Giovanni Maria Conti | Politecnico di Milano (original) (raw)

Papers by Giovanni Maria Conti

This paper is focused on the sustainability design theme in relation to fashion and, specifically... more This paper is focused on the sustainability design theme in relation to fashion and, specifically, how to create a service which gives 'value' to the product. This specific part was presented as part of the results of Sofia Aiello's Design for the Fashion System Master Degree thesis. Starting, then, from a problem the goal is to educate consumers in alternative fashion product 'consumption'. How can consumer awareness be raised? How can consumers be made aware of the quality of the garments they buy and wear? How can the first steps towards sustainable fashion be made without falling into a facile utopian slogan trap? Starting from the past, from ways of saving, conserving and looking after clothing to create a system which discourages consumers from throwing their clothes away and encourages them to create new bonds with these and build a history with them. Responding to these questions and finding potential solutions to them required analysing the issue in depth, tracing an ideal fashion system development trajectory and describing its characteristics and action methods. Overall, then, the main objectives of this paper are threefold in order to demonstrate that sustainable design in contemporary fashion is: 1-NECESSARY 2-AFFORDABLE 3-POSSIBLE

This paper sets out to provide an overview of the current state of the art in design for the crea... more This paper sets out to provide an overview of the current state of the art in design for the creation of industrial objects that take advantage of the latest innovations regarding the electronic 3D knitting processes. The analysis stems from a desire to illustrate the great importance of fabrics for technical applications and of design for industrial textile products. Specifically, it focuses on the evolution of two-dimensional and three-dimensional fabrics as well as on three-dimensional knitting or smart knitting technologies. The issue is explored in relation to the difference between 3D knitting and 3D weaving technologies with the aim of demonstrating the broad scope of application in different areas of design, no longer pertaining to fashion and clothing alone. The paper will conclude by showing that fabrics, especially those produced by smart knitting, hold great promise and advantages not only in the field of clothing but also in the field of industrial design in terms of both performance and production processes.

If for traditional fashion design as clothes making or as basics for the creation of fashion prod... more If for traditional fashion design as clothes making or as basics for the
creation of fashion products the concept of good design is now acquired, knitwear
is now facing its decisive change from hobby into project; the enhancement of craft
(Micelli S. 2011) does not refer to any nostalgia for the past times, and even better
in Italy it is a very fertile area to be innovated and experimented. The ability to
innovate and promote new points of view in design processes does not arise only
from a thorough understanding of specific areas, but also from a lifestyle open to
diversity, that society has to accept and recognize (Micelli S . 2011).
Today, the ability of designers to explore contexts in an original way, proposing
ideas and results that are not just technical solutions of established problems, sees
in creativity and in fashion design education the ability to solve problems through
materials and their constant innovation for clothes, to experiment or to look at old
problems in a different way with the aim of going beyond the usual “fashion” idea.
This paper is written at the end of an educational experience in the Knit Design Lab
at the School of Design of Politecnico di Milano, where Missoni, the most important
Italian knitwear brand, together with Woolmark, the most influencing certification
body at an international level for the promotion and enhancement of Merino wool,
in collaboration with Knitlab, a digital platform for the learning of the traditional
knitting techniques active in the School of Design at Politecnico di Milano, realized a
project in which the knitting techniques have been the first tool for the creation,
design and prototyping of a clothes collection for the spring-summer 2017,
coherent with the brand identity of Missoni and with at least the 70% of merino
wool as a condition dictated by Woolmark.
The aim of the paper is to highlight the moments of convergence and
differentiation regarding the methodologies and the design process into the
different areas of design.
In this way today we can talk about knitwear design: a specific field of Made in Italy
completely changing: to become project, knitwear must produce garments and
collections enhancing traditional techniques while expressing the spirit of time and in which the manual technique becomes a research tool and method to deal with all
the aspects in their influence on the industrial production chain.

