{"id":4145,"date":"2026-01-28T15:43:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T15:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fondazionemcube.it\/?p=4145"},"modified":"2026-03-29T17:16:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T17:16:25","slug":"fmc-0-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fondazionemcube.it\/en\/fmc-0-9\/","title":{"rendered":"FMC #09"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

01.2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
FMC \/\/ February 2026. <\/strong>Our Upcoming Events<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/div><\/summary>
\n

03.02 \/ The <\/strong>FASHION HERITAGE ACADEMY<\/strong><\/a> meets the students
<\/strong>Between February and March, the M-Cube Foundation will meet students in schools across Piedmont to present the brand-new FASHION HERITAGE ACADEMY<\/strong> and discuss the future professions in the world of fashion \u2014 spanning haute couture, cinema, and cosplay.
We\u2019ll start with the art high schools Pinot Gallizio<\/strong> in Alba, Amleto Bertoni<\/strong> in Saluzzo, Norberto Rosa<\/strong> in Bussoleno, and Felice Faccio<\/strong> in Castellamonte, and soon we\u2019ll be visiting Turin<\/strong> and Cuneo<\/strong> as well.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/details>\n\n\n\n

Fewer Managers, more Designers<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/div><\/summary>
\n

by Fabrizio Modina<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a recent and rather unsettling statement, Luca de Meo \u2014 the new CEO of the Kering Group, a businessman pulled from the automotive sector to balance Gucci\u2019s books \u2014 declared: \u201cWe need to put the customer back at the center, so we no longer depend solely on the vision of the creative director.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To recap: a manager who, until just a few months ago, was dealing with bumpers and windshield wipers, after being hired with a \u20ac20 million signing bonus and an annual salary of about \u20ac5 million, is now telling us that the designer no longer matters, that creativity is a risk, and that the path forward lies in collections generated from sales data analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This \u201cstrategy\u201d will enforce a six-month development cycle \u2014 a ludicrous idea that will inevitably come at the expense of both concept and execution quality, delivering yet another fatal blow to the already lifeless Made in Italy<\/em>. Gradually, the only remaining difference between Gucci and Zara will be the price tag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So \u2014 has AI won? From now on, will it be artificial intelligence that dresses us, cutting down design department costs so managers can further multiply their salaries?<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

De Meo attributes only 20% of a brand\u2019s essence<\/strong> to the vision of its designers. Perhaps it\u2019s just as well that Armani and Versace are no longer with us<\/strong> \u2014 unlike us, they\u2019ve been spared this torment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The great crisis that fashion is currently facing may well be a karmic consequence of the bulimic greed<\/strong> of the major brands which, over the past fifteen years, have continuously inflated their prices \u2014 dictated by the white collars in the upper offices \u2014 without bothering to nurture the skills of a new generation of designers.<\/strong> These young professionals are now technically unprepared and incapable not only of proposing but even of imposing new energy into this dying industry \u2014 thus giving, in a way, some credence to the aforementioned CEO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When even the European Commission<\/strong> has to step in to fine Gucci, Chlo\u00e9, and Loewe<\/strong> (owned respectively by the Kering, Richemont, and LVMH groups) for violating EU competition rules<\/strong>, after confirming the price-fixing practices imposed on their retailers, it becomes painfully clear that something fundamental is no longer working.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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

Yohji Yamamoto, a man who truly invented<\/em> fashion, certainly doesn\u2019t mince words. At the end of the latest Paris Fashion Week, he declared:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFashion has become a joke. It\u2019s only about money. The main companies in the industry are like children playing soccer, all running after the same ball. They don\u2019t think about their customers. I just think they have too much money, so they don\u2019t need to work hard. They\u2019re always floating on money.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yamamoto is one of those former young revolutionaries who, in the early 1980s, transformed fashion<\/strong> by taking every possible risk. Independent men and women who experimented, failed, triumphed, and built companies that grew strong \u2014 without collapsing under the desire to conquer the world economically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That independent system has been completely devoured<\/strong>: today, the luxury boutiques in prime locations around the globe all belong to just four holding groups<\/strong> that allow no \u201cinfiltration.\u201d As if that weren\u2019t enough, they also control 90% of the media.<\/strong> In such an apocalyptic scenario, no young designer, no matter how talented, can hope to emerge.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

With a touch of optimism (and perhaps a bit of hypocrisy, given his habit of jumping from one brand to another), Raf Simons<\/strong> said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat would really shake up fashion\u2014not in terms of one individual designing collections? If every creative director in the world walked away from their position and said they no longer wanted to do anything for these brands. We should all become independent, all at the same time. That\u2019s my happy, romantic thought.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alessandro Sartori<\/strong>, artistic director of Zegna, lifts the lid on Pandora\u2019s box:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a very interesting moment for designers. But I\u2019ll ask one question: does that designer feel right for that brand, or is he simply bringing himself wherever he goes?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words: if Raf Simons, Alessandro Michele, Nicolas Ghesqui\u00e8re, Riccardo Tisci<\/strong>, and many others were given the chance to design collections under their own names \u2014 and not those of people who have been dead for a hundred years \u2014 wouldn\u2019t fashion regain its identity and freshness<\/strong>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stefano Gabbana<\/strong> captures the mood perfectly, with a note of melancholy, writing on Instagram:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce, we were free to express ourselves with volumes, proportions, and ideas. We didn\u2019t even really know what we were doing, but that freedom allowed us to experiment without limits.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a piece that collects the words of figures far more distinguished than myself, I can\u2019t close without quoting Alessandro Calascibetta<\/strong>, Editor-in-Chief of Style Magazine<\/em>, who \u2014 as a rare voice against the current (since fashion media today is almost entirely subservient to the holding companies) \u2014 writes courageously:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDesigners are really trying; the future of fashion should be in their hands rather than in those of the CEOs, who in the long run have lost sight of what fashion truly means.<\/em>\u201d Amen.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/details>\n\n\n\n

Fashion, a profession in evolution<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/div><\/summary>
\n

Discover the video talk <\/strong><\/a>by the M-Cube Foundation<\/strong> \u2014 starting from the world of fashion, then gliding into many other realms of Modern Mythology!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doppia Zip<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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

Photography, Fashion and Communication<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Valentina Rinaudo, photographer and communication designer, talks to us about the evolution of communication<\/strong>, the role of photography<\/strong>, and how it has radically changed over the past few decades.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n