Interview: MK
Photography Erin McKinney, Giuliano Koren
ITS Arcademy – Museum of Art in Fashion, the first contemporary fashion museum in Italy, which was officially inaugurated in May in Trieste, is a “unique space where fashion and creativity meet,” as Barbara Franchin, the director of the museum, told us.
“ITS Arcademy is the culmination of over twenty years of research and dialogue with new generations of creatives. Creatives discovered in schools all over the world, tracked and brought to Trieste to become part of a family that continues to grow,” said Barbara as we were discovering the brand new space in Via della Cassa di Risparmio.
“The ITS Arcademy archive is an unfolding account of the ‘times’ and of how creativity has reacted to an ever changing historical and cultural context. Systematising our heritage to make it available to the wider public is a deeply felt mission. It stems from the desire to enhance the material we have by using it as a stimulus to build new futures. Because the ITS Arcademy observatory is both history and future.”
Beautiful rooms filled with elegant creations and long corridors seemed to breathe in the beauty and fashion.
“It is an open-door project where the visitor is invited to discover, guided by their own curiosity. The entire project is ultimately a mission of conservation and purpose. In preserving and exhibiting creative ideas and products, it embodies a vocation to open a gateway, activating a flow: creativity that stimulates connections and thoughts, in a continuous and fruitful way.” says Barbara Franchin, ITS Foundation President and Artistic Director.
As to why she decided to open this space in Trieste, Barbara said that “Trieste is where I was born and raised, and in a sense its my mother and father. I could see no other place in the world more perfect for this museum that my hometown.”
