In September Trieste will host the finalists of the 20th edition of ITS Contest, selected by an exceptional jury including Demna Gvasalia and Crash, represented by editor-in-chief Armelle Leturcq, as part of the Media Jury. A wave of projects has flooded ITS Arcademy in recent months. The ark of creativity has landed in Trieste, thanks to the annual edition of ITS Contest, the competition dedicated to young creatives, conceived by its visionary founder Barbara Franchin. The international jury met in Trieste at the end of June and selected 24 finalists from the hundreds of projects from fashion and design schools around the world.

The finalists:

2 projects in the fashion field, with 13 finalists (1 team) from 11 countries:

Asato Kitamura – Japanese
Brais Albor – Spanish
Charlie Constantinou – British
Ching-Lin Chen – Taiwanese
Eva Heugenhauser – Austrian
Hanna-Lotta Hanhela – Finnish
Lili Schreiber – Belgian
Martina Durikovicova – Slovackian
Petra Fagerström – Swedish
Rafaela Pestritu – Romanian
Tatjana Haupt – German
Yudai & Anna Tanaka – Japanese

3 projects in the accessories field, by 3 finalists from 3 countries:

Marco Anzil – Italian
Ruby Mellish – British
Victor Salinier – French

Swatch Art Peace Hotel selected 7 finalists (1 team) among all applicants:

Edward Mendoza – British
James Walsh – British
Martina Durikovicova – Slovackian
Takehiro Mabuchi – Japanese
Tatjana Haupt – German
Yudai & Anna Tanaka – Japanese

Lotto selected 3 designers among all applicants:

Charlie Constantinou – British
Edward Mendoza – British Hin
Fung Jesse Lee – Chinese

The 9th and 10th of September 2022 are the designated days to host the final event of ITS Contest and celebrate 20 years of ITS – International Talent Support; a long journey, driven by a very precise mission: the search for creativity and the commitment to preserve, enhance and share it. The concept of ITS Contest this year is The Ark Of Creativity, rather the idea of the journey of ITS over these two decades, the exploration at all latitudes of an ark that has collected and protected unique examples of creativity from all over the world. The finalists from the 2020 and 2021 editions, who were not able to attend due to the Covid pandemic, will be here to celebrate this special date together with the 2022 generation. The event’s jury will welcome the return of Demna Gvasalia, Balenciaga’s creative director, who took his first steps in the fashion world as the winner of ITS Contest in 2004. The jury panel will touch on different worlds and artistic expressions: from Daphne Guinness, a multifaceted personality who moves between fashion and music, to the charismatic singer Roisin Murphy, and the David di Donatello-award winning costume designer Massimiliano Cantini Parrini.

The ITS Media Jury, will award the ITS Media Award to the finalist with the strongest communication of their innovative vision and social message. This particular jury will be composed of representatives of authoritative international media, including Vogue Italia, Il Sole 24 Ore, Flash Art, l’Officiel Italia, Crash, Liberation, MF Fashion, Jing Daily, Dazed And Confused, T.A.Z. and many others.

In September, at the same time as ITS Contest, there will be a preview of ITS Arcademy, Museum of Art in Fashion. It will be possible to visit not only the spaces of this extraordinary new museum in the heart of Tri- este, but also the preview of The First Exhibition: 20 years of contemporary fashion evolution. The exhibition, curated by Olivier Saillard, fashion historian and former director of the Palais Galliera in Paris, aims to recreate the emotions of the arrival of the young designers’ collections at the ITS Contest offices. Over 100 works are on display, including portfolios, clothes, accessories, jewellery and photographs, displayed like works of art that have just arrived, still in their transport crates. ITS Arcademy, Museum of Art in Fashion, is an archive, exhibition space and academy, a new cultural venue for the city of Trieste. Created to protect and share the past twenty years of ITS Contest and all those to come. The intention is to create a dynamic cultural meeting point capable of hosting conferences, installations, exhibitions, presentations, musical moments, teaching and all sorts of events, to stimulate and to express the creativity within visitors. This new museum will officially open its spaces to the public in March 2023.

Prizes

ITS Arcademy Award: €15,000 and a 6-month mentorship by PITTI Immagine Tutoring & Consulting Direc- tion to the most creative, socially aware and innovative finalist project.

ITS Media Award: €5,000 awarded by the ITS Contest 2022 Media Jury to the fashion, accessories or jew- ellery finalist showing the strongest ability totransmit their innovative vision in a socially meaningful way.

ITS Community Award: €3,000 awarded by the public to a fashion, accessories or jewellery finalist.
ITS Video Presentation Award: €3,000 awarded by ITS to the best fashion film, selected among all ITS Contest applications.

ITS Digital Fashion Award: €3,000 awarded by ITS to the best digital fashion project selected among all ITS Contest applications.

OTB Award: €10,000 assigned by OTB to a fashion, accessories or jewellery finalist.

ITS Artwork Award powered by Swatch Art Peace Hotel: €10,000 assigned by Swatch Art Peace Hotel, upon selection among the ITS Contest participants.

ITS Sportswear Award powered by Lotto Sport: €3,000, €2,000 and €1,000 awarded by Lotto Sport to three winners challenged with a sneakers project.

ITS Special Mention powered by Luxottica: €3,000 awarded by Luxottica, selected among all ITS Contest 2022 applications.

The ITS Special Mention powered by Vogue Italia will be assigned to a fashion, accessories or jewelry final- ist. The winner’s collection will be featured on the Vogue.it website.

ITS Responsible Creativity Award powered by CNMI: €5,000 awarded by CNMI – Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana and selected from all ITS Contest entries.

ITS Footwear Award powered by Fondazione Ferragamo: €5,000 & the opportunity of an internship in the company’s creative dept., awarded by Fondazione Ferragamo to one of the footwear entries for ITS Contest.