Fashion competitions: the ITS 2020 finalists and the final in October

Due to Coronavirus, ITS – International Talent Support moves the final to October, when the finalists of one of the most important fashion competitions will compete, chosen from over 600 applications by a jury digitally gathered but no less dedicated to the cause of support the new generation of creatives, as Barbara Franchin, founder of the most important competition in the world, told us: “We don’t know how long the current moment will last but we know that the world will be different. In the indisputable difficulty that the current situation entails for everyone, I think that whoever is in a position to move forward must do it. And so we are doing. “

And so ITS did, with the selections of the finalists who saw the jury composed, as well as Barbara Franchin, of Carlo Bach – illycaffé’s Art Director, Angelo Flaccavento – Independent Fashion Critic and Curator, Carlo Giordanetti – Watch International, Product and Design Committee – CEO, Swatch Art Peace Hotel, Valentina Maggi – Director of Design Practice at Floriane de St. Pierre, Stefania Ricci – Director of Museo Salvatore Ferragamo and Fondazione Ferragamo, Luca Rizzi – Tutoring & Consulting Director Pitti Immagine, Giancarlo Simiri – Business Partner Tomorrow London Holdings Ltd and Sara Sozzani Maino – Deputy Editor in Chief Fashion Italia & Head of Fashion Talents, view remotely but with the passion of all time, candidates from 60 countries.

“We wrote to the finalists – continues Barbara Franchin – asking for a telephone appointment with the excuse that there was a problem in the application: imagine their surprise when instead we quickly told them that they were part of the shortlist! Some were dumbfounded, others cried, many simply replied that it was the first good news for weeks, that we were giving energy and emotion to continue believing in the possibilities of creativity and the future. We will unveil the videos that collect these positive emotions in the coming weeks. It will be a way to bring all those who follow us in the world and in the current reality of our young participants in the ITS Family “.

Here are the names of the 36 finalists, the creative lifeblood of ITS 2020, which come from 16 countries this year, and among which we welcome schools that have never made it to the finals before:

THE FASHION FINALISTS

Sara Michal Workeneh – Israel

Noa Baruch – Israel

Andrew Bell – Ireland

Tara Al-Wali – UK

Syna Chen – China

Rosie Baird – Scotland

Jimin Lee – South Korea

Kin Yan Lam – China

Aharon Genish – Israel

Cameron Williams – UK

Olivia Rubens – Canada

THE ACCESSORIES & JEWELERY FINALISTS

Yunfei Ma – China

Clara Chu – Portugal

Rei Sato & Jumi Tanabe – Japan

Johanna Parv – Estonians

Rebecca Mardsen – Ireland

Eva Verwicht – France

Maria Bika – Greece

Felipe Fiallo – Ecuador

Ninja D. Evangelista – Austria

Jittrakarn Bunterngpiboon – Thailand

Jing Han – Chinese Bo Zhang – China

THE ITS FASHION @ WORK BY ILLY FINALISTS

Tara Al-Wali – UK

Rosie Baird – Scotland

Johanna Parv – Estonia

Kin Yan Lam – China

Yuhan Xu – China

Shiori Mizuochi & Hiroki Okamoto – Japan

Cameron Williams – UK

Anyango Mpinga – Kenya

Keewon Shin – South Korea

Rebar Aziz – Germany

THE ITS ARTWORK BY SWATCH ART PEACE HOTEL FINALISTS

Natsumi Osawa – Japan

Byung Yoon Lee – South Korea

Clara Chu – Portugal

Rei Sato – Japan

Jumi Tanabe – Japan

Gui Rosa – Portugal

Aharon Genish – Israel

Liuxu Luo – China

THE LOTTO SPORT FINALISTS

Scarlett Gapp – UK

Johanna Parv – Estonia

Minjae Chang – South Korea

“All candidates were confronted with sustainability – environmental, social, human – and with the need to imagine a different and better world – continues Barbara Franchin – so there are numerous ideas for building the new world that come from the creative finalists. For the finalists, sustainability follows many paths – upcycling, re-cycling, zero-waste, natural colors and dyes, bio fabrics – with a recurring element: the research and reuse of objects and materials that young creative talents find around them , or they go to research, bringing with them a story, which thanks to this regenerating action returns to the fore, with new, lively and unique meanings and interpretations “.

Among the other things that emerged from the analysis of the projects submitted to one of the most famous fashion competitions, the mix and match, as well as the purest essentiality, emerge where “Few strong details emerge and explode. It is almost the revenge of an internal twinkle towards an external twinkle, the emergence of being in place of appearing – continues Barbara Franchin – but also a sort of catharsis: we were struck by some projects in which the candidates reported mourning and abuse. Each portfolio is a sprout of resistance, a voice that hints at a different future to think and achieve together “.

Positive and capable of creating in projects that seem utopian (Utopia was also one of the themes of a past edition of ITS), Barbara Franchin maintains optimism by imagining the future of the finalists and young members of the ITS Family: “For small brands and those who start a project now, perhaps it will be easier than for the big fashion houses to rethink the process: they can control every step, be flexible and quick in changing the direction”.

ITS – and its magic – continues …