Digital Fashion Sourcing: Bsamply Collaborates with Università Iuav di Venezia

Today’s young fashion designers meet technology and choose online as their raw material sourcing channel. A not so traditional approach to the sourcing and design process within the fashion industry but one that describes the collaboration between the Università Iuav di Venezia and Bsamply launched earlier this month.

The collaboration was born to give students attending the university’s Advanced Technics and Materials for Fashion Lab led by Professor Paolo Franzo, a modern and concrete example of what digitalization in the raw material and fashion industries means: using the digital Bsamply platform as the primary channel for scouting suppliers and sourcing raw materials for the creation of mini-individual capsule collections. The students attending the course are in the first year of their master’s program in Fashion and Visual Arts, coordinated by Professor Alessandra Vaccari.

The fashion lab in fact keeps a close eye and focus on fashion futuring, or in other words, the ability to imagine alternative methods for designing, producing, and sharing fashion through a sustainable perspective. The lab encourages students to take on an experimental and speculative approach, and as Professor Franzo states ‘’ I want the students to always be asking themselves, what if…’’

As part of the first phase of the project, Bsamply organized an online event hosted by Cecilia, Marketing Specialist of the company. During the event, the story and the sustainable advantages of the platform were explained to the classroom as well as the new direction towards increasing supply chain transparency and traceability the company is taking since its acquisition by Dedagroup Stealth. The Bsamply suppliers who chose to participate in the collaboration and who will be providing their materials at no cost to the students also took part in the event, each individually presenting their company story and a more detailed explanation of their products and manufacturing during mini-30-minute webinar sessions. Evolving sustainable approaches and the introduction of sustainable materials within the companies was also a major topic touched on by suppliers. Italian Clerici Tessuto, Tintoria e Stamperia Lambrugo, Lanificio Zignone, Silkomo and French Lemaitre Demeestere, are the suppliers who choose to participate in the project and who will be providing materials to the students.

An interactive experience that gave students the opportunity to learn firsthand from professionals in the textile industry and better understand the technicality, creativity and often, the time behind the creation of each meter of fabric. Rosamaria Gerosa, Women’s Apparel Design Director of Clerici Tessuto explained to students that many of their fabrics are still today crafted using artisanal methods meaning that sometimes, production can only happen at a certain speed, but therefore meaning brands are provided with an incredibly high-quality product that differentiates itself from many others within the market. These artisanal methods are met however by the company’s efforts in ”innovation and continual research ‘’ Gerosa to ensure their products always remain competitive and top of the line.

The second phase of the project will begin with the students of the fashion design course registering on Bsamply as buyers and browsing the digital catalogs and detailed product sheet pages of participating suppliers, directly placing an order for the material on the platform. The materials selected by suppliers vary from traditionally printed fabric and jacquard like that of Silkomo, digitally printed, dyed, and customized synthetic and artificial fabrics by Tintoria e Stamperia Lambrugo, the 100% French grown and spun linen of Lemaitre Demeestere, the satin silk by Clerici Tessuto and the wool by iconic Biellese wool mill, Lanificio Zignone. Shanti, CEO and creative head behind Tintoria and Stamperia Lambrugo will also give students the possibility to customize and create an ad-hoc print based on their style, color, and design needs. A wide and varied selection of products will give students the possibility to experiment and create garments suited for outwear, intimate wear, or even formalwear. 

The design process for the students began this November with the completion of the capsule collections by the beginning of February. The final collections will be showcased at an exhibit at the Università Iuav di Venezia in February. 

Participating suppliers:

Lemaitre Demeestere: http://lemaitre-demeestere.com/en/

Clerici Tessuto: https://clericitessuto.it/it/

Silkomo: http://silkomo.it/?lang=en

Tintoria e Stamperia Lambrugo: https://www.tslambrugo.it/

Zignone: http://www.zignone.it/