Deep Dive

The Department of Fashion, Sport, Tourism and Major Events of Rome Capital and the Academy of Fine Arts of Rome (ABA Rome) present DEEP DIVE, the fashion show that celebrates the most promising students of the Fashion Cultures and Technologies course at ABA Rome.

The project, curated by Sara Chiarugi, Alberto Moretti, and Roberta Bianchi, is created in collaboration with Roma Capitale and features eleven student designers from the ABA Roma undergraduate and graduate programs presenting their creations in the setting of the Monumental Complex of the Roman Aquarium, a metaphor for the fashion show's theme. The eleven designers selected by ABA Roma each present their own mini-collection of five pieces, for men and women, expressing their individual research journey and personal interpretation of the relationship between body, matter, and contemporaneity.

Indeed, the very idea of ​​immersion lies at the heart of the event: going deeper, observing what lies beneath the surface, analyzing a theme without stopping at its most immediate manifestation. Eleven different visions share the desire to respond to a direct engagement with the real world and fashion in its most complete form: clothes to be lived in, worn, and communicated through. The students therefore work on everyday garments: jackets, sweaters, tracksuits, trousers, and other elements of the contemporary wardrobe, interpreting them through innovative cuts, proportions, materials, and shapes. The result is garments with a strong identity and precise communicative power, without losing their primary function. It is precisely this balance between research and reality, experimentation and functionality, that characterizes the project: a vision of fashion approached professionally and consciously, in which creativity need not necessarily coincide with excess, but can manifest itself through the way a garment is conceived, constructed, and worn in real life.

At the end of the fashion show, the audience has the opportunity to immerse themselves in each collection, meeting the student designers and their garments up close. This allows them to gain a firsthand understanding of the process that led to their creation, delve deeper into their stylistic choices, and understand the research behind each collection. This moment is designed to delve once again beneath the surface, closely observing constructions, materials, and details, and listening to the designers themselves. A special mention is given to the eleventh designer, Justin Andres Asprilla, who passed away this summer: the students revived and brought his designs to life, bringing his research and creative vision to the runway.

The event is promoted by Rome Capital with the contribution of Alessandro Onorato, Councilor for Major Events, Sport, Tourism and Fashion of Rome Capital, and Cecilia Casorati, Director of the Academy of Fine Arts of Rome.

The DEEP DIVE initiative is also part of the process of valorizing and promoting young fashion talents launched by Roma Capitale and ABA Roma.

Photo: Turismo Roma