Polimoda to open new research hub

Fashion school Polimoda in Florence, Italy, has announced that it will set up a new fashion archive in Florence, which is to be a research centre for all fashion innovators, as per a press release sent out by the school.

The project, entitled Anarchive, will be a new physical and digital environment dedicated to fashion development and research, designed to welcome researchers, curators, archivists, students, designers and companies interested in studying fashion.

"It will not be a museum, but a new type of fashion archive: a living, dynamic and accessible place, a place for research but also a venue for meetings and appointments," the release reads.

The space, located in the Manifattura Tabacchi complex, formerly home to the Polimoda school, is intended to support a new generation of creatives and encourage innovation in fashion.

"Florence has always been a city strongly linked to fashion and the arts, a true cultural hub for the sector," Polimoda president Ferruccio Ferragamo, said in a statement.

"Here, Italian fashion originated and remains a protagonist with the Pitti Immagine fairs," he continued. "Therefore, the synergy of Florence with the Anarchive project, which aims to enhance the historical and cultural heritage of fashion, with a special focus on its evolution over time, is natural."

"Thanks to this project, the city will continue to be a point of reference for training and research in fashion," he said.

"The world of fashion is constantly evolving and Anarchive represents an invaluable resource for those who intend to experience it with an innovative approach," the school's director, Massimiliano Giornetti, said.

"By looking at the past, we can find inspiration to build a new future that takes into account the challenges of today's times. Our project consists of four actions: archiving, research, training and presentation."

To be specific, Anarchive will be a platform for dialogue and collective curatorship that will deal with various activities.

These include the development of the digital fashion archive, research into new fabrics and technologies, the artistic curatorship of garments, collections or archive pieces, writing and criticism of the fashion system and the study of the history of fashion, with an eye to the future of creativity, trends and anthropological research.

Polimoda will curate the project, supporting it through the school's resources, European funding, scholarships, sponsors and public and private partnerships interested in training and research.

This article was originally published on FashionUnited.IT. Translation and editing from Italian into English by Veerle Versteeg.