comON is a true "hub of European creativity". It gathers promising talents coming from the most prestigious European design universities and provides for them an amazing creative experience in the most important silk companies. At the same time it invites students of high schools to take part in creativity competitions. Over the past ten years, comON has been able make again textile tradition attractive for young people and to enliven cultural life of the city.
Cross-border/international
Italy
France
{Empty}
{Empty}
Mainly urban
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): CONFINDUSTRIA COMO Type of organisation: Confindustria Como, short for General Confederation of Italian Industry, branch of Como district, is the main representative organization of manufacturing and service companies. First name of representative: ARAM Last name of representative: MANOUKIAN Gender: Male Nationality: Italy Function: PRESIDENT Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Via Raimondi, 1 Town: COMO Postal code: 22100 Country: Italy Direct Tel:+39 031 234111 E-mail:presidente@confindustriacomo.it Website:https://www.comon-co.it/
URL:https://www.facebook.com/comon.co/?fref=ts Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): comon.co : #comon #creativitysharing #future #textiledesign #fashiondesign #silk #sustainability #lakecomo
URL:https://twitter.com/comON_Como?lang=it Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): comON_Como : #comon #creativitysharing #future #textiledesign #fashiondesign #silk #sustainability #lakecomo
URL:https://www.instagram.com/comon_creativity_sharing/ Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): comon_creativity_sharing : #comon #creativitysharing #future #textiledesign #fashiondesign #silk #sustainability #lakecomo
Yes
New European Bauhaus or European Commission websites
The enhancement of silk is a particular feature of Como textile district and makes it absolutely original in the global textile-clothing scenario.
The Como area is the only area in the whole Western world where all the steps of the transformation of silk are always active, starting from the twisting up to the creation of the fashion fabric.
Creativity is one of the distinctive elements of this district, not only for the ability with which companies are able to interpret fashion trends, but also for the ability to evolve customer service and to seize all the opportunities that are offered by the technological evolution.
At the beginning of this century, the liberalization of the T-C world market and the strong growth of Asian competition, especially from China, strongly questioned this system.
comON Creativity Sharing was conceived by a group of young textile entrepreneurs from Como, with the aim of recreating positivity and enthusiasm ("comON") and rejuvenating the image of the textile industry.
The first edition took place in 2008 and, after the pause imposed by COVID-19, the thirteenth edition was held in 2022.
Over the years the project has been divided into 3 main activities, named according to the main objective to be achieved:
1. Bringing young international stylists closer to the most creative companies from Como.
2. Bringing young people from Como closer to textile activity.
3. Introducing the image of Como around the world.
Even today, comON Creativity Sharing aims to bring young international talents closer to the Como supply chain and, at the same time, to promote textile training initiatives also for young people from the Como area.
comON = Como wake up and be positive
CREATIVITY of international talented designers and young students in Como
Experience of SUSTAINABILITY
SKILLS for international talented designers and for young students
SHARING of culture and socialization
The young international stylists, during their stay in Como, learn to combine the creativity studied at the university with the practice necessary to concretely create a textile product.
All the implications inherent in the concrete production of fashion fabric in a textile company must be taken into consideration and obviously also those connected with sustainability, which sets technical constraints on pure creativity. Young people are given the opportunity to gain experience.
During the eight weeks of internship, in addition to their activity in the company, the young people are introduced to the district facilities. Sustainability is more and more a priority target for Como textile manufacturers. Young designers visit also Centro Tessile Serico Sostenibile, the "technological laboratory" of the district, the point of reference for companies for the management of problems of product quality and sustainability. At Centro Tessile Serico Sostenibile, the laboratory managers illustrate the operational tools that help the SMEs of the district to set out on the path of environmental, social and governance sustainability and to focus on the objectives of the "EU strategy for sustainable and circular textiles", through the measurement of company performances.
Also high school students are involved in training activities and, at the same time comON, over the years, has promoted creative competitions for them on topics relating to sustainability.
Some titles of the competitions of the last years:
“NOW IS HYBRID” (2017)
“THE NEW ECO: TRACE IT” (2018)
“BE ETIC, BE TRANSPARENT” (2019)
“SILK AND THE CHALLENGE OF SUSTAINABILITY” (2022)
In Como there are companies that are points of reference for luxury, thanks to their reliability and their skills to bring fashion to life.
