From an economic and cultural point of view, Made in Italy represents a system of knowledge and know-how stratified over time with a production sector of excellence that is recognized worldwide and in particular the Italian fashion industry. The nature of its success lies in numerous complex factors that constitute a cultural unicum that, in turn, translates into the qualities of its products, which can be traced back to Italy's productive landscapes, their history, human capital, local knowledge and creative talents.

The RHITA project is the result of the consolidation of a national network of five universities, located in four regions, Campania, Lombardy, Tuscany, Veneto, representing as many cultural and productive landscapes of Italian fashion, and stems from the need to systemise knowledge, integrate training models, and produce according to the principles of digital inclusiveness, conscious innovation and circularity. Many of the Italian universities involved have been building paths of excellence in fashion education and research for over two decades, in collaboration with Italian companies. RHITA is configured as a dialoguing and digital space in which innovation and knowledge can be shared internationally, enhancing human capital, technologies and the production of Italian know-how.

The objective is to consolidate and amplify the social, productive and economic benefits of the green and digital transition, through the connection between different fashion actors operating in the territory and the adoption of technologies that pursue the valorisation and accompaniment of the change process, towards circular production systems. The system of SMEs - through the dialogue structured in the first instance between the Living Lab and the local FabLabs - will develop a capacity building awareness with respect to the RHITA project. Pathways toward a green and digital awareness, through inclusion, and circularity of manufacturing systems, will be built and ensured by the adoption of a digital Web 3.0 platform implemented which corresponds to the RHITA operating model.

The interactive and functional RHITA platform will drive system innovation in the territorial spheres toward international, technologically competitive and advanced scenarios. The Factory 5.0 paradigm underpins the relation evolution between production chains organized into functional networks, toward the RHITA “dialogic factory” model that is based on transand inter-sector interconnection, implementing a dynamic of industrial symbiosis that contributes to the construction of circular manufacturing systems. The cultural dialogue of the system is inseparable from the material culture that represents the solid side of the local cultures, a kind of “concrete culture” that involves, through RHITA, the complex system of landscapes of Made in Italy Fashion.