FUSION a Creative Europe Project. Fashion Up-Skilling Innovation in Fashion and Textile Design During the Pandemic
摘要
In this text, we present the Creative Europe project in the field of Fashion Design. It aims at upskilling and promoting the international recognition of designers, companies and the general public. The FUSION (Fashion Up-Skilling Innovation Open Network) project took place between 2019 and 2022 under the Creative Europe programme by researchers from four partners: ID+ IPCA Escola Superior e Design, Limerick School of Art & Design TUS (leading institution), UK Crafts Council and Fondazione Santagata per la Economia e la Cultura. The project, which was funded by Creative Europe in 2019, and was meant to be completed within a period of two years. It promoted student mobility among the partner countries in order to accomplish a set of research and training tasks within Europe. The European Covid 19 lockdown required that the project be adapted and rescheduled and that a portion of the activities be carried out online. FUSION involved a group of 8 artists and designers (two from each partner country) who were selected to take part in the activities. At the end, in 2022, these artists and designers presented their final projects in Turin, at the Circolo del Design, where a documentary was made in which the artists showcased their products and respective development processes for future reference. A number of companies from the textile and footwear industry also partook in the project, namely companies from the north of Portugal, one of Europe’s most important regions regarding the textile and footwear production.