(Re)Activating Fashion Design and Production Sources: Exploring Italian Fashion Heritage through Digital and Participatory Practices

The article proposes to elaborate a definition of fashion design and production heritage, with a specific focus on the Italian fashion system and manufacturing chain. It does so by proposing the case study of the workshop “Disegni, Illustrazioni, e cartamodelli” (“Drawings, Illustration, and Paper Pattern”). The workshop was developed by applying the model of the living lab, and activated within the context of the PRIN 2022 PNRR research project ResHaping made in ITAly (RHITA - https://www.rhita.eu/). Circular Models for Italian Fashion Heritage and Manufactures through Digital Inclusivity and Conscious Innovation. The research conducted within fashion design and manufacturing archives, collections and museums highlighted the richness of production and process sources as a prominent part of Italian fashion heritage, which remains often unaddressed. The article proposes to investigate how a study on the status of garment design and production sources (such as sketches, textile swatches, calicos, paper patterns) might help to engage with Italian fashion heritage focusing on the multiple characteristics of design and manufacture.