Milano Unica has entered collaboration with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) for a program that will enable American designers to work in Italian textile production mills to raise awareness for ‘Made in Italy’ techniques and methods of developing textiles.

Milano Unica is an international luxury textile trade fair with bi-annual trade shows. The Council of Fashion Designers of America, founded in 1962 works to strengthen the influence of American fashion in the global economy. It is an organisation of North American designers of fashion and fashion accessories.

Through this program Milano Unica can support American designers and show them the Italian way of craftsmanship. And for CFDA the partnership gives emerging American designers the chance to create custom fabrics with Italy’s best production houses. The designers will work with artisans to create their own signature textiles for their spring/summer 2017 collections, which will be shown at both the New York Fashion Week and with an installation at Milano Unica.

Accessories designer Gigi Burris and women’s wear designer Ryan Roche will participate in the first edition of the program, which will also include a menswear designer. Italy is well-known for fabrics. It has multigenerational companies with a lot of richness and heritage.

cfda.com/