FMC #03

01-03.07 / Fashion Heritage Academy @ B2B Torino Fashion Match
With the talk “The Heritage of Tailoring: How to Preserve an Art”, during Turin Fashion Week, Fabrizio Modina, President of Fondazione M-Cube, will highlight the urgent need to safeguard the human and cultural heritage of Italian tailoring. In collaboration with Unioncamere Piemonte.

10.07 / Kylie Minogue – The Tension Tour
Live from Lyon, France, we’ll attend the concert of the Pop Princess — one of the most influential figures in music since the 1980s. The Australian star is a muse to fashion designers like Jean Paul Gaultier and Dolce & Gabbana, and her shows are a dazzling mix of technology and theatricality.

For some time now, industry insiders have (finally) started to ask whether the key role in fashion design today still belongs to creatives—or whether it’s now the managers of commercial departments who reign supreme. The answer is more obvious than it might seem.

Generations Z and Alpha, please forgive me if the musical reference in this article’s title seems cryptic to you; you can probably ask a parent for clarification. I couldn’t think of a better way to express the mood of disillusionment surrounding the decline of fashion over the past twenty years.

The insight that brand CEOs had is actually quite simple: minimum effort, maximum (economic) return. So why invest capital in training expert tailors, patternmakers, and high-end ready-to-wear technicians to renew collections through creativity, genius, and quality—when, with far less effort, you can sell endless quantities of mass-produced handbags with profit margins that clothing could never offer?

Don’t get me wrong—I have the utmost respect for the skilled professionals in the leather goods industry—but I’m sure even they would agree that there are significant differences between their type of production and that of garment-making. One of the most striking is the intrinsic function of “wearability” in clothing—a process that requires days of teamwork, typically involving a designer, a patternmaker, a tailor, and a fit model.

Together, they assess—after countless fittings—whether a jacket, a pair of pants, a coat, or a dress fits well, allows for proper movement, performs well in the chosen fabric, and aligns with the production timelines and projected costs. It’s a process that allows no mistakes and demands both time and skill, which means: money.

Here too, we could open another discussion about the proliferation—especially among luxury brands—of products that require almost no research investment, like t-shirts and sweatshirts sold for absurd prices.

Now, even though producing a high-quality handbag takes time, it will never compare to the time and complexity required for garments—or even footwear. A bag must be durable, practical, aesthetically pleasing, and made of good materials. But that’s it—it doesn’t have to be “worn” in the same sense.
Maybe a few of you have noticed (very few), but for over a decade, brands have been removing their clothing collections from storefront displays, replacing them with dazzling handbag arrangements. In glossy magazine spreads and online campaigns, bags have taken center stage, while everything else has faded into the background.

Little by little, fashion has disappeared. The desire to invent and create has dulled. The urge to buy a beautiful outfit has faded. A terrible idea has taken hold among consumers (not just women): a pricey handbag is enough to look amazing—the rest is irrelevant.
And that’s how we destroyed prêt-à-porter. It’s no coincidence that in the past 20 years, the great minds of haute couture have all but vanished, replaced by empires of companies that built their core business around leather goods. Others, in order to survive, had to adapt—completely losing their tailoring identity.

Now, finally (and rather late), social media is buzzing with the revelation that those beloved luxury handbags are not worth their price.
I’ve been telling my students this for fifteen years—what a relief! I feel less alone now. Angry customers are discovering that their cherished treasures aren’t even made of leather, but of plastic. That they weren’t made in France or Italy. That the expensive dream they bought wasn’t real. Even if made with the finest leather in the world, a handbag should never cost more than a car. And now (almost) everyone has realized that the difference between an original and a fake is practically zero.
If it weren’t so funny, it would be almost shocking.

I remember one of the many spats between Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat, and Diego Della Valle, CEO of Hogan and Tod’s. Marchionne once pointed out that with the same amount Della Valle invested in R&D for a whole year, he could buy a bumper. Blunt—but accurate.
I was recently in Florence, the heart of Italy’s leathercraft tradition, and was happy to see so many small brands proudly holding on, focusing on true material quality and strict Made in Italy craftsmanship. No logos, just real strength and heritage.
Those are the brands we should look to when we want to buy a truly good bag—at a fair price.

Maybe, slowly, the tide is turning. Even in the U.S. and China—where the ultra-wealthy control the rise and fall of brand revenues—there are signs of more conscious consumer behavior.
The commodification of the “dream” is ending. It’s time for substance.
Top female finance managers, for example, are reportedly less inclined to spend tens of thousands of dollars on accessories. As financial advisors themselves, they feel they must lead by example when it comes to cutting unnecessary, extravagant expenses.
Who knows—maybe soon, even those who proudly brag on TikTok about buying a €70,000 handbag will no longer be seen as “super cool,”
but simply for what they really are: complete idiots.

The M-Cube Foundation launches two new video talk formats that start with fashion—and then glide into much more… exploring the realms of Modern Mythology!

Red Velvet Talks

curated by Elena Maria Casella
filming and editing by Simona Rapisarda
Not a lecture. Not a traditional interview. But a pop and visionary conversation with those who don’t just study or design fashion… they live it.

Doppia Zip

curated by Grita
filming and editing by Simona Rapisarda
We felt the need to create a broad and accessible space for dialogue about fashion. Grita, together with Fabrizio Modina, will try—through chats and a touch of oracle consultation—to unravel the threads of this complex world.

