Created by Leather & Luxury and Loipell in collaboration with Polimoda, the Think Bag applied project challenged third-year Undergraduate in Fashion Design Management and Master in Bag Design students to create an iconic bag.
Thanks to the wonderful support and materials provided by Leather & Luxury’s partners, young Polimoda talents were offered the possibility to design their own bag, clutch or knapsack prototype. Assisted along the way by a team of experts, participants initially met with important partners to start their design on the right foot by selecting the best materials for their vision.
The first workshop focused on digital printing, fabrics and packaging. For the second workshop, chains and accessories were provided and the third workshop involved the selection of embroidery and leathers. Loipell Leather Goods also met with our students to discuss the feasibility and production costs of each individual project.
On May 27th, Villa Favard hosted the finalists and a large jury of experts, journalists and insiders: Rossella Sciommeri (Leather & Luxury CEO), Matteo Rovelli (Project Manager Think Bag for Leather & Luxury), Niccolò Loia (Loipell CEO), Michael Falagiani (Project Manager Think Bag x Loipell), Gianfranco Lotti bag designers, Carlos Maculan (CluXter Srl), Laudomia Pucci (Emilio Pucci Deputy Chairman and Image Director), Andreas Lotti (Leather & Luxury editor-in-chief), Jacopo Pozzati (SOTF and PLAYGROUND buyer), Eva Desiderio (Journalist and Fashion Critic), Daniela Fedi (Writer and Fashion Critic), Monica Sarti (Faliero Sarti Creative Director) and Niccolò Giannini (Nico Giani)
The jury also included partners of the initiative who contributed by providing raw materials and technical support to the students: Sara Filippelli and Massimiliano Rosi (raw Material ltd.), Alberto Falcini (Guido Falcini Spa), Massimiliano Maruccia (Ceitex CEO), Marina Raffaelli, (Tissés), Desiree Calamai (Air Collection), Francesco Bencini (Creations Lorenza CEO), Clear Pezzantini (CDC SRLL product manager) and Lapo Rock (Agile srl CEO). Polimoda Director Massimiliano Giornetti was also present.
The jury voted and Master in Bag Design student Natalia Lilian took home the prize for her “Lilia” bag! 20 pieces of her design with Loipell will be produced and sold in a Florentine store.
Natalia talked with the Leather & Luxury team about her “Lilia” bag. “I am passionate about architecture and my parents are architects so generally my creative process starts with drawing,” says Think Bag winner Natalia Lilian. “In this case, however, I initially worked a lot with paper. I made various paper templates until I found the right design. After that, I started drawing the details until I came up with the final shape of my bag. I developed the prototype and researched the accessories like the shoulder strap to create the functionality of the bag. For the handle, I wanted something that had a round shape, hence the idea of pearls. The creative and productive process has been very long, but the result is just what I had in mind, so I am very happy.”
Congratulations to Natalia and the entire Think Bag crew for their hard work and dedication to this special applied project!
Think Bag Prototypes