In Europe there are several universities that train young people and initiate them into textile creativity, but in Northern Europe, the fashion textile product chain is scarcely present. comON brought young talents of European universities to Como and put them in contact with the best companies.
Every year, starting from 2008, for two months, a group of 10-15 selected young stylists experiences and internship at the style offices of as many companies in the Como supply chain. They may live an extraordinary work experience, hardly possible elsewhere, to enrich their training curriculum, collaborating with companies for the definition of their fashion collections.
The coexistence among the young people, all housed in the same residence, is an opportunity for sharing, openness, cultural contamination, also thanks to the support that is ensured by comON promoters.
It is a virtuous circle that repeats every year, always renewing an outcome of enthusiasm for young talents and positive collaboration for the host companies.
The young designers who participated in the stages were more than 200, coming from the following countries: Belgium, Belarus, Brazil, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Iran, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Norway, Holland, Poland, United Kingdom, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland.
Some of them subsequently started their own business, some entered the staff of large companies. Several of them continued to be employed in the Como area, well beyond the comON internship.
In the meanwhile the creative paths reserved for high school students captured their attention and their involvement in various initiatives of the Creativity Week - the traditional comON appointment at the beginning of October - allowing them to attend events of high cultural significance.
Over the years, hundreds of students have been involved in the initiatives, coming from 7 Italian and foreign high schools and 31 European universities and para-university schools. Participation was absolutely open to all students for high schools and Italian universities.
During the selection of young European talents, the choice has always been based exclusively on merit and the compatibility of the designer's expectations with the opportunities offered by the company.
Participation mainly involved female figures from a multiplicity of nations and, in some cases, also with disabilities.
comON has always organized and financed the lodging of the foreign stylists and the companies have paid them a fee for their training period.
For many years comON Creativity Sharing has enlivened the city of Como with a "Creativity Week". It was the first week of stay for the young European designers, it welcomed them and at the same time gave visibility to the outcome of the training experiences and competitions organized in the previous months for students of Italian universities or high schools of Como and Ticino.
During the Creativity Week there were visits reserved exclusively for young European designers, for example to the Antonio Ratti Foundation, the "Museo didattico della Seta di Como", the "Centro Tessile Serico Sostenibile", Miniartextil exhibition. At the same time there were also events open to the public and to the Como school population, for example, presentations of style trends, debates on creativity and sustainability issues, meetings with trend-setters, events celebrating the creative experience of high school students or Italian universities.
About a hundred conferences, meetings, shows, initiatives open to the public were organized and they involved a total of 60,000 visitors.
The Creativity Week actually captivated the attention of the whole town of Como giving visibility to the silk and textile tradition of the city.
After Covid-19 stop, in 2023 comON Creativity Sharing will relaunch the “Creativity Week”.
comON Creativity Sharing was born in the context of the Textiles Companies Group of Confindustria Como and has always been animated by young entrepreneurs from Como, who have offered their time for free, out of a sense of belonging to the supply chain and responsibility towards the territory.
However, the project immediately involved entrepreneurs also from other local associations (Confartigianato Como) and over time it also enjoyed financial support from the Lombardy Region, the Como Chamber of Commerce, the former public body "Stazione Sperimentale Seta" of Milan, some credit institutions, many sponsors and many supporting textile companies.
comON has always been organized in collaboration with the Municipality of Como.
In carrying out the activities aimed at high school students, the involvement of the institutes has always been very strong.
The project exploited skills made available in the field of training and communication.
As far as communication is concerned, the website, the facebook page, the twitter profile, the instagram profile have been created. The relationship with the press was assiduous, also thanks to the fact that comON Creativity Sharing over time has become an appointment in the cultural life of the City of Como, and every year there have been numerous articles published by newspapers and websites, especially local ones.
Authoritative trend setters, exponents of the world of fashion and design have been called to Como to organize the cultural events.
In the field of training, the involvement of high schools was decisive for the definition of the theme, year by year, which was proposed to the creativity of young students.
From a formal point of view, the internships with young European designers have been organized with the support of ENFAPI, a professional training institution. Also in this case, however, the care of the relationship with the host companies, with the tutors designated by them and their involvement was decisive.
The route is absolutely new and original for several of its fundamental aspects.
First of all, the absolute originality of the supply chain from which it was born: silk still present in this single point of the western hemisphere and the large number of small and medium-sized entrepreneurs highly specialized in the creation of fashion fabrics and characterized by a strong sense of belonging to the culture and tradition where they come from.
