3rd IFFTI - Fashion on the conference table

Everybody already knows that we can't understand about fashion just looking at the fashion shows and devouring the great creators sensibility... Not even masticating, what is transmitted by the midia... And the streets are sources of research long ago. Culture, music and arts well, we don't even have to mention... But it is a more recent fact and yet, seen with suspicion by the most conservators, that this professional field gains, everyday more, space in the academy. A point for all costuras, which promote the fashion in the way it has to be seen: a subject as serious as glamorous.

Therefore, nothing more fair than this happens in an international ambit and in a comprehending way. And the IFFTI - chain that congregates institutions dedicated to the advance of the education in design, technology and fashion business - it is consolidating every year, in this way. The first meeting happened in India, in 1998. Last year, the hostess was at Anhembi Morumbi University, in Sao Paulo. This year, the 3rd. conference was held in London, headquartered by the London College of Fashion, between 07 and 10 of November.

Having as heading Fashion Directions : Visioning the Future, the London College promoted an event of excellent quality, joining delegations of the 21 participant schools (including countries like, Australia, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, France, China among others), interested in exchanging experiences among educators, researches, students and professionals of fashion from several areas.

The first and the last days were dedicated to internal discussions and educational workshops and reckon upon the presentation of the IFFTI site, by Carmem Maia, UAM Technological Development director. The site intends to be a communication space among the participants, as well as, a data bank which will congregate fashion information about each one of the schools, designers and companies of the countries involved.

On Wednesday, a big discussion panel about fashion trends, behavior and consume was coordinated by Martin Raymond, nothing less than the Viewpoint editor, one of the most serious and respected magazines in terms of research, true "bible" of the linked people. The table counted with the participation of names like Hilary Alexander, fashion editor of Daily Telegraph, Barbara Kennington, creation director of the research site WGSN, Eric Musgrave, from Drapers Record and Marie Christine Viannay, researcher of trends and behavioral analyst, who guarantees: "for researching about fashion I read books about anthropology, psychology, sociology and I almost don't see anything from the fashion shows".

And she wasn't the only one to say how much the way of approaching trends has other face in the XXI century. Globalization and internationalization of fashion were characteristics more than repetitive by the lecturers of all areas: "everything is on the streets, everything is done, the creation has to follow very different ways from ideas like "now I was inspired by Africa", or "I am doing the 60's" and things like that..., accomplished the well humored Tonny Glenville, international fashion columnist . He appeared all dressed in second-hand and made a point to let it very clear, when he called attention to the question "brandsXprices" and how the consumer has been placed himself in this battle.

Other key words from the conference were::
- Internet , of course... Technology for education, digital resources, cyber design, virtual fashion shows... And a lot, lot more in this direction;
- Dispatch, speed in all senses...But, mainly, in the circulation of merchandises and information ;
- E-commerce or the huge increase of the commerce through net and development of strategies for the fashion;
- The idea of "24 hours society" embracing, obviously, the contemporary conceptions of time, space and work;
- The idea of personalizing the attendance, penetrating the mass consume.;
- The challenge of joining creativity, technique, marketing and commercialization in the team works (Martin Raymond thinks that every design team should have a theoretical researcher involved...)
- Development of ethic postures, in all senses;

It was by coincidence that the closing fashion show - meeting English schools as De Montfort University, the Nottingham Trent University and the London College of Fashion itself - had much less spectators than the lectures... As the image of the meeting, The supermodern wardorbe exposition (which is in the LFC gallery until 05/12) is much stronger to express what really happened there, in terms of knowledge exchange: explores ways for urban garments, male and female, in 30 creations signed by people like Hussein Chalayan, Patrick Cox and Issey Miyake. Working concepts as protection, mobility and multiple functionality, other less known names from the big public, like Kosuke Tsumura and Vexed Generation transform philosophy and reality in clothes . The refuge wear of Lucy Orta and more, the jacket developed in partnership by Philips and Levi's are pure social contemporary pictures.