OLIVIA RUBENS - THE FUTURE

October 30th 1992 | Canadian | London College of Fashion

Breathing Garment for the Future

Olivia was asked to explore the concept of THE FUTURE in general terms, though ultimately what we mean is THE FUTURE OF ITS, which finds its incarnation in ITS Arcademy.

ITS Arcademy is going to be focused on sustainability and responsible creativity.

We are asking for Olivia's help to conceptualise, imagine, speculate and tell the world the values and ideas upon which ITS Arcademy is being built, and what to expect from this future.

In partnership with:

WATCH THE LATEST VIDEO

EPISODE 7

INSIGHTS

Building The Ark INSIGHTS, the backstories from our Building The Ark web series.

In this final insight of Episode 7 "RUBEDO" which wraps-up the web series we take a closer look at the photo shoots of the final projects by milliner Justin Smith, Noa Baruch and Olivia Rubens.

We also get to see more footage of Diesel, Swatch and Allianz, the partners involved in the project, with Diesel Creative Director Glenn Martens, Swatch Art Peace Hotel CEO Carlo Giordanetti and ITS Arcademy Director Barbara Franchin for Allianz, providing final feedback to the designers.

We also look back at the amazing locations in our Friuli Venezia Giulia region, breathtaking home to the production of the web series, and we explain the grand finale with our muse Martina Vodanova.

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ABOUT OLIVIA RUBENS

Olivia Rubens is a positive knitwear designer based between the UK and Canada. She stands for every woman who has battled their way to honouring themselves to the Nth degree, overcoming obstacles. Meant to poke at human nature, her work is playfully thought-provoking, nurturing impactful conversations about human behaviour. This is how Rubens approaches her initiatives in social justice, working to help women, children and community.

Olivia's work is ingrained within environmental sustainability, with a goal to design positive impacts for the planet and people. Rubens obtained her BA in Fashion Design from Ryerson University in 2015, and pursued her MA in Fashion Design Technology Womenswear at the London College of Fashion, graduating in 2020 and showing at LFW for AW20. She won the Responsible Fashion Award and the CNMI Award in the ITS 2020 competition. She also showed digitally in 2020 with Helsinki Fashion Week, including a climate positive garment, and has most recently been featured in Vogue, Teen Vogue, and WWD.

MORE ABOUT OLIVIA

Fashion Designer Olivia Rubens receives top prize at International Talent Support Competition 2020

www.bttoronto.ca

Watch the video >>

Inside the London lab making climate-action clothes

www.ft.com

Read the article >>

Olivia Rubens wants your clothes to literally breathe

www.thewardrobecrisis.com

Read the article >>

OTHER EPISODES

EPISODE 7

RUBEDO

Noa, Justin and Olivia complete their projects and receive feedback from their supporting partners. We finally see their creations and complete this creative journey, flying back to where it all began and where new seeds are sown, to grow our dreams.

Noa Baruch meets with Diesel Creative Director Glenn Martens - a designer she has admired and loved for many years - to look at the prototype and final advice on detail refinement. It is a dream come true for her to develop this project at Diesel HQ and to receive professional feedback from someone she has looked up to for so long.

Justin Smith talks about details with Carlo Giordanetti - Management Swatch International, CEO Swatch Art Peace Hotel - the silversmithing for the top hat frame and the production of a lifecast of himself to shape a mannequin to wear the hat. The installation interacts with viewers and references Swatch by including a clock mechanism.

For Allianz, insuring the future of its customers is fundamental and sustainability is key to this process. Which is why they challenged Olivia Rubens to imagine the future of sustainability in fashion. During a conversation with ITS Arcademy Director Barbara Franchin we discover the difficulties she came up against while finalising the production of her outfit.

We can appreciate their completed projects. Noa and Justin fly to Trieste, Italy, to shoot them at Azimut Studio with photographer Massimo Gardone. Olivia organises a studio photoshoot letting us video a sneak peek with her camera.

The web series ends with our Building The Ark muse facing a waterfall (Fontanone di Goriuda in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region) receiving a seed which represents the birth of a new dream called ITS Arcademy.

EPISODE 6

INSIGHT

Building The Ark INSIGHTS, the backstories from our Building The Ark web series.

In the insight of Episode 6 "JOURNEY" we're introduced to Tomasz Donocik, celebrated jewellery designer and former ITS finalist collaborating with Justin for his project Building The Ark.

We also find out about "Utopia", the concept developed for the 15th edition of ITS held in 2016 (the surreal and quasi-psychedelical space our muse travels through in episode 6).

We get to know more about Post Carbon Lab and the bacterial coating that is applied onto Olivia Rubens' outfit, turning it into a living organism with photosynthetic / pollution-filtering properties.

EPISODE 6

JOURNEY

Noa Baruch, Justin Smith and Olivia Rubens begin to close in on the final realisation of their pieces. Study, develop, experiment are key in unleashing creativity and in this episode we will be spectators.