When we talk about fashion and design, we take for granted the concept of contemporaneousness. St... more When we talk about fashion and design, we take for granted the concept of contemporaneousness. Starting out by studying traditions before producing new objects could come across as a paradox and, very probably, to a certain extent, it is indeed in this paradox that the very charm of studying tradition lies. This study has investigated how the men's tailoring industry has found in the south of Italy, and more, precisely in Sicily, its own characteristic expression and well-defined identity, fruit of the meeting between the particular historical and social context and the uniform of the middle-class man, codified by the England of the 1800s. In this way, differentiating itself from the other Italian tailoring traditions, the tradition of the south generated a characteristic product and a way of wearing it that was just as distinctive, but always in line with the context in which it was introduced. With a view to analyzing the local traditions, the study has also identified the use of hand-sewing techniques as another typical element, which today persists in Sicily. At the end of this study, we will understand the approach of a design that, based on the strong points of the local traditional heritage, no longer aspires to create artisanal products, but products of design, unique objects capable of telling a story, promoting the past and the spirit of the period. The suit as the uniform of the middle-class man. I f we think about how the western man dresses, we immediately think about a uniform that is always the same and has undergone few substantial variations through time. And the expression " uniform " is even more fitting if we think that the men's suit as we know it today dates back to when the middle class of the nineteenth century decided to clearly distinguish the differences in terms of social class and therefore distance themselves from the fanciful, bizarre fashions of the Ancien Régime. The roots of this phenomenon lie in the ascent of the middle class, which, from the 1700s on, became the modern social class and the mirror of the changing times; gentlemen whose wealth often came from a profession and not from an inherited noble title. The suit composed of tails, long sleeved waistcoat, shirt and trousers, remained unchanged and was made in plain coloured fabrics, usually black, leaving aside velvet and silk, which were symbols of another social class, and favouring wool and cotton with no decorations or embroidery. It was a conscious form of sobriety chosen by those who wished to distinguish themselves from the lavish spending of the aristocrats and courtiers, countering their idleness with a productive and cultural commitment that modelled itself on that of landowning tradition and ecclesiastic intellectuals1. In the same period, a middle-class aesthetic model of clothing was also invented for women, consistent with the men's design, and in stark contrast to that of the cynical and amoral courtiers. However, as we will see, the middle-class women's model, which also paid tribute to the concepts of moderation, virtue and comfort, would change as fashions changed, whereas the men's version would become an institution. In his " Treatise on elegant living " , Balzac not only tackles the theme of the middle-class suit, but most of all, that of the concept of elegance, " the great prestige that most people assign to education, purity of language, good manners, […] the perfection of what derives from the person ". The problem that the " new " man has to resolve in a changing society is therefore one of " moral superiority ". In the same text, Lord Brummel, the highest authority on elegance during that period, conveyed man's elegant thought in his material expressions, such as the way he spoke, his gait, his manners; as these were elements directly descended from the interior essence of man, they were therefore subject to elegance.

Resumo O artigo aborda estratégias aplicadas à ampla cultura do projeto industrial onde as ativid... more Resumo
O artigo aborda estratégias aplicadas à ampla cultura do projeto industrial onde as atividades operam para que a realização de produtos, tangíveis ou intangíveis, digam respeito ao novo.
Investiga-se o processo de desenvolvimento mediante a adoção da cross fertilization como instrumento condutor de projeto. As intersecções que se praticam entre as diversas áreas promovem mudanças e apontam para uma trajetória de inovação. Os relatos abordam situações de design, que por seu caráter multidisciplinar, é uma área que permeia tantas outras e cujas pesquisas estão sendo aplicadas com eficácia em distintos campos do conhecimento.

Abstract
The present paper focuses on the strategies that are taken in the broad culture of industrial design in order for its activities to result in products, be they tangible or intangible, that thrive in innovation. It aims to inquire into development processes by adopting cross fertilization as the project’s driving force. Intersections between several overlapping fields of knowledge promote changes and hint at the direction of innovation. The following reports deal with design situations, an area whose multidisciplinary nature, permeated by many other areas, allows for the findings of its research to be effectively put into practice in several fields of knowledge.

