The ITS 2019 Jury. Landing in Trieste to support the strongest young talents.

Miren Arzalluz
Director of the Palais Galliera, City of Paris Museum of Fashion

Miren Arzalluz Lorono is Basque by birth, she was born in 1978 in Bilbao. She has a Degree in History earned at the Deusto University, a MSc Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics and an MA History of Art, specializing in the History of Dress from the Courtauld Institute of Art. Having worked at different British museums, such as the Victoria & Albert Museum and Kensington Palace, she was responsible for the Cristóbal Balenciaga Foundation collection and exhibitions from 2006 to 2013, the period when she published her book: Cristóbal Balenciaga. La Forja del Maestro (1895-1936) (San Sebastian; Nerea, 2010). From 2013 to 2017 she worked as an independent curator in collaboration with different museums such as the Palais Galliera or the Musée de l’histoire de l’immigration in Paris (Fashion Mix. Mode d’ici. Créateurs d’ailleurs; Paris, 9 December 2014 – 28 June 2015), the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum (The 50s: Fashion in France 1947-1957; Bilbao, 10 March – 31 August 2015) and the MoMu in Antwerp (Game Changes. Reinventing the 20th Century Silhouette; Antwerp, 17 March – 14 August 2016). Meanwhile she also worked as a researcher at Deusto University developing her doctoral thesis, Côte Basque: moda, ocio y performatividad (1855-1939). After having been, in 2017, director of the Etxepare Basque Institute, dedicated to disseminating the Basque language and culture all over the world, in 2018 Miren Arzalluz becomes the Director of the Palais Galliera, bringing a dozen years experience in fashion.

Carlo Bach
Art Director illycaffé

Carlo Bach was born in Cologne in 1967. He is an artist, with numerous exhibitions both in Italy and abroad. Since 1999 he collaborates on the artistic projects of illycaffè – a company which has chosen creativity as a language through which it expresses its own values and philosophy – and became Art Director in 2005. He develops collaborations with the most renowned contemporary artists as well as with emerging talents, working on experimental art projects to then translate such experiences into the realization of the illy Art Collection, the signature espresso cups that are now a cult. He is also responsible for the projects that the company develops in the fields of communication and design, among which the Illy Gallery – the temporary space imagined to describe illy’s world of passions to the public – and the Coffee Pavillion created for the Milan Expo in 2015. He lives in Udine, Italy.

Gianluca Cantaro
Editor in Chief at Nowfashion.com

Born in Caltanissetta, Sicily on November 30th 1971, is the Editor in Chief at Nowfashion.com, journalist and creative consultant. Previously Editor-in-Chief at L’Officiel Italia and L’Officiel Hommes Italia from September 2014 to December 2018.He gained his long time experience in media and publishing being Deputy Editor-in-Chief at L’Uomo Vogue, the magazine symbol of men’s style in the world, until July 31st 2014. But this was only the second to last step of his career. He arrived in Condé Nast in April 2007 as Managing Editor. He began working as a freelance journalist since 1997 for the most important weekly and monthly Italian and international magazines at the time (Tank, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Sette de Il Corriere Della Sera – the weekly supplement of the most popular newspaper in Italy Il Corriere della sera, together with la Repubblica) focusing and specializing in fashion and lifestyle (both women and men). In 2000 he worked as editor (for little less than one year) at the weekly magazine Fashion. In 2001 he joined the editorial staff at D la Repubblica delle donne (the weekly supplement of la Repubblica Newspaper published by L’Espresso editorial group) where he served as Deputy Senior editor.He also collaborated in updating the first edition of the “Dizionario della moda” (“Fashion dictionary”) by Guido Vergani and its subsequent translation into English (published by Baldini Castoldi in 2004). He also delivers speeches, lectures and master courses in the most important departments of universities and schools in the fashion industry and design (IUAV in Venice, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Polimoda, IED Moda Lab -Istituto Europeo di Design and Domus Academy) teaching fashion journalism and fashion critic.

