{"id":3687,"date":"2025-11-28T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fondazionemcube.it\/?p=3687"},"modified":"2026-03-18T12:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T12:36:11","slug":"newsletter-08","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fondazionemcube.it\/en\/newsletter-08\/","title":{"rendered":"FMC #08"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

11.2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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FMC \/\/ December 2025. Our upcoming events<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/div><\/summary>
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30-04.12 \/ <\/strong>See the Invisible<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FMC inaugurates the new exhibition DEMO See the Invisible<\/em> in Auckland (New Zealand). The scientific and technological research conducted in Portugal and the USA, in collaboration with artist Chiara Masiero Sgrinzatto<\/strong><\/a>, takes shape in the exhibition space of the Auckland University of Technology<\/strong>.
See the Invisible<\/em> will present five interactive installations, inviting the public to explore two mythical cities \u2014 Venice<\/strong> and New York<\/strong>. These cities, capable of generating an image of themselves that goes beyond their (albeit unique) skylines, evolve in real time, acting as perpetual sources and receivers of new narratives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

30.12 \/ <\/strong>Draw the Invisible<\/strong><\/a>
<\/strong>The workshop Draw the Invisible<\/em> opens a co-design space with the students of the Auckland University of Technology<\/strong>. Artist Chiara Masiero Sgrinzatto<\/strong><\/a> and curator Emanuela Zilio<\/strong> will guide participants in discovering the spherical representation of places. The workshop will be an engaging moment of exchange and dialogue on themes such as Modern Mythology<\/strong>, urban identity<\/strong>, and social regeneration<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

01-03.12 \/ <\/strong>GDI 2025 Green + Digital + Intelligent Built Environments<\/strong><\/a>
<\/strong>We\u2019re ready to present our paper \u201cSee the Invisible. How generative AI can support panorama artists in representing spaces more deeply while gaining greater understanding of \u2018Eternal Cities\u2019\u201d<\/em> to the world!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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08-10.12 \/ STATUS QU\u24baST in Bruxelles for <\/strong>UnitedXR<\/strong><\/a>!<\/strong>
<\/strong><\/a>FMC, in collaboration with NEEEU GmbH<\/strong>, is proud to present its game STATUS QU\u24baST<\/em> at UnitedXR<\/strong> in Brussels. Featuring a playable prototype that bridges two eras \u2014 ancient Greece<\/strong> and the year 2199<\/strong>, in homage to The Matrix<\/em> \u2014 the project marks the beginning of a collaboration with blind and visually impaired communities<\/strong>, following a co-design and accessibility-for-all approach.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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19-21.12\/  Learning through play at the<\/strong> WORLDCTE Conference<\/strong><\/a>
<\/strong>Playing means learning \u2014 children know this perfectly well, though adults sometimes forget it.
At the WORLDCTE Conference<\/strong> in Berlin, FMC<\/strong> presents its research in the field of collaborative edutainment<\/strong>, with the paper \u201cPlaying Blind, Playing with Blinds: A Peer-to-Peer Learning Game.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/details>\n\n\n\n

Who Decided That Fashion Has to Be a Luxury?<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/div><\/summary>
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by Fabrizio Modina<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the current \u201cnarrative\u201d of brands \u2014 a term now as overused as heritage<\/em> \u2014 there exists only one image, a one-way direction, that portrays fashion of the past (and therefore of the present) as a \u201cclosed\u201d system, intended for a noble or upper-bourgeois clientele with unlimited spending power. The message is: \u201ceither you\u2019re rich, or you\u2019re out.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this, in fact, is the image of fashion that has been deeply ingrained by the big names over the past fifteen years. So much so that, lately, newspaper headlines no longer speak of a \u201cfashion crisis\u201d but of a \u201cluxury crisis,\u201d as if the two were meant to signify the same thing. But that is not the case at all.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Photo: <\/em>Dolce & Gabbana<\/em><\/a><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modern Haute Couture<\/strong> was born as the legitimate heir to that tradition of the highest-level tailoring which dressed queens, empresses, countesses, and entrepreneurs \u2014 an artistic expression of that \u201csavoir-faire\u201d<\/em> capable of creating dreamlike garments: indeed, extremely expensive, yet the result of countless hours of construction and embroidery, made from precious and refined fabrics, conceived by master pattern-makers who knew every millimeter of their clients\u2019 bodies and had no other mission than to make them more beautiful and admired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this is where the \u201cnarrative\u201d told today by Dior, Balenciaga, Chanel, and the other pillars of the fashion myth conveniently ends \u2014 leaving out a crucial detail: the business of these maisons<\/em> was not based solely on the sale of made-to-measure garments, but also on that of the pattern itself<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Photo: VOGUE<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, the geniuses who invented the New Look<\/em>, the trapeze dress, the A-line silhouette, the balloon skirt, and so on, also (rightly, and for a fee) distributed the patterns of their most original creations \u2014 making their work more democratic. This allowed even a small-town seamstress to offer her clients a dress in line with the latest Parisian trends. Certainly, more modest fabrics were used, and the craftsmanship was less refined, but the shapes and styles faithfully echoed those seen in the glossiest magazines. Fashion was a dream that could be scaled according to one\u2019s income.

