Der Wanderer is a collection of 39 outfits produced by Koefia Academy third-year students for their 2016 Final Work. It consists of 39 unique pieces sewn according to the Haute Couture criteria that do not allow repeat. It is a contemporary Haute Couture that puts together the manufacturing textile tradition and Koefia’s unmistakable style that draws on both a traditional and contemporary approach in each of its creations. They are 39 unique Haute Couture pieces, 39 journeys and experiences narrated in a romantic way, 39 hues of the same sky derived from the color palette of visionary Tim Hilliers’ photos. 250-300 working hours for each hand-embroidered garment originate a collection that is complex with regard to its manufacturing and inspiring motif. An elaborate manufacturing based on doubling and textile art interventions , tailoring techniques and painstaking work, pack-work dresses with silk yarns of 50 different hues, all this gives each garment a unique touch in line with the times. The amount of the hours necessary to produce such works is extrermely high: from the hand-embroidered panels to the patternmaking and manufacturing techniques, all these approaches change the dresses into wearable works of art. It is a 2016/2017 autumn/winter collection that reveals a large use of wools, (animal and vegetal) leather, (real and eco-friendly) furs, and eco-sustainable fabrics. We are confronted with a Haute Couture that considers romanticism only with regard to the future and the Wanderer - the symbol of the man who moves on - and is at the same time projected and carried out thanks to precise tailoring laws and techniques.
The collection is in fact inspired by Der Wanderer , Caspar David Friedrich’s symbolic picture that is the manifesto of the German Romanticism. The Wayfarer on a Foggy Sea is a metaphor of the personal, spiritual, and introspective journey that man undertakes. It will be the same kind of journey for each student who is just stepping on his/her professional path after graduating from the Academy. It is a journey that starts from the concept of moving onwards…The starting point for our would-to-be designers is Rome, the eternal city, from where they will take off on a personal journey that will influence not only their souls but also their own lives , and post-academic future.
Hand-made jewels and Haute Couture accessories will enrich the collection. The jewels have beed created by the following designers: Marina Valli, JU Jewels by Raffaella Cicicia, Maria Gioia Capolei, Lavinia Colambumbo Fredella, Francesca Farina, Rossella Toraldo, Santa Loffredi, Laura Forte, Valentina Allotti, Serena Artico, Anna Izzo for Associazione Officine di Talenti Preziosi (OTP), an important agency in the Roman jewellery field.
Each garment tells of the forthcoming adventurous future each student is going to face both in his/her personal and especially professional life. This approach is both romantic and pragamatic at the same time. This is also the approach suggested by Simone Pirani, the coordinator of this final work: a way open to dreams about one’s future even if the entire scenery appears to be uncertain, vague, and rather indefinite.
Let’s give some special space to an important novelty, the capsule collection, created on the occasion of “Koefia Academy for Sandro Ferrone”. This project, curated by Giuseppe Testa, Sandro Ferrone design unit responsible, has selected three young Koefia designers who will present their garments marked Sandro Ferrone on the catwalk, and will be prized by Sandro Ferrone himself. The three selected designers are: Lika Patiashvili, Simone Raponi, and Chiara Santori whose works have been selected out of some 150 submitted designs and fashion plates. The three finalists have in fact well represented and interpreted the particolar creativity that is typical of the Fast Fashion field:
Simone Raponi suggests a retr style with a glimpse of modernism in forms and colors for a both revisited and contemporary vision of the feminine.
Lika Patiashvili proposes contrasting themes outlining silhouettes that daringly mix femininity and lightness
Chiara Santori puts together leather and lace and relaunches and revisits a Sando Ferrone icon dress in the form of Street fashion.
The selected garments will be manufactured and included in the present Ferrone collection and distributed in the various shops. The three designers will be grated an internship with the Ferrone design unit.