Carlo Capasa
Chairman of Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana

Carlo Capasa is Chairman of Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, the association that represents Italian fashion houses and promotes the country’s excellence in this industry abroad. Elected President in 2015 to orchestrate a relaunching of the Association, Capasa has given it a strategic vision focusing on four pillars: sustainability, digitalization, new brands and storytelling. Under Carlo Capasa’s guidance, CNMI has become the leading exponent of sustainability amongst fashion industry associations with its publication in 2016 of the first “Guidelines on eco-toxicological requirements for articles of clothing, leather goods, footwear and accessories”, the “CNMI principles for sustainable retailing” (2017) and its “Guidelines on eco-toxicological requisites for chemical mixtures and industrial discharges” (2018). Carlo Capasa also launched the first “International Roundtable on Sustainability” addressing fashion business CSR managers all over the world. He opened the first two editions of the “Green Carpet Fashion Awards Italia” (produced in collaboration with Livia Firth), and two exhibitions: “Crafting the Future of Fashion, stories of Craftsmanship and Innovation”, curated by Franca Sozzani, and “Italiana. Italy seen by Fashion. 1971- 2001”, curated by Maria Luisa Frisa and Stefano Tonchi. He was born in Lecce, Puglia, and moved to Milan completing his studies. Before taking over the chair at Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, Carlo Capasa held key roles in numerous fashion businesses in what has been a rich and successful career.

Marie-Claire Daveu
Chief Sustainability Officer and Head of International Institutional Affairs, Kering

Marie-Claire Daveu was appointed Kering’s chief sustainability officer and head of international institutional affairs in 2012. She is responsible for the continued development of Kering’s sustainability strategy and the direction of the Group’s institutional affairs. She joined the company from the public sector where she served as chief of staff to French politician Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, within the Ministry of Ecology and other areas from 2007 to 2012. Prior to that, Ms Daveu was senior director of sustainable development at Sanofi-Aventis Group in 2005. She was previously technical adviser to the cabinet of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and principal private secretary to Serge Lepeltier, Minister of Ecology and Sustainability. A French national, she is a graduate of the Paris Institute of Technology for Life, Food and Environmental Studies (École Nationale du Génie Rural et des Eaux et Forêts). She also earned a Diplôme d’Etudes Supérieures Spécialisées (diploma of specialised higher studies) in public administration from Dauphine University, Paris.

Deanna Ferretti
Entrepreneur

Deanna Ferretti Veroni started her career in Reggio Emilia, Italy more than 30 years ago. She has since then successfully collaborated with some of the most important designers of this past century. She met Kenzo when she was barely 25 years old and with him she worked successfully for over 20 years. During the 70’s she collaborated with Yves Saint Laurent (Tricot e Variation), Rena Kraft, Chiwitt, Frapp, Luis London, Blaky Dress, Giorgio Correggiari, Popy Moreni and Michelle Bruyere. In the 80’s she started to have her first licences with Adrienne Vittadini, Armani and Joseph. Their collections were drawn by John Galliano and John Richmond. In the 90’s, she worked for Martin Margiela, Gai Mattiolo, Valentino, Neil Barret and for many others brands. She has a wide experience in textiles and knitwear but she cannot be called neither a fashion designer nor simply a business woman. Actually, she is an atypical figure born to realise almost every designer’s dream. Now, every three or four years her company supports a new young talent. Deanna also continues to collaborate with several schools and always loves to work with young people. Miss Deanna is a symbol of originality and quality.

Luca Finotti
Dr. Finotti

Named by Forbes Magazine: “The Film Director Behind Fashion’s Viral Videos”, Luca Finotti is an Italian creative and film director who has directed fashion films for Nike, Versace, Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Tommy Hilfiger, Golden Goose Deluxe Brand, Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci, Moschino, Hugo Boss, Jeremy Scott, Adidas, River Island, Tod’s, Cover Girl, Rimmer London Look, MSGM and Pitti to name a few. He also collaborated with international magazines including Vogue Italy, Vogue China, Vogue Russia, Dazed & Confused, i-D Magazine and Hercules Magazine. Having a graduation in Marketing and Economy at the renowned Luigi Bocconi University in Milan and studying cinema at the New York Film Academy gave Luca all the skills to bea successful artistic and viral film director by combining powerful moving images and the development of Social Media. His creations always starts from an idea that then is developed based on trend research to guarantee the worldwide virality of every film & campaign and to make every project a visible and shareable online experience in the millennial era. His portfolio is full of national and international stars including Lady Gaga, Jeremy Scott, Janelle Monae, Gigi Hadid, Monica Bellucci, Rita Ora, Sofia Vergara, Paris Jackson, Emmanuelle Seigner, Toni Garrn, Daniel Brühl, André Turpin, Sita Abellan, CL, Stephen Dorff, Karlie Kloss, Marco Mengoni, Amanda Lepore, Bianca Balti, Simone Nobili and Simon Nessman. In his early career, he has met figures like Arianne Phillips, Michelangelo di Battista, Nicola Formichetti, Anna Dello Russo, Mariano Vivanco, Sara Maino, Paolo Zagoreo and Giovanni Dario Laudicina. He won the Best Director award for his recent film Versace Manifesto at Cinemoi Film Festival 2018, and his project #WeBelieveInThePowerOfLove for Nike was screened and awarded in more than 25 Film Festival awards across the globe including the Ciclope, Aesthetica, CineMoi, Venice, Copenhagen, Canadian and Berlin Fashion Film Festivals.

