ITS in the press
January 23, 2012
Last year's tenth anniversary edition was widely reported in some of the most important magazines worldwide. With 52 articles in the printed press and 266 web articles from over 20 nations as well as 7 international TV programs, the ITS#TEN press review is packed in two thick volumes. We'd like to present you with quotes from only a few of these, to give an idea of what is ITS and because letting others speak about what we do is a much more objective attitude...
Retired (though still active with her personal weekly column) earlier this year after 26 years as fashion director for The Daily Telegraph, as well as juror both at ITS#THREE and last year, Hilary Alexander is unquestionably among the most well-considered voices when it comes to fashion and it would be stupid to say her opinion does not count. It does, and a LOT. Back home, only a couple of days after the July 2011 event, this is what she wrote in her article about ITS in the Daily Telegraph's website: “Trieste today has a secret life as a world fashion capital, and once a year designers, stylists, fashionistas, students, photographers, models and celebrities swell the 250.000 population of this rich and picturesque seaport on the Adriatic Sea, close by Italy’s border to Slovenia (...) Glancing through the ITS alumni roll-call makes impressive reading, with finalists now working for virtually every major fashion brand on the planet, including McQueen, Lanvin, Givenchy, Westwood, Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, Raf Simons and Burberry”
With over half a million copies printed each week "Modern Weekly" is an established market leader in the Chinese print media and was represented at ITS#TEN by reporter Karchun, who wrote about his experience at ITS: "Having visited the archive of ITS, I deeply realise their good intentions. The information and works of the shortlisted participants from all the years, backdating to the very first edition, are all collected here and labelled. In case any large fashion brand wants to look for interns or designers, they can simply call ITS and tell them their needs. This service is actually quite similar to that of headhunters, only that ITS never charges any consultation fees. 'Our intention is not to make money' Franchin said, 'so almost every ITS competition has no income.'"
"Il Corriere della Sera" is among the most reputed newspapers in Italy and journalist Giusi Ferrè perhaps the highest reputed voice when it comes to fashion. In February 2011, in her column for the economy insert of the newspaper, she wrote: "The ITS competition for designers has become a case history. Its force? The headquarters in Trieste. The distance, the fact of being far away from the heart of the economic power generated an eccentric consciousness, a freshness of behaviour that turned ITS into an extraordinary case. It confirms its own original vocation: go out there and locate all of the talents in the world"
There's probably nothing we need to say about Vogue. Some of the most important fashion moguls (from Franca Sozzani - in the jury at ITS#FOUR - to Anna Wintour and Carine Roitfeld) are or have been their Editors-in-chief. With editions all over the world and a particular attention to "Vogue Italia" with its amazing photo shoots and reports, it honestly is a bible in the business. Here's an extract from the feature published on Vogue Talents (channel of vogue.it entirely devoted to spotting the most interesting young designers in the world, just like ITS does) last September: "ITS in ten years has turned Trieste into a lab-city for scouting, a privileged stop for all those searching for young talents in the fashion, accessories, jewellery and photography worlds."
And to close this very brief survey - there's loads more you can read searching in our press review - we'd like to quote Camilla Morton, the London-based veteran fashion writer with a bestselling novel, "How to Walk in High Heels" under her belt. Here's just a fragment of what she wrote about ITS last July: "The United Nations has Geneva, while fashion and its International Talent Support converged to Trieste for ITS, the international student fashion competition. What makes ITS so special? It's the raw energy, that invincible enthusiasm of youth is palpable and truly anything goes that transcends translation, culture and cash flow."
If you want, there's also a video press review to see, with a selection of some of the best TV features we have received!