Fabrics are living surfaces, made initially from threads or fibres or filaments, whose developmen... more Fabrics are living surfaces, made initially from threads or fibres or filaments, whose
development obeys a number of techniques and whose result is what we wear, the
products we use to cover and protect ourselves.
In the early twentieth century, thanks to the growing incidence of women taking part
in sports, there emerged a sort of casual clothing that was comfortable and reasonably
priced and, thanks to Jean Patou, knitwear becomes the unrivalled protagonist of
this revolution. At first and in Italy in general, this particular sector played a secondary
role, purely domestic, with design solutions that lacked a strong identity.

This work aims to establish the best criteria for the creation of a clothing collection for the b... more This work aims to establish the best criteria for the creation of a clothing collection for the brand
Domyos, to be introduced into the Brazilian market. This work arose from the need to understand
and show the variations between nations, cultures and social behavior and the way that this
directly influences fashion with regards to styling, usage, frequency of purchase, etc. The objective
is to allow coherent integration of specific Brazilian products that match the equivalent European
offer.

This paper assumes the fashion sector as a privileged field for the observation of several resear... more This paper assumes the fashion sector as a privileged field for the observation of several research and product development processes that have noteworthy similarities and potentials of application in many other design oriented sectors. The fashion field has, in fact, elaborated research procedures and planning instruments over time, which are rather unique (such as trend research practices) that are also reaching out of this specific sector. In addition to elaborating and developing finished products, fashion companies, and other bodies, such as private agencies or associations, perfect intermediate outputs of the research and product development procedures, which they implement by using both distinctive languages that are, by now, codified and planning potential scenarios – planning trends –– whose aim is not to supply homologous development instruments for collection development, but that of offering design opportunities meant to support the creativity of the companies, thereby offering multiple visual scenarios.

The production of these “research products” – trend books – represents a field of noteworthy interest, not only for the fashion market, but for many other design-oriented sectors that are progressively elaborating similar practices. In these, what takes on a greater value is the planning research project, instead of the finished product, since this becomes the instrument of the company’s strategy, whose potential effects do not regard a simple collection or family of products, but entire generations of products. The objective of this paper is to offer an overall view of these practices as well as to demonstrate the progressive convergence of sectors that are apparently very distant from one another, as for example, fashion and electronics, towards the said practices.

The approach to fashion design and system build around it must be faced in cross-sectional way; t... more The approach to fashion design and system build around it must be faced in cross-sectional way; to work on fashion doesn’t mean develop a dresses collection but it refers to the analysis of design processes that generate the project intention.
The paper focuses on the territorial dimension of the project, which is meant to be a resource for the development and support of local economies, helping them to increase the value of their cultural identity and their design process as well as production’s know how.
Considering such observations, we can identify a new trend aiming to recover settled in time values, through the strong relationship that connects an individual to a community and manual arts to history and local identity.

MIND’s goal is to implement strategies and shared policies so that a single well structured netwo... more MIND’s goal is to implement strategies and shared policies so that a single well structured network can present itself on an international level and attract the best talent and capital. The Milano Municipal Councilor’s Office for Research, Innovation and Human Capital promotes MIND in conjunction with the offices of: Tourism, Marketing of the Region and Identity; Culture; and Business and Labor Policy. The aim is to consolidate Milan’s role as a global point of reference for education and research in design, thereby promoting the city as an international “brand for excellence.

