RUFA received the donation of an exceptional textile archive, that of fashion designer Franco Annoni, a key figure in the fashion world of the 1980s and 1990s.
His name is linked to many of the collections of knitwear, yarns and accessories that we have come to know through famous brands such as Loro Piana, Agnona, Malo, and Sisley as well as manufacturers such as Zegna Baruffa, although his name never appeared; in fact, he preferred to work behind the scenes, to do research and to range across different sectors and categories.
Despite numerous requests, he never wanted to create his own brand, ‘jealous’ of the freedom his work allowed him. He was a man of great culture, with an extreme curiosity for everything that was happening – in any field of art and culture – and that would turn into a future trend, in contact with an infinity of people he knew, and helped, all over the globe.
His gaze was then always turned towards young people, to whom he passed on his knowledge with great generosity and whom he supported to enter an extremely competitive world of work. And it is for this reason that Luciano Bandi, former general manager of Loro Piana’s yarn division, a colleague of Annoni’s and heir to this extremely rich archive, already made available to numerous designers, has decided to donate it to RUFA.
This was a far-sighted choice so that all students could touch an immense collection of yarns and fabrics, from denim to jerseys, from evening satins to wool and cashmere cloths, from chiffons to technical fabrics. In the middle some sheets of paper with his sketches, which he would recycle to pin up samples and canvas.
The RUFA academic community is grateful to the great fashion designer and to Luciano Bandi for the precious gift that has enabled an important expansion of the RUFA textile material library. All students will be able to touch Annoni’s archive at the Fashion Lab at Pastificio Cerere, Via degli Ausoni 7.
