Mantero and Naba, the archive scarves are transformed into works of art of the future

Visit theMantero Archive It is an experience that affects all the senses. The visual impact of the over 10 thousand volumes, 100 thousand prints and 81 thousand meters of fabric kept within the historic textile company is almost overwhelming, but to hit those who have the privilege of crossing the threshold are also the motionless silence after the syncopated noise of the frames and printers inkjet In perennial movement, as well as the obsessive order of the rooms and the fresh temperature that keeps the precious content intact.

We at Vanity Fair We were invited to Grandate in beating heart of the Excellence plant of the Serico Como districtwhere creativity is a dense plot that mixes tradition and innovation. Since 1902, some of the textile collections of the most famous and prestigious brands of the world have come to life here, just as they testify to the remnants kept lovingly preserved from the beginning. “We are like gods ghostwriter of fashion “, he explained with passion Lucia ManteroMantero Seta Spa Product Development Manager and fourth generation of the company, “we are a verticalized company capable of developing the entire production process, from the creative part to the part of the prints, finishes and packaging. We are rooted in the past, we always look at me to the future ». And just looking to the future here a project was born that redefines the boundaries of fashion and design: Naba x archive mantero. A visionary initiative started in 2021 which unites the new Academy of Fine Arts and Mantero Seta in a path of mentoringmutual formation and inspiration.

A journey that today is enriched with yet another chapter and evolves into an even more daring and multidisciplinary experience. The starting point? Just some scarves, 6 to be exact, inspired by the wonderful Kimono from the Nancy Martin Stetson collectionmasterpieces of Japanese aesthetics reworked by the students of the specialist two -year period in Textile Design of naba. But the scarf, in this project, is no longer just an accessory: it becomes a manifesto of creativity, a canvas on which to experiment with new expressive forms, from video to sculpture, from performance to installation. A journey that intertwines tradition and avant -garde, between drawing and digitization, between artisan wisdom and new technologies. A project that is “a model of excellence, where training e Know How textiles meet to promote the rediscovery and enhancement of crafts »he said Colomba Leddi, Fashion Design Leader Area of Naba, “demonstrating how the dialogue between education and field experience can become a concrete bridge towards the professional future of students, offering them tools and inspiration to explore the different possibilities of the world of textile”.

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The archive like hub creative where new fashion visions are born

The protagonists of this project are the emerging talents of the Academy of Fine Arts Milanese: students of Textile Design, fashion design and scenography who, under the guidance of Gianmarco Porrututor of workshop, Visual Artist and Naba teacher, they gave birth to a sextet of unique works, free from product constraints, but capable of reinterpret textile as an artistic language and narrative tool. “We asked to” explode “the scarves using different media, giving life to three -dimensional images starting from the tangible side of the two -dimensional product. Driving the students and students towards the discovery of new forms and new imaginations was first of all an invitation to listen to short stories, some poetics, others fantastic or autobiographical. During the days of workshop The authors of the works wanted to live in and popular imaginary and ideal spaces of which we see small fragments, which during the creative process were modeled through the intuition and an effective planning, but not less thanks to the randomness of a meeting, which still remains one of the most powerful ways to design good collaboration practices and lasting synergies. I am happy to have seen arises rapidly guided projects and the desire to want to think other worlds, inventing other possible spaces, where beauty is still the protagonist “, has remarked Porro. There are those who have transformed the silk carré into large gaming balls and who has set up one Mega Candida wig with tissue, rubber -tap and wool threads.

Or, who made a Fabric flower with technique Ikebana or one impromptu theatrical mask with ropes, remnants and tapes to be affixed right in front of one of the Kimono in the collection.

The collaboration with Mantero Seta is not only a school experience, but a real bridge towards the world of work. Thanks to the program of mentorshipin fact, the students compare directly with the company, discovering the printing techniques, weaving, the value of research in materials. It is a formation that goes beyond theory, which dirty your hands with the beauty of the raw material and that teaches to look at the past with new eyes, projecting it into the future. In 2024, the Mantero Archive took on a new identity, becoming a project of branding autonomous, open to dialogue with the world of art and contemporary design. Every year, an artist is invited to reinterpret a collection, demonstrating how textile memory is not a simple nostalgic exercise, but an inexhaustible resource for tomorrow’s fashion.

“Trying to position yourself in the future without involving and relating to the protagonists of the future is a mistake, such as thinking that the experience and competence of a historical company such as Mantero to survive in tomorrow,” he underlined Laura Fedrigacreative direction Atelier and Mantero Archive. “The contact with the lymph that feeds the novelties of the market, made by new consumers and new creators, is the only source of real update to which a company today has access. This, supported by a competent and open guide to listening, generates an exchange that receives and returns novelties. The difference between professional daily activities and this workshop Marathon, is the concept of “unpredictable” and the surprise of the result, which is freed as for the magic of the common work regulation of the definition of the objective since the starting phase of the creation process “. And it is precisely in this vision that the synergy between Naba and Mantero finds its strength: A project that not only educates, but inspires, that enhances the Italian manufacturing heritage and makes it alivecurrent, ready to speak the language of the new generations. Because the future of fashion is not only a matter of trends, but of culture, research and, above all, talent.