The debate on the theme of design and innovation has always induced reflection and investigation... more The debate on the theme of design and innovation has always induced reflection and investigation.
In "Questions of Method" Sartre observes that the person produces the garment, which means that he or she expresses himself or herself through it. In this way, the garment magically produces the person: by transforming the garment, one transforms the body.
In current situation, the “system” of fashion, or rather that set of skills and activities that characterized Italian fashion has taken on new forms over time. Fashion, Eleonora Fiorani writes, is the form of contemporary culture, in its ability to fit into the dynamic individual / company. It is precisely the relationship between the individual / socio-economic system / product that has changed.
Which are the changes? What are they due to?
It’s important to emphasize the risk of a "sustainable fashion" understood as a pure virtuosity ethical expedient method to increase sales and to get a clear conscience.
Innovations move purely functional objects on a new plan, operating a radical step forward. The redesign changes the relationship between people and objects. In the fashion industry, the revolutionary concept of A Piece of Clothes (APOC), launched for the first time by Issey Miyake and Dai Fujiwara in 1999, creates clothes that are almost finished after the weaver or the knitting machine. Designed to reduce the waste of fabric, garments need seams and minimal finishes. This process eliminates the need to test fabrics and garments can be made on request, thus reducing also the space for storage. This concept is unique in fashion and represents a rethinking of fashion through the creative development of manufacturing technology.
Objects' Life (creative genesis, production, durability, processing and disposal) is an integral part of the environmental system and, as such, the result of design solutions that have to program the system of production, in this sense we can say that in recent years and with the evolution of technology, many tools have become available by introducing new parameters and production systems and complex cross. But the improvement project can not merely be an extension of the options, the project must take on new ways of 'being", new development opportunities and new fields of activity on which to apply creativity to build objects whose added value is not the price but the way in which it was created.
The alternation of fast fashion is no longer a scandal compared to the rapid depletion of resources, but rather becomes the "pretext" to create something new, the product life is extended, by its own properties determine the continuous re-project.
The paper aims to investigate the perspectives, current and future scenarios according to the design-oriented design, whose purpose is to ready - (re) made: rethinking fashionable object considering the whole cycle of life as a resource. A change in the way of understanding the goods which are no longer disposable items, but objects with a history and potential that should be exploited.
Besides the primary use granted by the designer, the object will depend on many others who are assigned by the requirement, culture and experience of its owner.

In the actual globalized context in which the cross-fertilization among disciplines and different... more In the actual globalized context in which the cross-fertilization among disciplines and different fields of project mixes together forms, systems and processes, cultural identities can make the difference in the production and in the consumption of the products. “Sealing on a DressBone” is a project developed as a thesis in Fashion Design at Politecnico di Milano. It consists in an experimentation of different knitwear techniques and natural yarns leading to the construction of a garment with the purpose of enhance the tradition of the "Italian tradition know-how"
The starting point has been Ernest Hemingway’s novel of 1952, “The Old Man and the Sea”; the author, tells us about an old unlucky fisherman named Santiago that one night takes off alone for the open sea on his sailing boat, looking for fortune. But Santiago at the end of the story approaches the pier just with a fishbone.This element is the center of Hemingway’s story, and it becomes the winning-defeat symbol of life: this idea leads to the Concept of the project and to the research of the stitches that have been used. In order to find a balance between the “handmade” parts and the “industrialized” ones, the garment has been made both with crochet and with a Brother knitting machine.
For the “handmade” parts, two wood instruments called “forcelle”, made of a central base piece and of two shafts around whom the works develops, were assembled. The result is a series of knots and loops that recall the image of a fishbone. For the machine parts it was created a stitch that could give the same idea using the holding cams.
The main construction of the garment comes from the sailing boats. Looking at the history of navigation and at different types of sails, such as the squared, the gaff and the lateen ones, various modules shaped as them were developed.
Combining them on an ideal woman’s body, gradually the pattern of the dress was decided. The loops of the handmade parts have been joint together in order to recall the shapes of the sails and also the ancient method of interlocking the nooses of the ropes used to stop the sails at the mast and at the yards. In the final garment, there can be recognized different techniques and different modules.
The materials used are all natural. The machine parts have been made with pure boiled hemp and the handmade ones have been made in linen. The choice of this two kind of fibers is strictly related to the project, since those were the materials of which the fishermen’s ropes were made of.
The idea of the project can also be applied to other design fields. The same techniques and fibers could be used to create home furniture chairs, pillows and so on. The final result could be a line of products based on natural yarns and materials, that focus on an ethical philosophy underlining the importance of the environment in which we live.
The paper focuses on the territorial dimension of the project; more and more frequently we are currently seeing the return and a new discovery of traditional techniques and manufacturing, which have re-appeared in the contemporary world with a new look and a new balance. As it is subject to changes in time, the set has to be interpreted as a variable heritage which should be preserved. Today the object of market and consumption is not only the simple possession of a specific product but it is the experience, the “story” that the customer can live inside the object, according to values of the manufacture that create add value to the existence.

