Camera Moda Fashion Trust appoints the winners of the 2024 scholarships

MILAN — Andreādamo, Niccolò Pasqualetti, Francesco Murano and Lorenzo Seghezzi are the recipients of the 2024 grants from the Camera Moda Fashion Trust, the non-profit organization founded in 2017 to support young Italian or Italy-based talents in developing their businesses with financial assistance. such as business mentoring programs and tutoring.

The winners were announced at a gala dinner in the city on Thursday evening and were selected by a committee from 10 finalists, shortlisted from 76 applicants. The latter included a mixed panel of emerging designer brands at different stages of development, from Andreādamo, Durazzi Milano, Federico Cina and Francesco Murano, to Ascend Beyond, Be Nina, Domenico Orefice, Lorenzo Seghezzi, Niccolò Pasqualetti and Victor. Heart.

Some of them regularly show their collections as part of Milan Fashion Week, including Durazzi Milano, Andreādamo and Federico Cina, while others have only recently started to set up distribution or hope that the subsidy will allow them to do so, like Hart .

“Camera della Moda and Camera Moda Fashion Trust project their actions into the future, the age of fashion, recognizing the legacy of our industry and the complex challenges fashion faces as a cultural and industrial system. Today we must provide concrete answers,” said Carlo Capasa, president of Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana and trustee of the Camera Moda Fashion Trust.

The four winning brands will each receive 50,000 euros in funding, as well as business mentoring and individual guidance from June.

Since its inception and including the 2024 edition, the Camera Moda Fashion Trust has donated more than 1.1 million euros, supporting a total of 33 designers.

Meet the 2024 grant recipients

Since launching his eponymous brand during the pandemic, designer Andrea Adamo – who cut his teeth at Elisabetta Franchi before working in Roberto Cavalli’s eveningwear division, as well as other design roles at Zuhair Murad, Ingie Paris and Dolce & Gabbana – has placed the enhancement of the female body at the heart of his creative vision. Known for his sensual, figure-hugging knitwear styles, he staged his first runway show in Milan in February 2022, and continued to do so until last season. The Andreādamo brand has attracted the attention of major international retailers, including Modes and Sugar in Italy, Tsum in Moscow and Harvey Nichols in London, as well as Selfridges, Net-a-porter and Antonia, for which he created capsule collections.

An alum of The Row, Loewe and Alighieri, designer Niccolo Pasqualetti‘s androgynous designs are supported by a sustainable and artisanal approach, which has already earned them a grant in the 2023 edition of the Fashion Trust. They were also among the semi-finalists of the 2022 LVMH Prize, attracting the attention of retailers such as Ssense, Machine-A, The Broken Arm and Dover Street Market Ginza.

Francesco MuranoThe unexpected boost of visibility came when the designer was about to graduate from Milan’s Istituto Europeo di Design and Beyoncé requested some of his creations for her ‘Spirit’ music video. His aesthetic, based on draping, tailoring and form-fitting concoctions, as well as his business model, have been inspired since the beginning by his accidental connection to the world of celebrity. After weathering the pandemic, he set up a customized distribution model that allowed for greater flexibility, as the designer puts it.

Queer culture is at the heart of Lorenzo Seghezzi‘s fashion message, focused on making social, cultural and political statements to empower the LGBTQIA+ community they are a part of, by challenging the norms of gender identity and the male-female dichotomy in clothing. After attending Milan’s Liceo Artistico di Brera high school and graduating in fashion design from NABA, the Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, they unveiled their first full-fledged collection at the 2020 edition of the Alta Roma showcase and debuted two additional lineups amid disruptions caused by the pandemic.

A fifth winner was selected by Max&Co., who awarded Victor Hart, born in Ghana, but living in Bologna, Italy, with a prize of 20,000 euros and the opportunity to join the contemporary brand’s design team for a special project, as part of the Max Mara Fashion Group label’s “Design for Change” program.

Hart is in the early stages of scaling his young fashion brand. After studying painting and sculpture in his native country and moving to Italy to attend the Haute Future Fashion Academy in Milan, he began his career in textile and sustainability design consultancy before founding his eponymous fashion brand in 2021. The brand focuses on hybrid workwear, highly informed by tailoring construction and made largely from denim deadstock pieces.

This year’s judging panel consisted of Capasa; Roberta Benaglia, CEO and founder of private equity fund Style Capital SGR; Umberta Gnutti Beretta and Warly Tomei, both co-founders and co-chairs of Camera Moda Fashion Trust; Margherita Maccapani Missoni, CEO and Creative Director of Maccapani; Laudomia Pucci, President of Emilio Pucci Heritage; fashion photographer Giampaolo Sgura; Max&Co.’s brand director and member of the Max Mara Fashion Group Sustainability Committee Elia Maramotti; Maria Giulia Prezioso, omnichannel retail director at Max&Co., as well as Anna Dello Russo, founder of the Afro Fashion Association Michelle Francine Ngonmo, stylist Lorenzo Posocco and digital personality Tamu McPherson.

The Camera Moda Fashion Trust, which was founded two years earlier, officially started full-fledged activities in 2019. It previously granted its grants to Act N.1, Coliac en Blazé, Vitelli, Cormio, Niccolò Pasqualetti, Marcello Pipitone, Florania and Setchu. The organization depends on private donors and Italian brands who contribute annually.

Max&Co has seen the 2024 edition. returns as the trust’s main patron, flanked by luxury e-tailer LuisaViaRoma as patron.