Discover the FASHION HERITAGE ACADEMY!

Our journey through the contemporary cinematic imagination continues—where films are not just narratives to be watched, but living archives of style, research, and identity. In this third installment, we turn our attention to a timeless cult classic of American independent cinema: Buffalo ‘66 (1998), written, directed by, and starring Vincent Gallo—a controversial and iconic figure who, with this debut, carved out a new archetype for the modern “misfit.”

Set among deserted bowling alleys, diners, and faded motels, Buffalo ‘66 tells the tragicomic story of two solitary souls who brush up against each other—and eventually connect. The film offers a visual aesthetic that has influenced fashion deeply, making its mark on both runways and Instagram feeds.

The story follows Billy Brown (Vincent Gallo), a neurotic man just released from prison, caught between a past of mistakes and a present built on lies. To avoid disappointing his parents—who believe he’s become a successful man—he kidnaps tap dancer Layla (a magnetic Christina Ricci), forcing her to pretend to be his wife during a family visit. From that moment on, Buffalo ‘66 becomes an escape from reality: an urban road movie made of silences and lingering glances, set in a desaturated, frozen suburbia—a backdrop that serves a visual language powerful enough to transcend time.

Vincent Gallo personally curated the film’s costumes: Billy’s worn bomber jackets, shapeless sweatshirts, and faded jeans portray a wounded masculinity, one that expresses its marginality through anti-glamour pieces in shades of grey and black. The iconic coral-red boots, which pop throughout the film, seem to represent that internal scream, that open wound—a detail betraying his desire to break free from a cold and hostile world.

Layla, meanwhile, floats beside Billy in her babydoll dress, soft white cardigan, and glitter shoes—a true melancholic, disarmed coquette girl. It’s a style now gone viral on TikTok and deeply embedded in the visual world of artists like Lana Del Rey, evoking an ultra-feminine, dreamy, timeless essence.
One unforgettable moment comes in the photo booth scene, where Layla and Billy pose for a series of instant snapshots. It’s partly thanks to this scene that the current love for Polaroids and vintage aesthetics—celebrated by brands like Marc Jacobs and Miu Miu—finds an authentic origin.

And then there’s American football—Billy’s obsession and psychological wound. This sports universe permeates the entire film and echoes today in fashion’s reimagining of ’90s sportswear with new codes: oversized jackets, college logos, baggy tracksuits, football jerseys reinterpreted through a genderless lens. Brands like Martine Rose, Balenciaga, Acne Studios, and other emerging labels draw directly from this suburban, nostalgic aesthetic.

Today, Buffalo ‘66 reminds us that fashion doesn’t need catwalks—it’s built through details and in the lives of everyday people. This is a film that proves fashion speaks everywhere, even in the frozen streets of Buffalo. Buffalo ‘66 becomes an urban fairytale, where fashion dresses the vulnerability of two souls who meet by chance—and who, in that absurd encounter, may just find the strength to start again.
A timeless tenderness that still inspires—and resonates.

SEE THE INVISIBLE – Upcoming Events and the Exhibition Tour in Berlin, Argentina, and New Zealand
The first phase of the See the Invisible project concluded on June 5 in New York. Chiara Masiero Sgrinzatto shares insights into her research and experimentation conducted at the New York Institute of Technology – between mythic cities, Modern Mythology, and a world once again searching for superheroes. She will also preview the next phase of the project, which will take place in Argentina and New Zealand.

GLEAM – New Workshop at the National Museum of Cinema with Inventivio
Development of the game STATUS QUⒺST!!! is moving forward!
The workshop, organized by Fondazione M-Cube in collaboration with the National Museum of Cinema, involved a group of testers including blind and visually impaired users.
The main goal of the workshop was to test the storyline of STATUS QUⒺST!!!, along with new game mechanics being integrated into the experience, and to gather feedback and ideas during the advanced alpha testing phase.
Additionally, the workshop gave participants the opportunity to explore Tactonom, a device presented by Inventivio that enables phygital educational interaction with the game.

The GLEAM project has indirectly received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation action programme, via the XR4ED – Open Call issued and executed under the XR4ED project (Grant Agreement no. 101093159).

SUPERHEROES – FROM ANTIQUITY TO CONTEMPORARY
The exhibition curated by Fabrizio Modina for Fondazione M-Cube, with Federica Montani and Eugenio Martera for Contemporanea Progetti, continues to draw large audiences at the Vapriikki Museokeskus in Tampere, Finland.
A hyper-dynamic and super-pop journey through the history of past and present heroes, the exhibition explores the archetypes of superheroes found in ancient myths and legends.
Visitors can follow the evolution of superheroes in both chronological and thematic narratives.

RESEARCH & INNOVATION
Fondazione M-Cube’s research activities continue to expand across multiple areas.
Scientific papers and the See the Invisible exhibition have been accepted for presentation at:

• XXII. Conference Culture and Computer Science – Remixing analog and digital in Berlin (Germany)
• SiGraDi 2025, the international conference on Meta-Responsive Approaches in Architecture, Art, Design, and Sciences in Córdoba (Argentina)
• GDI 2025 – Green + Digital + Intelligent Built Environments in Auckland (New Zealand)