Angelo Flaccavento
Independent Fashion Critic and Curator

Angelo Flaccavento is an independent fashion critic and curator. He works out of Sicily, constantly traveling on assignments for Italian and international publications. He is a columnist for The Business of Fashion, Vogue Italia and Il Sole 24 Ore and a regular contributor to L’Officiel Italia, Fantastic Man, The Gentlewoman, Studio. He curated the exhibition Il signor Nino for Fondazione Pitti Discovery in Florence in 2015 and with the mentoring of Pitti Immagine he created the tv series Le Italie della Moda broadcasted by Sky Arte HD in the autumn of 2014.

Barbara Franchin
ITS Director & Project Supervisor

Barbara Franchin is the founder and soul of ITS – International Talent Support. She was born and raised in Trieste, a town with a privileged and decentralized point of view far from the established capitals of design, allowing an ideal perspective for a pure and unfiltered view, free from mainstream visions of the world. In 2001 she launched EVE, a one-of-a-kind agency with a key strength: an eclectic, dedicated and passionate team. The following year she launched the first edition of ITS, selecting the strongest young talents from all over the world and hosting them in Trieste for a grand final event with over 400 guests: journalists, trendsetters, opinion leaders and major representatives of the fashion system. Her love and will to preserve, catalogue and display these unique expressions of creativity led to the creation of the ITS Creative Archive, a collection like no other which traces the history of contemporary fashion evolution. The Archive holds 18,000 portfolios, 220 outfits, 120 accessories, 80 jewelry pieces and over 700 digital photography projects from over 80 countries.

Carlo Giordanetti
Creative Director Swatch International

Carlo Giordanetti was named Creative Director of Swatch Ltd. in October 2012, responsible for a unified brand identity across product, communications and store design. He is also charged with developing the Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai as a strategic element of the overall brand program. He comes to Swatch from Montblanc (2007-2012), where he served as Creative Director for all product groups and achieved notable success. Previously, as Co-Founder and Creative Director of Brand DNA (2000-2007), he specialized in the development of branding concepts and brand (re)positioning in the luxury goods market. Mr. Giordanetti also brings extensive experience at Swatch to his new role. For ten years (1987-1992 and 1995-2000) he served in a variety of positions, including Vice President, Marketing, contributing actively to numerous projects involving art, brand-building events, new product development and the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games. He was also a member of the team that founded both the Milan and New York design labs of Swatch. From 1992-1995 Mr. Giordanetti worked at Piaggio, makers of Vespa scooters, where he established a new retail concept and directed the company’s first international communications campaign. Mr. Giordanetti is fluent in several European languages and has lived and worked in Milan, Florence, New York, Paris, Hamburg and Zurich.

Luca Josi
Executive Vice President, Brand Strategy, Media & Multimedia Entertainment of Tim

Luca Josi, born in Albenga, Italy, in 1966. A former professional journalist, he was the secretary of the Movimento Giovanile Socialista (the Italian youth socialist movement) from 1991 to 1994 and was in PSI’s (Italian Socialist Party) Direction and Executive in those same years. He founded the Einstein Multimedia group acting as its President from 1994 to 2013. He founded the Patto Generazionale in 2007. He is currently a board member of Fondazione TIM, in the board of directors of TIMvision Srl and heads over the Brand Strategy, Media e Multimedia division of TIM (he is director of communication, of commercial and sports sponsorships, of events, media and commercial and multimedia content for TIM Vision, TIM Music and TIM Games).

Michael Kampe
Creative Director Lee Jeans E.M.E.A. and Design Tutor

After his graduation at the prestigious Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, Michael won the ITS9 Diesel Award in 2010 which gained him an internship and later a design role at the name- sake company. He stepped up to leading positions in Scotch& Soda as Creative Manager and afterwards Head of Design for Hugo Boss. Next to his tenure at companies, he teaches at international fashion schools to pass on knowledge and create future talent. Today Michael works as Creative Director for Lee Jeans where he leads a team of designers and oversees the creative direction and image of the brand.