The absolute originality of the territory, its beauty, its panorama, its proximity to Milan and therefore, for young foreign talents, the attractiveness of the location.
The absolute originality of the proposal, which allows young European creative talents to learn how to concretely express their creativity. It is a simple proposal, but surprising for the ability to regenerate the enthusiasm of the participants every year.
The originality of the Promoting Committee, for the passion and dedication with which it has led the initiative for many years.
The originality of Como, the beauty of its territory and of its silk chain are not easily replicable.
Attention to young people is absolutely necessary, also elsewhere, especially in a context such as the textile one, where technology is available everywhere and the difference, in international competitions, is made by the human capital.
Training is not accomplished only with the transmission of knowledge and technical skills. We also need education, the possibility for young people to see older people who are passionate about their work and therefore truly creative. Thus the transmission of skills becomes fascinating, engaging and effective for young people.
The entrepreneurs involved in the Promoters Committee, the staff of the companies’ style offices hosting the young talents, the high school teachers participating in the training path… their commitment is decisive.
These are characteristics that can be replicated elsewhere and comON Creativity Sharing may be a good example of how it is possible to revive and rejuvenate the cultural tradition of a territory.
In a nutshell it has always been a bottom up approach. And the aim was to give young people a good experience.
The intuition to conceive the project was born from the dialogue between young entrepreneurs in the years immediately following 2005, to respond and react to the strong difficulties of the district.
In order to involve in the proposal the areas where young European designers study, the representatives of the Promoting Committee moved, contacted the professors, met them, illustrated the initiative: London for the Texprint/TexSelect path; Eindhoven for Eindhoven Design Academy; Grado for Mittelmoda; Tillburg for “European Textile Trainee”; Brussels for ARBA-ESA and La Cambre. A network of relationships was born, an authoritativeness of proposals fueled by the happy outcome of the experience, which remains over time.
The young foreign designers were looked after during their stay in Como, they were accompanied and supported, even after the Creativity Week, they participated in meetings, visits to fashion houses and clothing manufacturers or, more simply, they were invited for a pizza.
In the same way, the training proposals and competitions for high school students also arose from dialogue with the teachers and were created with the constant involvement of the teachers and the students.
In the current globalized textile world context, all production factors are equally available everywhere. It is the human factor that returns to make the difference.
The human factor means skills that, in the field of creative silk fabric, cannot be improvised. It is not enough to be able to devise effective aesthetic solutions, it is also necessary to know the fibers, their limits and know how to enhance their properties in a sustainable way.
Investment in training is decisive and is not done once and for all, it is a continuous process in progress. It takes people who are passionate and dedicated.
comON Creativity Sharing has built a platform in Como that invites young people to this adventure, starting from the silk tradition of Como, to update it for young people in Como and to make it available also to the world of European clothing and luxury industries.
comON Creativity Sharing was launched in 2008 to react to a moment of great difficulty in the sector.
The project aimed to enter the European areas where future designers are born and to bring them to Como, to let them discover the reality of the silk supply chain.
More than 200 are the young European talents who in these 13 years have come to Como for internship. Some made their way, created their own business, even of international importance, and returned to Como to buy fabrics. Others have remained in Como companies at the end of the internship, to start a stable collaboration, others have been hired by textile companies outside Como, sometimes with prominent positions.
The collaboration of young European talents has also been fruitful for the Como companies, thanks to the cultural contamination, the creative contribution they have generated in the company. There are several companies which, thanks to the positive experience, have renewed their hospitality to the stylists for all 13 editions.
The Creativity Week has always had media relevance in the area. The creative path proposed by comON to high school students has always been engaging. The positive image of comON has favored the approach of young people and their attention towards textile training. The I.S.I.S. Paolo Carcano, the high school of Setificio, the school where young people learn weaving, textile finishing, textile design has defended and increased the school population, whereas in other Italian cities with a textile tradition this has not happened.
comON Creativity Sharing has played a decisive role in "refreshing" the image of the textile trade in Como. Companies in the Como area need to hire highly skilled workers to serve fashion brands. With the image of comON, training initiatives will be offered to young people not only to foster creativity, but also to foster the ability to weave and finishing creative fabrics in a manner compatible with customer expectations.
