A message to the students from the President of the Accademia Italiana

It has become a custom with the approach of the new academic year, for me to propose a few thoughts directed at our students, whether they are about to complete their studies or whether they will be taking their first steps in the world of design, of fashion and of the creative image.

Without a doubt the industrial world, and consequently the creative professions that are involved in the applied arts in these industries are going through a particular period in which one often hears speak of "crisis" and at the same time many recipes are offered on how to "end the crisis". As this is not my field I will not offer any recipes, but I would like to propose a few considerations.

Statistics concerning prestigious Italian companies indicate a counter-trend. This happens often: fashion and luxury still beat the crisis. There is, in fact, satisfaction for the results obtained in spite of the current economic situation. There are companies that, in the first semester 2012 (closing June 30) have registered increases of 40 - 60% with respect to the same period in 2011. This increase in sales has often involved Europe, as well as Asia, the Pacific, and the American continents. This means that if a sector exists in Italy in which it is worthwhile to think of building a future, that would be ours: the sector that embraces fashion and design, that which involves luxury products proposed by companies that offer an image linked to the quality of a product.

Looking at these statistics we can certainly continue our mission with renewed courage, both looking ahead and consolidating our roots. Because there is no doubt: these roots will accompany us always and everywhere, they will help us to interpret that which is happening.

The Accademia Italiana is ranked among the most dynamic school in the world in the field of applied arts, in design, in graphics, in photography, in fashion. We have begun a process that has as one of its primary objectives that of putting in relation the best of young talent with the Italian industrial system that has always been a reference point as the best artisan and industrial production in the world.

The school is also a thermometer of the production reality, it is the place where one can pick-up the signs, the evidence, and it is also the right place to create innovative and concrete pathways, where ideas become the take off points for the creation of real operative instruments.

The school can and must be the place where ideas are intercepted, but also for opportunities, to be able to look towards a future where everyone may be him or herself, but where everyone is in relation with the destiny of the world. This is the way in which we can live globalization, taking upon ourselves a part of the responsibility within the entire system, while each maintaining our own roots and our differences.

It is with these reflections that are also my wishes for a profitable academic year that I welcome our students. Whether their specific interests lie in fashion or in graphic design, in interior design or photography, in product design or jewelry design, each of you will find here at the Accademia Italiana an open space for experimentation, where, with discipline and the practice of design and of the applied arts we can each give a personal and innovative contribution.

Vincenzo Giubba
(President, Accademia Italiana)