Karchun Leung
Editor in Chief Numéro China & MOdern Weekly Style

“Fashion is our language”, said by the chief editor. Dated back in 2004, Karchun Leung joined Hong Kong City Magazine as Senior Editor, where his foray into fashion thus begun. With a decade of honing in his profession, Leung started to take the role of Editor in Chief of Numéro China in 2013, and been selected as a member of BoF 500 a year later. Not merely owns the talent on creativity and international perspective for content creation, Leung also possesses the skills on magazine operation. He opened up outstanding new project for the magazine business and cross-over with multiple brands, for Numéro China, as well as for Modern Weekly Style since 2018. “Karchun is absolutely a culture disseminator and taste maker”, been widely praised by the fashion industry, Leung has successfully collaborated with numerous brands by his avant-garde sense, incisive intellect and insightful vision. Besides, Leung spares no effort on rendering support to local designers as to promote them from China to international arena. Fashion is the language, and creativity is the phraseology.

Valentina Maggi
Creative Director Lee Jeans E.M.E.A. and Design Tutor

Director of Design Practice at Floriane de St. Pierre et Associés Graduated in Architecture from the Politecnico di Milano, Valentina Maggi began her professional career in the Conservation and History of Architecture Department of the Politecnico di Milano. With her passion for Design in the wider sense, Valentina Maggi joined FLORIANE DE SAINT PIERRE & ASSOCIÉS in 1999 and has headed up the Design Practice since 2000.

Sara Sozzani Maino
Deputy Editor in Chief Vogue Italia, Head of Vogue Talents

Sara Sozzani Maino’s first experience in fashion began in the early 90’s while working at the newly opened Corso Como 10 boutique in Milan before joining “Vogue Italia” as an intern in 1994.  She is now deputy editor of Vogue Italia and head of Vogue Talents, project born in 2009 in support of emerging designers. Far from being a simple editorial project that comes out twice a year enclosed to as a supplement to Vogue Italia, Vogue Talents is a network that scouts and supports the best creative talents in womenswear, menswear, accessories and fashion photography. Vogue Talents is a platform that creates connections between designers and the fashion industry, supporting the growth of opportunities and new collaborations.  A regular attendee at global talent spotting shows, she has served as a judge in several fashion competitions, including the LVMH prize, International Talent Support, the Designer’s Nest Award, the H&M Award, the Woolmark Prize, among others. She is a frequent flyer, travelling around the world from a fashion week to the next one, from one fashion week to the next, from Asia to America, going through Africa and Australia and everywhere she finds time and attention to offer to each upcoming designer.  The number of new initiatives dedicated to talents and signed by her is increasing: The Next Green Talents, in collaboration with yoox.com is focused in sustainability which is becoming a primary focus to give awareness to the new generation. Since September 2019 she is International Brand Ambassador for Camera Nazionale della MODA.

Glenn Martens
Creative Director of Y/Project

Originating from Bruges, Belgium, Glenn Martens graduated first in his class from the internationally acclaimed fashion institute – The Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp. In 2008, during his final year at the academy, he was recruited to join the team of Jean Paul Gaultier. In the following years Martens collaborated with a range of different brands such as Honest by Bruno Pieters, Weekday, Diesel Red Tag… After a three season run at his eponymous label, Glenn Martens was appointed Creative Director of Y/PROJECT in September 2013. With his arrival, he simultaneously launched the labels first womenswear collection. Martens has revisualized the brand with versatile designs that take inspiration from a variety of subcultures and eras, combining men’s and women’s pieces to create collections that challenge classification. Glenn Martens aesthetics are strongly influenced by the city in which he was raised. He established an independent signature, defined by opposing the austere aesthetics of Flemish gothic architecture and the beat of street culture. His eclectic designs bridge a technical background with a straight forward look. Culminating in architectural cuts that boast a comfort in fit, the foundation of Glenn Martens resides and relies in transcendent versatility.

