In Milan, as part of “Cuore – Centro Studi, Archivi, Ricerca” at Triennale Milano, they held “The Italian Touch: fashion, supply chains and training,” a conference part of a series of meetings organized by the Botticino School of Restoration in Milan.

While presenting the activities of this institute, which was founded in 1974 and is among the most important globally, they talked about the enhancement and preservation of cultural and artistic heritage, know-how and fashion.

The initiative aimed to take a journey through Italian excellence, where fashion is not only synonym with style but also tradition, care, innovation and training.

During the meeting experts and industry insiders explained how in their opinion the Italian Touch continues to inspire and set international standards in the fashion world and how this priceless cultural heritage can be preserved in order to be passed on to future generations.

Speakers included Elisabetta Boanini, lecturer, Botticino School of Restoration; Tiziano Guardini, fashion designer; Vito Colacurcio, product manager, Leather Goods, Giorgio Armani; and Andrea Batilla, brand strategist. The meeting was moderated by Salvatore Amura, CEO, Valore Italia.

“Today’s meeting was held as part of the intention to highlight the importance of restoration, preservation, and the value of being able to pass on into the future unvaluable heritage and assets such as those of fashion as an expression of the Italian Touch, of beauty and culture,” explained Amura of Valore Italia.

“The Italian Touch is still there. It is in our culture and our history. Unfortunately, we Italians are not aware of it enough and do not know how to enhance it,” said Andrea Batilla, brand strategist, fashion and costume expert. “Just think that in Italy three events like Vinitaly, La Biennale di Venezia and Milan Design Week took place at the same time. In France they would dedicate at least a month to each event,” he added.

“The Italian Touch exists. For Mr. Armani and those who work for him, it is the work of every day in enhancing the idea that ‘Less is More’,” said Colacurcio, Armani Group. “It’s a fine work based on continually removing, filing, refining and enhancing. It’s about grace and quality. That’s what beauty is all about,” he explained.

Tiziano Guardini, a designer strongly committed to creating sustainable fashion, said, “Today the Italian Touch is all about protecting the environment and defending sustainability. It’s a clear signal that young people are so environmentally conscious. It’s unconventional, but it’s crucial.”

“The activities of our school are declined in three directions: textile restoration of tapestries, carpets, old clothes and archival collections; marble works, tombstones and monuments; and canvases and paintings,” explained Elisabetta Boanini, Botticino School of Restoration.

“Our work is based on the enhancement of a cultural and historical heritage that recovers knowledge and territories, but it is also based on technology and innovation because it uses low-impact substances, just to name one, like special Japanese seaweed that don’t damage nor pollute while saving old artifacts,” explained Professor Boanini.

“Our action is not only on works of value and of the past, but also on a contemporary world that includes design objects that may be ‘only’ 40 years old, as well as related to fashion and its supply chain, as we have seen today,” added the teacher emphasizing the wide range of the school’s activities.

Valore Italia is an international training and research center for the restoration and enhancement of cultural heritage, the beating heart of which is represented by the Botticino School of Restoration, a dynamic and interdisciplinary, innovative and experimental place where, in addition to carrying out restoration work, new methodologies to be applied to restoration are also studied and where the restorers of tomorrow are trained.

The Botticino Restoration School is located in Milan and occupies about a total of 6,000 square meters divided between its two locations in the spaces of MIND Milano Innovation District, and Zona Bovisa.

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