When Yves Saint Laurent<\/strong> opened the first pr\u00eat-\u00e0-porter<\/em> boutique in 1966, the elite cried scandal \u2014 because now even \u201cordinary people\u201d could afford a piece by the divine couturier. Saint Laurent understood that the world was changing and was the first to ride the wave of a rapidly expanding market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This lesson in \u201cfashion democracy\u201d yielded brilliant results between the late 1980s and early 2000s, when many of the brands of fashion\u2019s new wave diversified their output by introducing so-called \u201csecond lines\u201d<\/strong> alongside their main collections \u2014 the latter being of higher creative and qualitative standards. These secondary lines, designed for smaller budgets, brought brand identity within the reach of a younger audience, combining design and innovation with accessible prices and wide distribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those were the years of Versus<\/strong> (Gianni Versace), Emporio Armani<\/strong>, D&G<\/strong>, Junior Gaultier<\/strong>, and many other \u201ctwin\u201d labels: Paris and Milan dressed everyone \u2014 with great economic success \u2014 and fast fashion<\/em> not only did not yet exist, but, above all, no one felt the need for it.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Photo: VERSUS<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing remains of that world and that era. With fashion divided into two macro-blocks, each waging a battle by continually raising prices at the expense of design and quality, we have arrived at today \u2014 suspended in the cosmic void of a market that tells us the same T-shirt can cost \u20ac400 or \u20ac4, with the only differentiator being the label.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Shein phenomenon<\/strong> (among others) is not a meteor that happened to fall by chance, but the shockwave of a need that is not only economic but also cultural: the necessity of accessibility, low-cost copies that are often qualitatively comparable to high-cost originals. The major maisons<\/em>, on the other hand, chose exclusion over inclusion \u2014 eventually even losing their most loyal and wealthy clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The damage inflicted on the system by the two macro-blocks, with exponential price increases, has led to fashion being perceived today as something for the few \u2014 an exclusive ritual rather than a shareable art. The bubble inflated to unbelievable proportions, primarily sustained by the Asian market, which was exploited for its purchasing power \u2014 until, puff! \u2014 even this bubble burst, aided by the growing awareness among consumers of the product and the fair value it should carry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, many industry analysts see investment in creativity and price containment<\/strong> as the true drivers for the recovery of fashion, which now, more than ever, must rebuild its identity \u2014 balancing between the unjustifiable economic values of the big players and the unethical drift of fast fashion. A nod to Andrea Guerra<\/strong>, CEO of Prada, who candidly admitted: \u201cPerhaps we raised prices too much.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/details>\n\n\n\n

Fashion, profession in evoluzion<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/div><\/summary>
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Discover the video talks<\/strong><\/a> by Fondazione M-Cube, starting with fashion and then gliding into many other worlds of Modern Mythology!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Double Zip<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

curated by Grita<\/em>
filming and editing by Simona Rapisarda<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cerulean<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\u00abSo, in reality, that sweater represents millions of dollars and countless jobs. And you\u2019re beyond comic in believing that you\u2019ve made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry, when in fact you\u2019re wearing a sweater that was chosen for you by the people in this room\u2026 from a pile of clothes.\u00bb
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Today on Double Zip<\/strong>: Grita<\/strong> and Fabrizio Modina<\/strong>, expert in Modern Mythology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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