The new Spazio Ricerca at Pitti Filati 84, a key international rendezvous for the textiles and knitwear industry that takes place in Florence next week, is all about sport, the far east and sub-cultures. The Spazio Ricerca in the Salone M is the fair’s creative lab and experimental observatory where the trends for future seasons are launched.
“The much-anticipated Olympic Games in Japan will offer a strong boost to visual culture. National sports and “new” sports – originating from the street and youth sub-cultures, such as surfing and skateboarding, which will be included among the official Olympic sports for the first time,” explain organisers.
“In the background we have Japan and its ancient culture suspended between tradition and innovation, between cultural mixtures and overlapping styles. A unique exhibition and experimental project produced under the artistic direction of the fashion designer Angelo Figus and knitwear expert Nicola Miller, with a layout by Alessandro Moradei.”
HANDBALL
Ball games are interpreted in a completely new way, through handball, Pitti Filati organisers explain. All you need is a wall and some space. From the street to a new market, different from soccer and basketball, yet complementary and sometimes similar.
SKATEBORED
Skateboarding is the subculture symbol par excellence, and it will be on the podium at the next Olympic Games. Once again, the street is the hybrid and inclusive backdrop for fashions that are as free and rebellious as the skaters.
CITYSURFER
It’s an unusual view of surfing that inspires this theme: surfing in the city. If water is too far away, the city inspires fun alternatives to the sea or ocean. Munich offers the most interesting example. The Eisbach river attracts surfers from all over the world.
FULLKONTACT
The street has always been the most democratic place for testing your and your opponents’ strength. Physical contact sports born on the street, from boxing to wrestling, inspire a theme that feeds on suggestions from underprivileged milieus and then offers rich and interesting results in terms of materials.
UPLIFTING
This is the theme of raising and elevating the self beyond one’s own limits – a new street discipline that uplifts body and spirit. The Olympic street disciplines are Calisthenics, Cross Fit, and the Paleo Workout. The face of sport has never been so human and ordinary.
TACKY GYM
Of all the Olympic disciplines there is one in particular that captures our eye and attention for its technical virtuosity. Artistic Gymnastics are the inspiration for a theme of elegance and exaggerated showiness, that is almost fake and borderline kitsch.
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