Candiani Denim is partner of Secoli Fashion Show 2024

The Secoli Fashion Show 2024 was a resounding success. The event showcased the designs of 44 talented students and commemorated the institute’s 90th anniversary. Furthermore, exceptional students were honored with special awards from partner companies, such as Candiani Denim, in front of over 450 enthusiastic spectators.

Designer to Watch

The Secoli Fashion Show 2024 took place on June 6th at the Talent Garden Studio in Milan. It started with collections from four Designer to Watch, a project that highlights the top talents among the institute’s graduates.

Daniele Cavallo showcased Freedom, a men’s capsule collection that pays tribute to freedom. It draws inspiration from two significant movements: the Stonewall riots and the fight against Apartheid. Cavallo deconstructed traditional menswear, reusing and eliminating certain elements to symbolize the freedom of expression achieved through struggle.

Miriam Maggioni’s women’s capsule Essere non è da me focuses on the contemporary need to discuss identity. Maggioni chose an incoherent style with multiple forms to represent the different sides of each personality, showing that human beings cannot be pigeonholed into stereotypes. The capsule collection emphasizes the importance of being proud of one’s identity while acknowledging one’s roots. The designer was recognized and awarded by Zoom on Fashion Trends.

.0 identità radici is the name Michela Santegidi has chosen for her women’s capsule. The point symbolizes the interruption of non-being and a bridge connecting two or more zeros simultaneously. Zero is a null symbol, signifying an ancient origin now lost. Santegidi sees the two signs as complementary in an analysis where identity and roots blend into a continuous movement without a beginning or an end. Each loop of this infinity is distinct and causes a constant transformation of light.

Ilaria Gerratana presented Love Letter from Sicily on the catwalk, inspired by an interview with an Austrian photographer with an exhibition with the same title. The photographer described Italy as having a great power of fascination, seduction, and enchantment. Gerratana embraced this concept of beauty as an aesthetic characteristic. According to the designer, everyone should pursue their vision of beauty, which imbues life with meaning. The men’s capsule collection emphasizes Italian craftsmanship and artisanship, showcased in the garments adorned with crochet work and embroidery.

Diacronie. Scene dal tempo. Heritage come celebrazione del ritorno

The highlight of the evening was the Diacronie. Scene dal tempo. Heritage come celebrazione del ritorno fashion show, which showcased the collections of 40 graduating students. The designers used materials, equipment, and instrumentation provided by various partner companies known for their product innovations and commitment to sustainability: Albini Group, Asahi Kasei (BEMBERGTM), Brunello, Candiani Denim, Eurojersey, Lectra, Lisa, Macpi, and Tessitura Grisotto.

“The Secoli Fashion Show represents creativity. It’s thrilling to see our students’ designs on the runway, knowing that design involves turning an idea into something tangible and sharing it with others. This year, designers are interpreting the concept of heritage as the value of reworking ideas and defining a heritage that draws inspiration from the past while looking to the future. We’ve posed this challenge to our students as part of our reflections for the 90th-anniversary celebration of our fashion school, the longest-running in Italy. This milestone serves as motivation for setting new goals,” explained Matteo Secoli, president of the institute.

Collections of aesthetic value

Il brutto espressivo, developed by Martina Aroldi, Rachele Farnetani (awarded by Antia), Teresa Corelli, Federica Calopresti, and Sofia Bevilacqua in collaboration with Eurojersey, aims to redefine the concept of beauty by challenging traditional artistic standards. This women’s collection encourages the audience to appreciate art without preconceived notions. In this context, beauty in art is viewed as a form of expression, and aesthetics is seen as the allure of the subconscious, bringing internal thoughts and emotions to light.

L'evoluzione creativa, developed by Subin Park, Elena Gattoni (awarded by Macpi), Daniela Zani, Olivia Pedone, Aurora Africano, and Camilla Papi in collaboration with Lisa, starts from the concept of the primordial state. In this state, aesthetic messages are a raw, undefined material that transforms over time. This women’s collection is a continuous movement in which the forms adapt, expand, and, growing, take on concreteness and new appearances. The canons of aesthetic value are the result of a constant creative evolution.

