Florence Group invites schools to create a short film on craftsmanship

Introducing young people to the fashion professions, especially the manual ones, is a difficult challenge, all the more so at a time when the market is not shining and the roads to growth seem impassable. And yet the sector, as we have written and documented many times, will need thousands of workers in the coming years, to replace those who will retire and to initiate generational turnover, handing down the know-how that has enlightened the made in Italy, but also to insert profiles that are different from the past and suited to the new context.

Manufacturers and associations in the fashion industry have been moving for some time to attract, orientate and train young people through meetings, academies, courses, schools, contests, masters and internships. Now they are debuting an original tool to make the fashion industry that has made the history of regions such as Lombardy, Veneto, Tuscany, Umbria, Marche, Campania and Apulia known. It is a docufilm on Italian manufacturing directed at young people and made by young people. Gruppo Florence, Italy's largest manufacturer of fashion for major luxury brands (consisting of 39 companies in the textile, clothing, footwear, leather goods and accessories sectors scattered throughout Italy), has just launched a call for applications addressed to Italian schools offering courses in film direction and production, screenwriting, creative writing and photography. By 15 November, schools can register for the selection; by 9 December, they must send in the presentation of their creative teams; before Christmas (by 16 December), a commission of experts will choose the winning school which, between January and June, will make the short film and a matching photographic project "with the aim of highlighting the know-how, pride and professionalism of the artisans who preserve and hand down the art of Italian manufacturing," the announcement stresses.

Gruppo Florence will finance the production and promotion of the film and open the doors of some of its companies for filming and photography. This will create the second episode of the series The Hands of Fashion, which aims to explore the often hidden manufacturing excellence of luxury Italy. The first episode (financed by Gruppo Florence with 90,000 euros) was realised by the students of the Central Saint Martins School-University of the Arts of London. "We want to continue to promote and incentivise the realisation of cinematographic and visual projects," explain Florence, "aimed at the cultural dissemination and enhancement of the Made in Italy luxury manufacturing heritage. The idea of the group, led by CEO Attila Kiss, is to make one short film a year to tell the story of all the companies it controls. Companies that, in just four years since the start of the project, have reached 39. Gruppo Florence, promoted in October 2020 by a consortium of investors led by Vam Investments, Fondo italiano d'investimento and Italmobiliare, and since May 2023 controlled by the Permira fund, estimates to close 2024 with a turnover in excess of 800 million. Since Permira's entry, the growth path has continued with the acquisition of 11 other companies including Trend, Logama and the Sng (Star New Generation) group, which incorporates eight companies.