In the contemporary design scenarios knitting is a really fertile project area. Even if most of t... more In the contemporary design scenarios knitting is a really fertile project area. Even if most of the people think about it as an old-fashioned hobby, reserved to old grannies making ugly jumpers, it’s clear that today knitting is a very interesting challenge from a designer point of view.
Knit design involves many aspects and allows intervention and experimentation in every part of the production chain. It’s a complex project that matches an ancient know-how with design experimentation and technological innovation.
Through the analysis of a case history that involves artists, young designers, virtual communities and fashion brands this paper aims to understand, and return, how the knitting boundaries are expanding, changing a hobby into project, and what tools and methodologies a designer can use to set himself in the contemporary scenarios of production and consumption. All this by valuing the characteristics of an Italian industry which finds in craftsmanship its origin and its strength.

This paper analyses the contribution offered to the different domains of fashion design by techno... more This paper analyses the contribution offered to the different domains of fashion design by technological innovation, and it focuses on the aesthetic and formal effects due to the adoption of high-techs in product solutions, on the trends induced by the pervasive adoption of new technologies, on the related transformation of needs and social behaviours. The technological solutions under exam include innovative fabrics, some wearable devices, and electronics based wearable products. Through the analysis of some emblematic garments and products available in the market, the authors highlight how the fashion world is not able yet to fully exploit the many possibilities offered by technological innovation, and some formal limits of the existing design approaches. Advanced technologies have not yet unleashed the creative skills and imagination of fashion designers; some style clichés seem to frame the industry and hinder the creation of new formal languages and products. On the other hand, technology driven design of wearable devices should improve its design skills about emotional and formal factors, inheriting some knowledge from the fashion experience so to create more effective and fascinating products. To this respect, the authors propose an introductory comparison between methodologies and tools that characterize the approaches to the project of products in the two domains: technology based and fashion oriented design. According to the authors, a comparative research about design approaches and methodologies can provide an acceleration in both industries, and support improvements with respect to users satisfaction.

The MIND project was born out of the need to strengthen currently existing joint-projects in desi... more The MIND project was born out of the need to strengthen currently existing joint-projects in design in Mi-lan.
MIND’s goal is to implement strategies and shared policies so that a single well-structured network can present itself on an international level and attract the best talent and capital. The Municipal Councilor’s Office for Research, Innovation and Human Capital promotes MIND in conjunction with the offices of: Tourism, Marketing of the Region and Identity; Culture; and Business and Labor Policy. The aim is to consolidate Milan’s role as a global point of reference for education and research in design, thereby promoting the city as an international “brand for excellence”
A perfect environment for training young designers.
The city of Milan has always contributed substantially to the development of the world of design. Since from the second half of the 1900s, Milan has attracted important artists, top entrepreneurs, and many stu-dents - today, some 80% of design students in Italy are trained in one of the many Milan schools. All to-gether there are 10,000 design students every year.
This is because the city offers an ideal environment for those who wish to became designers there is no other organization in the world which unites so many schools, universities, companies, design studios, fairs and other design events. A symbiosis of elements found nowhere else, facilitating designer's training and career path.
Benefits:
For students: the chance to attend courses of excellence for free and to live one year studying and working in the world’s capital for design.
For schools: the chance to host select students based on their skills, regardless of their financial situation, and the chance to offer an academic and educational experience of superior quality, which would attract an even higher proportion of the best students.
For companies: the chance to come in contact with the young up-and-coming generation graduating from the best schools with top quality Master’s degrees.
For Milan: a new venue to increase recognition of Milan ever more in the design sector, and to enhance social and economic development.
Design-Driven innovation aims to release the potential of a new type of innovation based on a radical con-vergence between social and institution meaning.
In the contemporary world “come close” to design means investigate an approach connected to industrial project culture, transverse and multi discipline that can conceive project scenarios, wider and complex, with the purpose to transfer a “systemic vision” of innovation process, passing from product design to process design that can have possible effects on a “Products System” both physical and intangible.
From an international network to a Design Center.
This is now the challenge that all promoters and parteners of the project MIND deal for the construction of MID, the Design Incubator in Milan.
The general aims of the project can be summed up as follows:
- to promote design driven innovation;
- to facilitate relations and dialogue between the actors in the design system;
- to offer designers and new businesses services for the construction of industrial prototypes;
- to carry out research on specific sectoral issues by granting study bursaries.
We conclude by explaining the particle impact of our method for the community, for the institution in-volved, for the industries and for the Milano Municipality.

