An Example of Innovative University Teaching and Learning: the Fashion-Tech Model of Integration

The aim of the paper is to investigate the relationship between higher education institutions and companies in the field of Fashion-Tech educational system, in order to test the effectiveness of the integration of heterogeneous skills and disciplines. The paper firstly analyses how design, pervaded by the results of technological progress, has become over time an increasingly complex and multidisciplinary field, determining the need and development of new professional figures. Secondly, it focuses on the fashion-tech sector, the resulting area obtained from the intersection of fashion design and digital technologies, highlighting the need for a reviewed educational approach to form hybrid professional figures. To this aim the paper examines data obtained through interviews and desk research conducted within the framework of "Education for Fashion-Tech: Interdisciplinary Curriculum for Fashion in the Digital Era" European project, outlining the state of the art in fashion-tech and investigating the transversal dynamics between the academic world and companies. Next, a case study is reported: an international and multidisciplinary workshop carried out in the field of academic training with the collaboration of a company. What emerged from the experience is that in the Fashion-Tech, the close and continuous relationship with companies acquires a fundamental role.