Moments from ITS 2015. Special memories from last July

After every edition our photogallery – which we could rightly call our ITS Family album – gets updated with hundreds and hundreds of shots, divided into folders. Each picture is a photographic record attached to a memory. Perhaps some memories are stronger than others, and these are a few of those we love the most from ITS 2015.

The ITS 2015 Party

It has been quite a few years since our last official ITS party. Now we’ve realised why we missed it so much. The lights go down, the Electrosacher DJs pump up the volume on their special playlist (several pieces they play are tracks we’ve been listening for the fashion show soundtrack that did not make it in the final list) and everyone’s not just on the same level but doing the same thing in the ITS location-turned-dancefloor: dancing. Finalists, jurors, journalists, ITS staff… everyone. Sharing smiles, raising glasses, joining hands. A toast to a very unique gathering. The icing on the cake. Releasing all the tension and letting the energy roam free.

Its Family

The roots from which ITS has grown are engraved with the concept of Family, and both our staff and the ITS network are a reflection of it. Alone we are nothing, together we are strong. We can lean on each other, be there when it’s needed. The word “support” has a much deeper meaning than just following the professional paths of our finalists and it becomes very clear from these two shots of Barbara, which totally epitomize the concept: a welcome and advice to a newly arrived member of the ITS Family, a hug and a laugh with an old one. Feeling at home even if we’re continents apart.

Jury commitment

Being a juror at ITS is no easy job. We’ll never stress the importance of the work of our jury members enough. They come over to our offices in April to choose the finalists from hundreds and hundreds of projects and come back in July for two densely packed days during which we fill up their schedule to the very limit. They feel the atmosphere at ITS and totally dive into our support philosophy. We can see this happening every single year. Their attention and caring is well summed up in these pictures.

Demna back

The return of Demna – ITS winner over 10 years ago – is definitely one of our most special memories from last July. A designer we discovered in 2004 and supported when we ourselves were still in the very beginning of our adventure, a young talent who has grown while we ourselves have done the same. Demna has gone through important work experiences in brands such as Maison Margiela and Louis Vuitton and is now magnetizing the attention of the international press with his recently launched brand VETEMENTS. Having him back as a jury member was like witnessing proof of the good work we did years ago, left aside the brotherly affection we have for him.

Barbara on stage

For newcomers it probably passed unnoticed but for those who attended ITS more than once it certainly did not: Barbara on stage from the very beginning, together with our favourite Master of Ceremonies Victoria Cabello. From avoiding the limelight and focusing on work to be done without looking for recognition, to the confidence of calling the ITS catwalk with its rightful name: her home, her creature, our endeavor, something we want to proudly stand on. Not to receive the applauses, but to claim it as our own space dictated by our view of how the world should work, asking everyone to join us.

Shay Tako masks interaction

We had not yet seen such a level of interaction (totally wanted by the artist himself, of course) with an ITS ARTWORK piece. Shay Tako invited everyone to take action in his installation and try his masks on, to challenge their perspective of how the world labels us according to the mask we wear. And everyone just went wild with this “social experiment”, showing no shyness at all in re-discussing how society judges us according to what’s on our faces.

Oriole and Aitor in the Archive

The double interview we set up in the ITS CREATIVE ARCHIVE with Oriole Cullen – Acting Senior Curator for Contemporary Fashion at the Victoria & Albert Museum – and past finalist Aitor Throup, who’s projects are pieces of art which would rightly belong in a museum, was like joining the dots on the map.

We couldn’t imagine a more perfect combination happening in this space, intended both as a reserve for talent and as a museum for the highest expressions of young creativity. If you have yet to see it have a look at our teaser where it is featured.

The above are just some of the images you can find in our photogallery, and maybe you would have picked others. The selection is truly very wide, and we ourselves have many more favourites which we are also posting on our facebook page these days. Good memories to fuel ourselves in view of the next edition…