Stefano Martinetto
CEO Tomorrow Holdings Ltd

Stefano Martinetto is chief executive of Tomorrow London, a diversified fashion group whose mission is to champion and foster the power of entrepreneurial creativity within the global fashion industry. A business accelerator and development partner for emerging and established fashion talent, Tomorrow empowers designers and enables them to realise their full potential, whilst ensuring they retain their identity and creative control. Tomorrow operates a breadth of services including brand consultancy, showroom and distribution, atelier, digital strategy and experiential retailing. Each service offers designers the solutions and tools for successful and sustainable growth. Martinetto’s innate understanding of the fashion industry comes from life-long immersion. As the fourth generation, Martinetto started his career in the family agency, A-L-E-X, before starting his own venture by partnering with game-changing designers including Walter Von Bereindonk, Dirk Bikkembers and Helmut Lang, plus Puma Black Station, Evisu and Raf Simons. With a vision to build Tomorrow into an integrated group offering multiple services to brands and designers to support them in achieving their own ambitions, in 2011 Martinetto lead a merger between his Italian operations and Saturday Group – creating Tomorrow London. He and his partner Giancarlo Simiri took this over in November 2015 via an MBO, supported by Three Hills Capital Partners. A further investment from Renzo Rosso brought the total funding to $26 million. 2017 saw the acquisition of 470MM , now Tomorrow Consulting, and Todo Srl, an Italian-based footwear and accessories production Company. 2018 has seen the acquisition of J6, a ready-to-wear atelier of highly- skilled artisans. Notably, in January 2018, Tomorrow announced its first IP investment into A Cold Wall by Samuel Ross, and Polythene Optics. Stefano Martinetto is also an investor in Ubooker, the disruptive direct model booking platform, and You Concept, an events company.

Raffaello Napoleone
Chief Executive Officer Pitti Immagine

Born in Rome on 1954, married, three daughters. Resident in Florence. Maturità classica – Classical High School diploma, Degree in Law. Executive management and marketing courses Stanford University: 1986; 1988. Reserve Officer in the cavalry from 1979 to 1980. First experiences in the sailing sector as a broker and then as an entrepreneur building and distributing sailing cabin cruisers. 1984 – 1986 experience in the pharmaceutical field at Les Laboratoires Servier, first private pharmaceutical group in France. 1987 – 1989 director of human resources at Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A. Since 1989 he has been general manager and, since 1995, C.E.O. of Pitti Immagine s.r.l., a non profit-making company that organizes international trade fairs in the fashion sector with over 4,600 exhibitors and 120,000 visitors, 45% of which come from abroad, with a turnover in 2018 of € 38.3 million. The fairs, which are by invitation or open to the public, are reserved for members of the trade and feature clothing and accessories for women/men/children; yarns and fibers for the knitting industry; home accessories; design; crafts; fragrances; food and wines. Moreover, Pitti Immagine, also through the Fondazione Pitti Discovery, devises, curates and stages important exhibitions on fashion culture and communication open to the public and produces publications and events on costume and contemporary arts that are often taken abroad for the purpose of promoting Italian fashion in the world. Current positions – President of the BoD of Fiera Digitale s.r.l., member of the BoD of Polimoda, member of the steering Committee of the Fondazione Montedomini, member of the BoD of Alta Roma. Past positions – President of the BoD of YNAP S.p.A., member of the board of Confindustria Firenze, member of the Supervisory Board of Escada AG, independent councilor at Dada S.p.A., member of the BoD of Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze, member of the BoD of the Fondazione Teatro della Pergola, member of the BoD of EMI – Ente Moda Italia S.r.l.

Stefania Ricci
Director of Museo Salvatore Ferragamo and Fondazione Ferragamo

A graduate of the University of Florence, holding a degree in the Humanities with an emphasis on Art History, Stefania Ricci began collaborating with the Galleria del Costume, Palazzo Pitti and with Pitti Immagine in 1984, overseeing the organization of exhibitions and the publication of catalogues like La Sala Bianca: nascita della moda italiana (Electa) in 1992, in addition to the Emilio Pucci exhibition (Skira) for the 1996 Florence Art and Fashion Biennale. In 1985, Ricci curated the first retrospective on Salvatore Ferragamo at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence and various stops along its tour at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (1987), the Los Angeles County Museum (1992), the Sogetsu Kai Foundation in Tokyo (1998) and Museo des Bellas Artes in Mexico City (2006), as she began organising the company’s archives. Since 1995, she has been Director of Museo Salvatore Ferragamo and oversees cultural events around the world. Since then, she has curated all the exhibitions organized by the museum and the exhibition catalogues, including Audrey Hepburn. A Woman, the Style (Leonardo Arte, 1999), Evolving Legend Salvatore Ferragamo 1928-2008 (Skira, 2009), Greta Garbo. The mystery of Style (Skira, 2010), Marilyn (Skira, 2012), The Amazing Shoemaker (Skira, 2013), Equilibrium (Skira, 2014) and A Palace and the City (Skira, 2015), Across Art and Fashion (Mandragora, 2016), 1927. The retour to Italy (Skira, 2017), Italy in Hollywood (Skira, 2018), Sustainable Thinking (2019). She was named Director of Fondazione Ferragamo in 2013.

