(February 23, 2017) The panel discussion: “Italy & South Africa: a comparison on prospects and professional itineraries in Fashion Design” is the event organized in South Africa for the 2017 Italian Design Day. It will be hosted at the Wits Art Museum (Corner Jorissen & Bertha Streets Johannesburg) on Thursday on 2nd March 2017 from 18:00 to 20:00, organized by the Consulate General of Italy in Johannesburg in collaboration with the Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Pretoria, Triennale Milano and South African Fashion Week. The panel discussion: “Italy & South Africa: a comparison on prospects and professional itineraries in Fashion Design” is the event organized for South Africa on the occasion of the Italian Design Day 2017. Main topics of the debate will be the main features of the Italian and South African fashion systems, the impact of globalization on the fashion industry and the role of education in fashion, training the ever-growing number of people working in this sector. The discussion, moderated by Gianni Mariano, will be followed by refreshments.
The debate will see the participation, for the Italian side, of Dr. Micoletta Morozzi, Director of the Area of Fashion Design at New Academy of Arts NABA in Milan. Her professional activity spreads across the fields of fashion, art and design. She has realized important projects as the exhibitions “Do-it-jibun-de” at Muji Atelier in Tokyo and “Dritto-Rovescio” at the Triennale Milano, besides the “Milano-China project” involving the Chinese community in Milan. For the South African counterpart there will be Dr. Desiree N. Smal from the Department of Fashion Design at the University of Johannesburg and Ms Lucilla Booyzen, Director of the South African Fashion Week. Ms Booyzen has won several prizes and awards, including the “Shoprite/Checkers woman of the year award” in 2010, and is the creator of several initiatives aimed at developing this sector in South Africa as “The Fashion Agent” agency and the educational programme for young designer “21 Steps to Retail”. (Red)

ABOUT / ITALIAN DESIGN DAY

Italian Design Day is an initiative promoted, for the first time this year, by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation with over 100 happenings worldwide on the same day, consisting in events of cultural and economic promotion of Italian design. The topic of design is to be interpreted in a broad sense influencing several fields as culture, art and philosophy, as well as being universally equivalent to Italian quality and creativity.