17 NEWS Leather&Luxury feat. Polimoda when ideas enhance young people and the supply chain Co-labs are increasingly a trend in the fashion world. More and more creative and daring ones are popping up all the time to stimulate the imagination of a market where the watchword is fluidity. In its own way, Leather&Luxury, the magazine that has been chronicling the Made in Italy leather supply chain since 2013, has also entered this vein by joining forces with Polimoda, one of the most prestigious training institutes in the fashion world internationally. This partnership has generated two important educational projects that have the dual purpose of enhancing both the young people involved and their course of study and the numerous Made in Tuscany suppliers of the supply chains involved in the creation of the articles and accessories to be presented at the end of each course. THINKBAG But let's go in order. The first to start was in 2021 the "THINK BAG" project, an initiative now in its third edition in 2023. Launched by L&L in collaboration with the Florentine leather goods company Loipell, THINKBAG began as a contest for which Polimoda students have the ultimate goal of creating an iconic bag for their brand. The process lasts several months in which the boys and girls stay in close contact with the suppliers chosen for processing and materials. A process that ends with the production of the piece to be taken to the bottom for evaluation by a jury of experts in the leather goods sector. "THINKBAG aims to make the students aware of what it means to make their idea concrete," explains Micheal Falagiani, Loipell's commercial director. For them it is a high-profile learning opportunity thanks also to the confrontation with the premium-level production chain available to each edition of the project. With the third edition concluded in May, THINKBAG has confirmed itself to be a highly appreciated reality among those in the industry. The construction site for the fourth chapter is already open. .BE YOUR FABRIC Also with Polimoda, ".BE YOUR FABRIC," a sister project of "THINKBAG" dedicated instead to clothing, was born in 2022. This project comes to life from the synergy between L&L and the Bellandi spa textile group designed for students in the final year of Fashion Management at the Florentine institute. After the various meetings with the partner companies of the ".BE YOUR FABRIC" project, the students had a month to design their capsule composed of five garments each. The final act of this journey that lasted about six months took place last April 5 at Villa Favard, the Florentine headquarters of Polimoda, where the six finalists chosen by a technical jury presented one outerwear garment each from their capsule, entirely designed, developed and then sewn by the students themselves. The winner is rewarded with an internship at Bellandi spa and the display of their garment at the international trade shows Première Vision Paris and Lineapelle. "We are very happy with this first edition of ".BE YOUR FABRIC" - says Matteo Rovelli, CEO of Leather&Luxury - It was born first of all as an educational path to exalt the students who, beyond the final outcome, were able to work alongside the partner companies of this initiative. An opportunity for growth for everyone that gives us the enthusiasm to already get to work for the next edition of this beautiful adventure."
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