Today, the approach to fashion design and systems built around it must be faced in cross-sectiona... more Today, the approach to fashion design and systems built around it must be faced in cross-sectional way; to work on fashion doesn’t mean only developing a dresses collection, rather it refers to the analysis of design processes that generate the project intentions or new modalities to generate innovation.
Twyle is a fashion game (actually is much more than that) and can represent such a modality, sitting at the cross point of creativity, social networking and gaming, proximity-based interaction, e-commerce. It’s a mobile application that connects the user, the product and the point of sale through a geolocation system. In the landscape of many recent fashion-centered social games, Twyle aims at fitting perfectly on every and each player like a sartorial garment, thanks to state-of-art, yet invisible, artificial intelligence.
The bases of the game are simple: each player has to create and maintain his/her virtual wardrobe, by identifying real fashion products and describing them with keywords and data (e.g.: size or price) on the game platform. This closet is then connected to the player’s profile, and shared within the game community, so that other players can comment and vote each player’s choice.
Thanks to this simple scheme, the main goal (and reward) of the game becomes the reputation gain in the related virtual social network (real discounts and other kinds of rewards are also considered).
Trough the patterns hidden in the gameplay, each player is thus prompted to contribute to a database of fashion ‘pieces of knowledge’ (products, opinions, outfits...) each one described by both subjective and objective information.
Henesis and Department of Design of Politecnico di Milano have cooperated in the creation of Twyle to promote the continuous interaction between users and products, users and shops. The first layer of the application is on the game, on the interaction between users through simple photos pictures of outfits or garment, linked to the platform; through a system of "like", users comment and exchange images of what they wear and what products or brand. The second level refers to the geolocation system, in which the application identifies and proposes in real time to each player stores where “liked” (or similar to, thanks to the internal recommendation system) objects can be found.,
By working on top of the game database, a map of relationships between the players, the products, and the places (sources) is built. This third layer, this network of relationships, is in fact built, kept updated and explored by two artificial intelligence algorithms, the first is an expert recommendation system, the second focused on spotting trends and influences, and tracking the birth and evolution of new styles.
This is the ultimate goal of this platform: to leverage the capability of digital games and social networks in order to expose emerging patterns and trends, to connect young fashion creators and their first customers, to add a new perspective to the research of design processes.

REDIGE, Jan 1, 2010

In the design oriented disciplines innovation is not a phenomenon which develops in isolation; ra... more In the design oriented disciplines innovation is not a phenomenon which develops in isolation; rather, it reflects a precise state of knowledge, a particular institutional and industrial environment, a certain availability of expertise for the definition and solution of technical problems, a socioeconomic mentality which makes those applications work, a network of manufacturers and users who are able to communicate their experiences interactively.

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Prendendo in considerazione il passaggio, nell'ambito della moda, dalla seduzione all&am... more Prendendo in considerazione il passaggio, nell'ambito della moda, dalla seduzione all'arredo si è voluto trattare ed esaminare le regole e la progettazione di moda per il corpo e, oggi, del corpo stesso. Proprio in ciò si manifesta l'aspetto più rilevante della moda per gli altri ...

REDIGE, Jan 1, 2010

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