International Talent Support


International Talent Support is a platform created to give support and visibility to young talents in the field of fashion design, design of accessories and jewelry. The most artistic-oriented designers are also challenged with ITS Artwork, a purely artistic contest.
The 16th edition which will be held once again in Trieste on 27 June 2018.
Contestants are selected from more than 80 countries around the world. After this selection process, they are invited to Trieste to present their works and are evaluated by a special jury that awards the prizes in the competition. ITS is not just a contest, it includes a Creative Archive showcasing projects of the past finalists: a collection of 16,000 portfolios, 220 dresses, 80 jewelry pieces and 120 accessories, and more than 700 digital photo projects). In addition, it produces a yearly trends report "The Seismographer" and has built a wide network made up of designers, journalists, opinion leaders, design teachers, head hunters, heads of studio and more.
The platform was founded and is directed by Barbara Franchin.
Here are some of the past ITS jurors: the performance artist Marina Abramovic, photographers Nick Knight, Ari Marcopoulos and Sarah Moon, the Editor in Chief of Vogue Italy Franca Sozzani, the founder of Business of Fashion Imran Amed, the former head curator of the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum in New York Harold Koda the singer-songwriter Mika and designers such as Raf Simons, Viktor & Rolf, Consuelo Castiglioni, Manish Arora as well as journalists like Hilary Alexander, Angelo Flaccavento and Cathy Horyn.
Many past finalists hold key positions in the fashion industry, like Demna Gvasalia, Aitor Throup and Peter Pilotto.

ITS 2016

2016 marked the fifteenth birthday of ITS, an anniversary edition that welcomed in the jury Demna Gvasalia, designer Iris Van Herpen and AltaRoma President Silvia Venturini Fendi, while the theme of the event was “Utopia.

Winners

The jury for this edition featured, among others, Massimo Giorgetti, Carlo Capasa and Oriole Cullen. Aitor Throup, a finalist in 2006, received a lifetime achievement award. The concept for this edition was "THE FUTURE".

Winners

Consuelo Castiglioni, Nick Knight, Nicholas Kirkwood and pop star Mika were among the jurors. On July 12, the day of the final evening, the event reached the 9th position as a global trending topic on social networks. CNN and France 2 covered the event. The concept for this edition was "Lucid Dreams"

Winners

ITS becomes even more present on social with the launch of a live feed that collects any ITS related content. Nicola Formichetti, Carla Sozzani and Yasuhiro Mihara were among the jurors. This edition was characterized by the concept "The Physics of Creativity".

Winners

In 2012, the performance artist Marina Abramovic was in the fashion competition jury with Renzo Rosso and the fashion blogger Susie Bubble. The jury also featured two past finalists, Aitor Throup and Mark Fast, both of whom have since become famous for their respective fashion lines. This edition's concept played with two extremes, "Good or Evil".

Winners

The 2011 edition marked the contest's 10th anniversary, with a jury that included Hilary Alexander, the Academy Award for Photography Dante Spinotti and featured the return of Viktor & Rolf. It was the year of the launch of ITS JEWELRY, the competition devoted entirely to jewelry. Shaun Samson, the winner of the Fashion Collection of the Year, participated in the London Fashion Week with his fashion line a short while later.

Winners

The designers Viktor & Rolf participated as first-time jurors and Nina Nitsche was also part of the jury. Shortly after the event, the winner of Accessories Collection of the Year Sarah Williams established a partnership with another Accessories finalist, Kirsty Ward, launching an exclusive line of custom made accessories.

Winners

Yuima Nakazato became the second finalist in the history of ITS to be selected for two different competitions in two different editions. The edition concept transformed ITS in the "Greatest Show of All", drawing inspiration from the touring circus shows of the early 20th century.

Winners

Mark Fast's knitwear attracted everyone's attention, and was the prelude to a brand that received a lot of attention as a result of ITS. The finalists of the photography competition Mashid Mohadjerin won the World Press Photo award for a project that started immediately after ITS. Designer Gareth Pugh and photographer Sarah Moon were among the jurors.

Winners

The generation of young talents selected in 2007 featured many finalists that, following ITS, made a name for themselves thanks to their respective brands: Justin Smith, David Longshaw, Taro Horiuchi, Mareunrol, Ek Thongprasert, Heaven Tanudiredja.

Winners

In 2006 the ITS ACCESSORIES contest was inaugurated. Aitor Throup was the revelation of the year with a menswear collection that redesigned the production processes. Franca Sozzani, Raf Simons and Cathy Horyn were on the jury.

Winners

Antonio Marras, Boudicca and Antonio Berardi were on the jury. The ITS PHOTO contest was launched and its jury featured the founder of Visionaire Cecilia Dean. Christopher de Vos, who later worked for Vivienne Westwood before joining forces with Peter Pilotto's homonymous brand, was one of the finalists.

Winners

Yoshikazu Yamagata was among the winners of 2004. He would later set up a school in Tokyo that would produce numerous ITS finalists. Peter Pilotto was among the finalists. In the following years he created the Peter Pilotto brand together with a 2005 finalist, Christopher de Vos. Raf Simons was in the jury together with Richard Buckley, Hilary Alexander and Ennio Capasa.

Winners

The winner Cathy Pill had the honour of being invited to present her collection during the Parisian fashion week, where she continued to present her brand for nearly a decade. Dombrovicz Laurent, Xavier Delcour and Jenny Meirens were some of the jurors. Fabrizio Talia, winner of the Best Womenswear Collection Award, later joined forces with Justin Smith – the two met in 2007 – for the launch of the project * Artisanal, chosen as a finalist in 2010.

Winners

The jury of the first edition of the International Talent Support featured, among others, Isabella Blow, Editor in Chief of Nylon Magazine Marvin Jarrett, Director of i-D magazine Terry Jones and the Creative Director of Black Book Magazine Evan L.Schindler.

Winners