Noa is transitioning from her two-dimensional sketches to the three-dimensional prototypes, developing tests and solving problems along the way. Justin is receiving ITS Family support from acclaimed jewellery designer and past finalist Tomasz Donocik for the development of the silver parts of his headwear piece. Olivia is applying the bacterial coating that will apply photosynthesis to her outfit turning it green (from all points of view).

As the projects come closer and closer to their completion, magical plants will guide us through an inner journey to discover the link to our final destination

EPISODE 5

INSIGHT

Building The Ark INSIGHTS: get to know all the backstories of Building The Ark. The prequels, the people, the spoilers, the buzz!

In the insight of Episode 5 of our BTA web series we step inside the Headquarters of ITS, located in the same building where ITS Arcademy will be, and we get to know Trieste, a small city on the Adriatic coast of Italy, far from the usual beaten paths of fashion, which has always been the home of ITS.

This is where ITS staff perpetually works to analyse, catalog and preserve all the portfolios collected in 20 years. The portfolios are central to the history of ITS and they go from wildly artistic to pragmatically technical.

Finally, this insight presents the amazing photo project currently in progress by Azimut Studio with photographer Massimo Gardone, which will be premiered during the online event in November 2021.

EPISODE 5

CONNECTION

Our 3 designers receive feedback on their proposals and share their thoughts and goals.

Like guardian angels, invisible to the naked eye but perceptible to the soul, we will visit the places and connect with the people making ITS Arcademy a reality.

EPISODE 4

INSIGHT 4

Building The Ark INSIGHTS: get to know all the backstories of Building The Ark. The prequels, the people, the spoilers, the buzz!

In the insight of Episode 4 of our BTA web series we get a closer look at the ITS Creative Archive, our open laboratory for the future of creativity allowing a conversation to flow between design, industry and innovation.

We also get to know more about ITS Founder & Director Barbara Franchin, about our future, represented by ITS Arcademy which is currently on the build (yes, we are BUILDING THE ARK!), and about the brief that Olivia Rubens is currently developing, a sustainable project in collaboration with our partner Allianz:

Allianz and ITS are building the future together. Allianz is committed to securing the future and the lives of their clients, particularly through environmental responsibility, low emissions and social inclusion.

It is no coincidence that Olivia was selected for this special Building The Ark project, she is invested in social justice and environmental sustainability.

Finally, we dive deeper into "The Future", the concept that was developed for ITS 2015.

EPISODE 4

FUTURE

ALLIANZ is all about the FUTURE and joining forces for Building The Ark was a natural thing to do. Their sole purpose is to secure the future and the lives of their customers, particularly through environmental responsibility, low emissions and social inclusion.

This is why, together with ALLIANZ, we have agreed that Olivia Rubens was the perfect choice to conceptualise, imagine and speculate about what to expect from the future of ITS, developing an outfit focused on sustainability and responsible creativity.

Olivia has a penchant for sustainability and a strong vision of the FUTURE. In this episode she will let us dive deep into her philosophy and her craftsmanship. Digging our way through the portfolio collection, the building site and the sleeping archive, we will find a new hidden treasure.

EPISODE 1

INSIGHT 1

Building The Ark INSIGHTS: get to know all the backstories of Building The Ark.
The prequels, the people, the spoilers, the buzz!
Episode 1 INSIGHT: Olivia, Justin, Noa and ITS, International Talent Support

EPISODE 1

NIGREDO

Noa, Justin and Olivia. Three fashion designers working on three concepts to create amazing pieces of art.
Get to know them, see their faces, visit their places of work. Discover how they are preparing for this journey.
Meanwhile another journey is beginning, wakening up from 2020 directly in 2021, an adventure that will take us through the past, the present and the future of ITS.

OTHER DESIGNERS IN THE SERIES

JUSTIN SMITH

NOA BARUCH

OLIVIA RUBENS

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL TALENT SUPPORT

International Talent Support was launched in 2002 and throughout its 19-year history it has developed into the most highly recognized platform to showcase & support the strongest young talents on the planet. Most importantly, it created an ever-growing family supporting creativity, like branches on a tree growing in different directions, yet nurtured by the same roots. It has built an impressive Creative Archive, a unique collection tracing the history of fashion evolution. Many of the 630 finalists were selected by top fashion brands where they now hold key positions, or have successfully developed their own lines.

Learn more >>

ABOUT ITS ARCADEMY

The magic of an archive collection holding 18.000 portfolio, over 325 outfits, 152 accessories, 103 jewelry and over 700 photo projects, is at the heart of Arcademy, leading to exhibition spaces dedicated to the Permanent Collection and temporary exhibits; articulating into multifunctional rooms and workshops: a concentration of knowhow and learning, of what could be and what already is. A panorama of projects that are not just to be viewed but narrate the creative process where they came from and their story. A trove of primary materials and repurposed materials to tell new stories, always selected with care and attention to environmental impact.