Camera Moda Fashion Trust Names 2022 Grant Recipients, Maps Out Future Initiatives
MILAN — Camera Moda Fashion Trust, the nonprofit organization established in 2017 to support young Italian talents in developing their businesses with financial aid, as well as business mentoring programs and tutoring, has bestowed its 2022 grants on three designers.
Act N.1, Cormio and Vitelli will receive funds aimed at scaling their businesses with help from this year’s main supporters, Max & Co. and Scalapay, the buy now, pay later fintech firm.
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“The first challenges young talents face are economical because Made in Italy costs are higher, and as much as this is a criteria we ask applicants to comply to, they are disadvantaged compared to foreign players manufacturing abroad,” said Umberta Gnutti Beretta, who co-chairs the trust alongside Warly Tomei.
“There’s no government support for creative start-ups in Italy, there are many in other fields, but not for fashion, so these young talents can either get bank loans or accept to dilute their ownership by bringing investors in,” Gnutti Beretta, a well-known entrepreneur and philanthropist, added. Eligible applicants need to have majority ownership, more than 70 percent, of their company.
There were 100-plus applications for the grants, with the winners selected by a jury headed by Moncler chairman and chief executive officer Remo Ruffini and including the organization’s trustee Carlo Capasa, president of the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana. The recipients were chosen based on the creative ethos, sustainable credentials and scalability of the brands. Other jury members included the trust’s co-chairs Gnutti Beretta and Tomei, as well as representatives from the fashion press, venture capitalists and managers.
Courtesy of Camera Moda Fashion Trust
“It was a very technical jury rather than a glamour one and it was able to carefully assess all the key criteria contributing to the success of a fashion company, including creativity, finance and distribution,” said Gnutti Beretta. According to Tomei, “creative competition is global and it’s harder for young names to get noticed,” while many retailers stock these brands on consignment, further pressuring their financials, Gnutti Beretta added.
Act N.1, which was established by fashion school mates Luca Lin and Galib Gassanoff, is securing the grant for the second time in a row having successfully channeled previous funds toward growing the brand’s scope by introducing a men’s line, setting up their own e-commerce and expanding distribution. “In addition to creativity, these young people need an entrepreneurial bent which is equally important,” Tomei noted.
The design duo will receive 40,000 euros, as well as access to a business mentoring program and one-to-one tutoring. The same amount will be offered to Vitelli, which nabbed the grant for its collective-based design approach spearheaded by Mauro Simionato, ethical and sustainable manufacturing, upcycling and recycling bent, and strong textile research.
Courtesy of Camera Moda Fashion Trust
Jezabelle Cormio is Max & Co.’s selected recipient, receiving 15,000 euros in funds and the opportunity to develop a cobranded capsule collection with the contemporary brand of the Max Mara Group. She was chosen for, among other criteria, collections that have strong retail appeal.
All three recipients will also be offered a one-year integration of their e-commerce sites on the Scalapay platform free of charge.
Established in 2017 but officially kicking off full-fledged activities in 2019, the trust is bestowing its third series of grants since its inception, with the second series in 2021 given to the same three brands that were supported in the first edition — Act N.1, Coliac and Blazé.
Although the original intent was to support no more than three brands each year to focus more broadly on each, the pandemic scuppered those plans.
During the most hectic moments of the emergency in 2020, the organization’s member Sara Sozzani Maino masterminded the #TogetherForTomorrow initiative, aimed at raising funds for more emerging brands impacted by the first COVID-19 outbreak. “I think we avoided that some of these younger brands, established over the previous two to three years, would disappear from the Italian fashion landscape,” Gnutti Beretta proudly said.
Courtesy of Camera Moda Fashion Trust
Among the key initiatives, Tomei noted that the organization helped labels file trademark registrations in China to protect intellectual property. “It’s crucial today to avoid any risk of being copied and swallowed by competitors,” she said.
It has also forged ties with retailers to spur visibility, including Modes, Westwing and The Pink Closet, a boutique inside the Palazzo Avino luxury resort hotel in Ravello, helmed by managing director Mariella Avino, who’s also one of the trust’s ambassadors. Throughout 2022, the store will spotlight Gentile Catone, Amotea and Giannico, all supported by the trust over the years, as well as Alfredo Cortese’s AC9 brand. More similar tie-ups are expected in the future.
Tomei underscored the pivotal role played by the nonprofit’s ambassadors — around 30 women boasting strong networks in the financial, cultural and fashion worlds — as well as its board comprising Paola Arosio, Sofia Barattieri Weinstein, Constanza Cavalli Etro, Tania Fares, Sozzani Maino, Vania Miranda, Margherita Maccapani Missoni, Laudomia Pucci and Anna Zegna.
Going forward, the nonprofit expects to continue to support as many emerging names as possible, thanks to private donors as well as brands including, among others, Valentino, Fendi, Moncler and Max Mara, which contribute to reach the yearly goal of 200,000 euros in donations.
Courtesy of Camera Moda Fashion Trust
“The community is growing, and I think we managed to attract the interest of new players year-over-year and getting advice from prominent names in the industry,” Tomei said. “Camera della Moda was farsighted in understanding the trust’s potential, which I consider as a vehicle. It will outlive myself, Warly [Tomei] and Capasa,” Gnutti Beretta said.
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