Collections of artistic value

L’attivismo, developed by Ilaria Pansera, Anna Bettoli, Chiara Argirò, Alice Vincenzi, Hector Luis Ortega Romero, and Andrea Edna Gobbi (awarded by Macpi) in collaboration with Candiani Denim and Macpi, calibrates the artistic value of an object on activism, which is the tendency to consider the moment of action as the main element in any activity. This women’s collection symbolizes the transformation of matter, which is expressed through the celebration of knowledge in the form of satire or denunciation, and it generates a reversal of meaning in which the medium of action is art.

Il curatore, developed by Elena Rasia (awarded by IACDE), Caterina Luigia Di Nicuolo, Siria Ciaffaglione (awarded by Lectra), Zijing Yu, Francesca Colelli, and Gaia De Stefani in collaboration with Albini Group and Lectra, aims to bring to light what might not be readily apparent, as well as to protect, reveal, and care for it, in order to give it new significance. This women’s collection seeks to function like a curator, ensuring artistic value. Everything is unveiled and revealed gradually, and it’s essential to preserve and understand in order to bring these objects back to the present, infusing them with modernity and evolving their use.

Collections of historical value

Il muro di Berlino, developed by Yujin Lee, Simone Cairoli, Thomas Carlini, Emanuele Moda, and Lorenzo Spagnolo in collaboration with Candiani Denim, focuses on the famous barrier. The Berlin Wall is both the subject and the starting point and is demystified within the context of the collection. Despite various attempts to overcome and break down the wall over the years, they have been unsuccessful, and the barrier has taken on historical and artistic value. The men’s collection represents the symbolic value assumed by the wall. It is characterized by dualism, and its identity appears brutal and melancholic but also energetic, subversive, and instinctive. Cairoli won the Candiani Denim prize for his work, which consists of a supply of fabric for his creations.

Simone Cairoli

Collections of social value

Il saluto primordiale, developed by Ilaria Nolli (awarded by Brunello), Filippo Corsi (awarded by Macpi), Valentina Marchesi, Rebecca Foglieni, Yeimy Andrea Stoduto, and Ambra Speciale in collaboration with Brunello and Lisa, is the first act that leads to knowledge. Relationships with others generate an individual’s identity. The greeting is the first connection with others, and the immediate interaction leaves a lasting impression. However, its meaning changes over time, losing its original importance and leaving the person feeling helpless in the face of the vanished value. This women’s collection symbolizes the instability of human relationships, virtual reality, reduced dialogue, and, ultimately, the fear of disappearing.

L’idolatria, developed by Carlotta Giandini, Sabrina Ghidotti, Claudia Romeo (awarded by Technofashion), Viola Ciccone, Veronica Paganini, and Alice Arata (awarded by Asahi Kasei – Bemberg) in collaboration with Asahi Kasei and Tessiture Grisotto, focuses on the practice of worshipping idols. The idol represents perfection, beauty, and power and is materialized through significant and symbolic representations. The most notable change in this process is the strong emotional attachment to the idolized figure. Its societal value is brought into question only by scientific advancements, leading to its decline. This women’s collection represents a captivating and fascinating myth yet ultimately suggests the need for a new cycle of creation to continue the act of worship.

“It is education that makes it possible to transform a dream into a concrete project”

Many institutions were in the front row at the Secoli Fashion Show 2024, starting with Regione Lombardia and Comune di Milano. “For 90 years, the Secoli Institute in Milan has been a place of high-quality learning in the fashion sector. It is an incubator of Made in Italy, our great Italian pride of world renown. It is education that makes it possible to transform a dream into a concrete project, and it is in a good school that the creative genius that the world envies us is ignited. I thank the Secoli Institute for its long and constant commitment, generation after generation, to supporting the fashion industry, which in Lombardy has a productive and training pillar. Many young people dream of becoming designers or famous fashion influencers, but I remind you that behind the glamorous world of fashion, there are the important craftsmen, such as the patternmaker, the prototype maker, the size developer, the tailor, of whom our industry has great need,” said Barbara Mazzali, regional councilor for Tourism, Territorial Marketing, Fashion, and Major Events.

“These first ninety years bear witness to the great professionalism and seriousness of what has long been considered an institution in the world of training and fashion. Realities like the Secoli Institute have helped to make Milan, for many students, the attractive and opportunity-filled city that everyone recognizes today,” commented Elena Buscemi, president of the Milan City Council.

The most important fashion associations, such as Antia, the National Chamber of Italian Fashion, IACDE, the Fashion Training System Platform ETS, were also present at the event. Finally, the partner companies and numerous journalists were present, as well as the teachers and students, accompanied by their families.

Here are all the other outfits made with our denim: