students’ talent through two sections of the contest: the Denim Design Award, dedicated to designers, and the Marketing Award, dedicated to students of marketing.
This edition’s Gold Partners of the Design Award are Archroma and Lenzing, who will work with students throughout the design and industrialization phases of the garments, along with the Silver Partners Itema and Reca Group. The supporting partners are prestigious as well: haikure, Swarovski, Replay, Jacob Cohen, Liu Jo, 7 For All Mankind, Capsule, Betabrand, C&S and Tonello. The schools that participate in the Denim Design Award are among the most important in the fashion universe: POLIMODA (Florence, Italy), NABA – Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti (Milan, Italy), Università Iuav di Venezia (Venice, Italy), Accademia Costume&Moda (Rome, Italy), UAL – Chelsea College of Arts (Chelsea, UK), AMD – Akademie Mode & Design (Düsseldorf and Münich, Germany), AALTO University – School of Art, Design and Architecture (Helsinki, Finland), AMFI – Amsterdam Fashion Institute (Amsterdam, Netherlands), FIDM – Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (Los Angeles, USA), The New School – Parsons (New York, USA), Colegiatura Colombiana (Medellìn, Colombia), Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology (Beijing, China), Academy of Arts & Design of Tsinghua University (Beijing, China), Donghua University (Shanghai, China), Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Hong Kong, China), BUNKA Fashion college (Tokyo, Japan) and UTS – University of Technology Sydney (Sydney, Australia). For the first time this year Independent design Students can participate in the Denim Design Award directly from the competition’s official website, www.iskooldenim.com. The Marketing Schools are prestigious institutions as well: Politecnico di Milano (Milan, Italy), Sapienza University (Rome, Italy), Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi (Milan, Italy), Milano Fashion Institute (Milan, Italy) and again AMFI – Amsterdam Fashion Institute (Amsterdam, Netherlands), FIDM – Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (Los Angeles, USA), POLIMODA (Florence, Italy).