Luca Rizzi
Pitti Immagine Tutoring & Consulting Director

Born in 1984 in Trento, after his initial studies in Economics and Business Management, Luca Rizzi completed a Master’s degree in Management at the European School of Economics in Milan. Here, Luca acquired the knowledge needed to start his job-career in Futurenet Group (now called Tomorrow Ltd), where he was involved both in the commercial developments and in the communications, dealing with global brands as Raf Simons. Evisu, True Religion, Vince and Ksubi. He then went on to work for Cernobbio, owner of the historic brand Metradamo, where he managed relations with Italian and international clients. In 2011, he arrived in LAGENTE, an important company focused on fashion designers. Strong from this experience, in 2013, he founded CREATIVE AND MORE, a Business and Strategic Consultancy firm, which acts as a platform of strategic networking between companies of the fashion system and fashion designers.

Renzo Rosso
President of OTB

Born in Padua, Italy, in 1955, Renzo Rosso created his first pair of jeans at the age of 15. In 1978 he founded his brand Diesel, and turned it into a worldwide lifestyle icon. Thanks to an alternative product inspired by vintage clothing, Diesel changed the way consumers thought (and continue to think) about denim. The company transformed denim into an essential modern wardrobe item. Over the years, Diesel’s revolutionary marketing efforts have collected countless international awards for their consistent, surprising and disruptive power. Today Renzo Rosso is the President of OTB, the parent company of Diesel, Maison Margiela, Marni, Paula Cademartori, Viktor&Rolf, and of Staff International (which works with licensed brands such as Dsquared2, Maison Margiela, Marni, Paula Cademartori, Just Cavalli, and Vivienne Westwood), and Brave Kid (specializing in the production and distribution of childrenswear for licensed brands including Diesel, Dsquared2, John Galliano, Marni, and Trussardi). The group’s 2017 revenues exceeded 1,5 billion euros. In 2008 Renzo Rosso created Only The Brave Foundation with the mission to fight social inequalities and contribute to the sustainable development of less prosperous areas across the world. As of today, the foundation has invested in almost 200 social projects benefitting the lives of over 200,000 people, including: integrated interventions in a 20,000-inhabitant village in Mali; the construction of a school in central Italy; the birth of a micro-credit fund for the populations hit by the earthquake in Italy; and the creation of socially useful jobs for people in need of a steady income. 2018 will see the completion of the restoration works of Venice’s Rialto bridge, entirely funded by the group. Renzo Rosso holds minority shares also in other businesses with innovative approaches. Through his family investment company Red Circle Investments, he was among the first investors of YOOX Net-à-Porter; is a partner of digital start-up incubator H-Farm; and is one the most important shareholders of Italy’s biggest organic and biodynamic food company, EcorNaturaSì. In his Diesel Farm in Marostica, Italy, he is a passionate producer of high quality wine (Rosso di Rosso, Bianco di Rosso, Nero di Rosso). He loves soccer in all its forms, with a special preference for AC Milan (of which Diesel is the style sponsor) and L.R. Vicenza Virtus, the historic Italian football team he recently acquired.

Aitor Throup
Artist, designer, creative director

Aitor Throup is an Argentinian-born British artist, designer and creative director. Throup’s multi-disciplinary design house ‘A.T. Studio’ collaborates across multiple industries and is lauded for developing the directional ‘New Object Research’ clothing line which has received critical acclaim for breaking the boundaries of the standard catwalk format and the seasonal conventions of the fashion system. Throup is renowned for his figurative and conceptual explorations of human anatomy through deep metaphorical narratives. The notion of anatomy is at the core of his practice, which Throup tends to explore through fantastical aesthetic systems often based on his highly expressive sculptures and figurative drawings – which are showcased through Throup’s long standing daily drawing platform ‘The Daily Sketchbook Archives’. Aitor Throup’s studio is committed to imagining and creating new ways of telling stories through object design and the direction and creation of related materials.