International Talent Support

2016 marked the fifteenth birthday of ITS, an anniversary edition that welcomed in the jury Demna Gvasalia (founder and artistic director of Vetements and artistic director of Balenciaga), designer Iris Van Herpen and AltaRoma President Silvia Venturini Fendi, while the theme of the event was “Utopia.

The jury for this edition featured, among others, Massimo Giorgetti (Founder and Creative Director of MSGM), Carlo Capasa (President of the National Chamber of Italian Fashion) and Oriole Cullen (Acting Senior Curator of Contemporary Fashion, Victoria & Albert Museum). Aitor Throup, a finalist in 2006, received a lifetime achievement award. The concept for this edition was "THE FUTURE".

Consuelo Castiglioni (MARNI), Nick Knight, Nicholas Kirkwood and pop star Mika (in the jury for the new ITS ARTWORK contest) were among the jurors. On July 12, the day of the final evening, the event reached the 9th position as a global trending topic on social networks. CNN [4] and France 2 covered the event. The concept for this edition was "Lucid Dreams"

ITS becomes even more present on social with the launch of a live feed that collects any ITS related content. Nicola Formichetti, Carla Sozzani and Yasuhiro Mihara were among the jurors. This edition was characterized by the concept "The Physics of Creativity".

In 2012, the performance artist Marina Abramovic was in the fashion competition jury with Renzo Rosso and the fashion blogger Susie Bubble. The jury also featured two past finalists, Aitor Throup and Mark Fast, both of whom have since become famous for their respective fashion lines. This edition's concept played with two extremes, "Good or Evil".

The 2011 edition marked the contest's 10th anniversary, with a jury that included Hilary Alexander, the Academy Award for Photography Dante Spinotti and featured the return of Viktor & Rolf. It was the year of the launch of ITS JEWELRY, the competition devoted entirely to jewelry. Shaun Samson, the winner of the Fashion Collection of the Year, participated in the London Fashion Week with his fashion line a short while later.

The designers Viktor & Rolf participated as first-time jurors and Nina Nitsche (Maison Martin Margiela) was also part of the jury. Shortly after the event, the winner of Accessories Collection of the Year Sarah Williams established a partnership with another Accessories finalist, Kirsty Ward, launching an exclusive line of custom made accessories.

Yuima Nakazato became the second finalist in the history of ITS to be selected for two different competitions in two different editions. The edition concept transformed ITS in the "Greatest Show of All", drawing inspiration from the touring circus shows of the early 20th century.

Mark Fast's knitwear attracted everyone's attention, and was the prelude to a brand that received a lot of attention as a result of ITS. The finalists of the photography competition Mashid Mohadjerin won the World Press Photo award for a project that started immediately after ITS. Designer Gareth Pugh and photographer Sarah Moon were among the jurors.

The generation of young talents selected in 2007 featured many finalists that, following ITS, made a name for themselves thanks to their respective brands: Justin Smith, David Longshaw, Taro Horiuchi, Mareunrol, Ek Thongprasert, Heaven Tanudiredja (who was a finalist in both Fashion Accessories, anticipating the launch of her own line of jewelry).

In 2006 the ITS ACCESSORIES contest was inaugurated. Aitor Throup was the revelation of the year with a menswear collection that redesigned the production processes. Franca Sozzani, Raf Simons and Cathy Horyn were on the jury.

Antonio Marras, Boudicca and Antonio Berardi were on the jury. The ITS PHOTO contest was launched and its jury featured the founder of Visionaire Cecilia Dean. Christopher de Vos, who later worked for Vivienne Westwood before joining forces with Peter Pilotto's homonymous brand, was one of the finalists.

Yoshikazu Yamagata was among the winners of 2004. He would later set up a school in Tokyo that would produce numerous ITS finalists. Peter Pilotto was among the finalists. In the following years he created the Peter Pilotto brand together with a 2005 finalist, Christopher de Vos. Raf Simons was in the jury together with Richard Buckley, Hilary Alexander and Ennio Capasa.

The winner Cathy Pill had the honour of being invited to present her collection during the Parisian fashion week, where she continued to present her brand for nearly a decade. Dombrovicz Laurent, Xavier Delcour and Jenny Meirens were some of the jurors. Fabrizio Talia, winner of the Best Womenswear Collection Award, later joined forces with Justin Smith – the two met in 2007 – for the launch of the project (Es) * Artisanal, chosen as a finalist in 2010.

The jury of the first edition of the International Talent Support featured, among others, Isabella Blow, Editor in Chief of Nylon Magazine Marvin Jarrett, Director of i-D magazine Terry Jones and the Creative Director of Black Book Magazine Evan L.Schindler.