White paper on creativity - ebla center

Chapter 5diffuse industrial presence throughoutmuch of Italy.5.3 Fashion and the worldof creativityHanding on creativity from onegeneration to another is a key objectivein fashion industrial policy. Thedevelopment of creativity is in fact theprogrammatic premise for any initiativeattempting to produce and maintain ahigh social level of creativity and todescribe, or even reinforce, thecollective identity of a community, nomatter how vast.Examples of excellent creativephenomena tend to come in wavescorresponding to generations of stylistswho work in well-defined places andperiods: Paris in the 1950s and 60s,Milan in the 1970s and 80s, LosAngeles, New York in the 1990s and2000s. Generations come and go butthere is no guarantee of maintainingthe same level of local creativity, if notthrough suitable policies distinguishedby at least one great idea in the field ofeconomic organisation. It we look atthe history of fashion and the creativewaves over time we notice that inFrance the wave of the 1950s and 60sled to the combination of hautecouture with prêt-à-porter, while theItalian wave led to forms of flexibleorganisation and agglomerations ofindustrial districts and the Americanwaves saw the rise of marketing andlogistics.But the creative waves ebb and flownaturally in the course of time due tolevels of creativity falling off in thesystem or in individual players.At present we are experiencing a newFrench wave of fashion, which almostcoincided with the death of some greatItalian stylists (Versace, Moschino andGucci), giving France a newcompetitive edge. In fact there is athoroughgoing renewal underway inthe traditional fashion houses whichhave sought and are seekinginternational talents (Tarlazzi for GuyLaroche, Montana for Lanvin,Lagerfeld for Chanel, and alsoGalliano, Tom Ford, Lacroix) often topenetrate new foreign markets anddirect efforts towards the new marketfor luxury prêt-à-porter. LVMH (agroup whose members include LouisVuitton with Marc Jacobs, Dior HauteCouture with John Galliano, Diormode masculine with Hedi Slimane,Givenchy with Alexander McQueen,Yves Saint Laurent with Tom Ford andChristian Lacroix) is the leader in thissector in which Italy is well representedby Gucci, Armani, Dolce & Gabbanaand other designer labels.While the most effective and traditionalItalian method of transmitting andproducing creativity is learning bydoing, professional training andacademic education are also veryimportant. In this field, Italian expertisecan rely on the evolution of universitiesand polytechnics (the Politecnico inTurin offers, for example, courses totrain engineers specialised in textileproduction) and the fine art schools,WHITE PAPER ON CREATIVITY 116