Honorary Master's Degree in Fashion Design for the fashion system
Nanni Strada
A tribute to innovation: Nanni Strada and her revolutionary approach to industrial design for fashion.
On March 27, 2024, Politecnico di Milano awarded an Honorary Master's Degree in Design for the fashion system to Nanni Strada, as an acknowledgment of the important role played by Strada in the innovation process of industrial design for fashion. This is the second Honorary Degree awarded by the Design for the Fashion System program in the last twenty years, preceded only by the one conferred to Giorgio Armani in 2007
The renowned Milanese fashion designer revolutionized the fashion world by introducing the language of design into garment creation, continuously experimenting with technological innovations and industrial production.
To understand her pioneering spirit and her dedication to innovation, it is essential to remember how her constant interest in the fields of design and architecture gave rise to the concept of clothing as a "pure element," detached from traditional tailoring and seasonal trends.
Since the 1970s, she has conducted cross-disciplinary research in collaboration with leading clothing and textile companies, designing collections for Dolomite, Ermenegildo Zegna, Fiorucci, La Perla, Max Mara, Nordica, Visconti di Modrone, contributing to bring the excellence of Made in Italy to the world. In 1984, she trademarked "Nanni Strada" and "Nomade" to produce and distribute her creations internationally.
Nanni Strada has exhibited in important international contexts and has published several fundamental volumes on fashion design and design culture. Among the prestigious awards she has received over the years, we recall the Compasso d'Oro ADI in 1979 for the pioneering garment system "Il Manto e la Pelle", created for Calza Bloch with automated processes and zero production waste. It consisted of a single piece garment-cloak made of fabric, the world's first seamless garment entirely produced.
The reasons behind the decision to confer the Honorary Degree to Nanni Strada refer to the innovation in the field of industrial design for fashion, the ability to place design culture as a central element in defining objects, and the development of radically innovative projects during all phases of the industrial process: design, construction, material selection, and garment assembly.
The ceremony opened with greetings from the Dean of the School of Design, Professor Francesco Zurlo, and was attended by Professor Paola Bertola, Deputy Director of the Department of Design, who delivered the laudatio that introduced Nanni Strada's lectio magistralis.
During the ceremony, Professor Valeria Maria Iannilli, Coordinator of the Programme Board of Design for the Fashion System at Politecnico di Milano, underlined:
«Nanni Strada has contributed to the development of design culture and is part of those cultural roots which since the 1960s have made design for fashion one of our country's expressions of excellence»
«Nanni Strada is part of the cultural roots of the School of Design, with whom she has shared her complex system of knowledge and practices as a teacher since 1999, in the newly established Industrial Design Degree Course at Politecnico di Milano. Our degree program, created specifically to train a new class of fashion designers, feels particularly aligned today with a designer who has made the innovation of design culture the centerpiece of her research and design practices. At the same time, we are proud to provide our students in Fashion Design programs with a new identity reference capable of enriching awareness of their cultural roots, which find a place in the history of those designers who have interpreted fashion as design»
