THE FUTURE IS NO LONGER WHAT IT USED TO BE: NEW SCENARIOS, ROLES, AND CAREERS IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY

Talking about fashion today means examining the transformations of an ancient concept as old as humanity itself. Fashion is the way individuals express their personality and creativity through clothing and style, encompassing all the social connotations this phenomenon has assumed over the centuries.

In recent times, thanks to industrial automation, fashion has become a business, initially local and later global. It is an industry where crafts have turned into professions and where technology has inevitably gained increasing relevance, transitioning from sartorial garments to ready-to-wear, from glossy magazine advertisements to social media, from boutiques in city centers to e-commerce platforms.

Furthermore, we are currently witnessing a remarkable expansion of technology in territories that were once exclusively within the realm of human judgment and critical sense, affecting creativity and choices that influence customer and company behavior. The metaverse and artificial intelligence are generating new scenarios for comparison and competition between humans and machines, culture and information. This transformation is raising numerous pressing questions about the future of an industrially advanced sector with high human and sensory value like fashion, in a challenging path that has already radically changed the rules of many other artistic and creative fields such as music, cinema, and graphic arts.

This workshop aims to describe and analyze the processes and professional roles involved in the creation and distribution of fashion in light of these transformations. It starts from product creation, which becomes a brand, and proceeds through communication and the creation of desire, culminating in fulfilling the dreams of the end customer.

The objective of the workshop is to raise awareness and interest in pursuing a professional career in fashion, trying to bring clarity on the challenges that new managers will face in a fascinating and constantly evolving industry like fashion.

Marco Crisci, Fashion Business Lecturer, Istituto Europeo di Design