What is in fact the difference between art and craft?

Here we try to provide an answer by exploring their respective specific characteristics.

The definition of art can be summarised as the expression of human creativity and imagination through visual arts, usually paintaing and sculpture. It is the making of unique works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty and emotional power.

As far as craft is concerned, it is the skilful ability, particularly manual along technical expertise, to produce high-quality manufacts that can be reproduced industrially.

Therefore, summing up, art is a means of expressing creativity while eliciting emotions through a unique single piece of work; skillful craft is, on the other hand, the ability to produce high-quality but reproducible items.

Whereas the former is not concerned with practical use, the latter is often connected to the idea of utilitarian purpose.

So, is fashion art or craft?

Fashion is often a balanced blend of both these aspects. The designer’s conceptual vision needs a series of passages to be transformed into reality.

So, that means a competent pattern maker and a cutter, along with a skilled craftsman’s labour sewing and finishing the garment to produce a wearable item.

Thus, we can say that it is a field where the boundaries between the artistic vision and the technical precision of the execution are well mixed.

Eventhough fashion can be considered by many as frivolous it allows people to express themselves through their personal choice of clothes, furthermore, society and fashion are interlinked and influence one another.

It’s a way to express ideas, challenge the norm and make a social and even political statements.

Some of the most representative names and brands in fashion changing the public’s perception and women’s attire especially are: Coco Chanel whose style gave women the power to assert their freedom and independence thanks to her characteristic design and choice of fabrics; Dior also brought about definite change by revisiting the hour-glass silhouette which highlighted women’s femininity but, at the same time, with a smart nuance; or Armani’s clean cut style redefining the precise tailored suit blending gender difference.

How truly frivolous is Fashion?Let’s take a quick look at figures

Well, fashion is certainly a huge industry as the nubers below tell us.

The overall market value is estimated to be about 1.84 trillion dollars in 2025 and its compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is estimated to be at approximately 4.1% between 2024 and 2030.

The United States is one of the world’s largest markets which alone accounts for $390.33 billion; the Asia-Pacific region accounts for $712.66 billion and China is set to lead revenues with $361.75 billion in 2025.

Europe is the third largest world market accounting approximately for $432.30 billion.

The fashion industry, moreover, has various key segments, one of its largest is the apparel segment making up for more than half of the market share; it is followed by online shopping which experts believe might reach between $883 billion to $975 by the end of 2025 because clients find it convenient and it suits their changing shopping habits.

The new entry is fast fashion with a share of growing market that accounts for $162.76 billion with a project growth of $317.98 by 2032.

What about the Italian Fashion Industry?

Italy is a global fashion market leader renowned for its high-quality materials, unique and creative craftsmanship along with innovative design making “Made in Italy” the brand of excellence.

Fashion, textile and accessories are leading sectors in Italian industry for revenue generated, in fact it is third biggest industry in Italy.

The Italian fashion industry is the largest exporter in Europe and, as pointed out above, it contributes significantly to Italy’s GDP and trade balance.

It counts over 65,000 companies and employs hundreds of thousand of people totalling 88 billion euros in annual turnover.

However, there are some drawbacks to this overall positive picture. For instance, despite Italian fashion being one of the most creative and innovative world-wide, the way it is organised in small and medium companies also represents a weakness.

The positive aspects of small and medium enterprises is that they are exceptionally creative and invest in excellence as they need to be highly competitive on a market that is based on large numbers and enormous capital, and this is an aspect that often represents a disadvantage for small companies mostly managed by family members who own them directly, therefore, resisting change rather than favouring it.

Nevertheless, producing locally is also an advantage because Italy has the know-how and expert craftsmanship that drives the “Made in Italy” brand as synonym of excellence and uniqueness, globally famous.

Besides Italian fashion wiht its luxury design is a precious heritage dating back to the 11th century and it is rooted in beauty and culture which flourished during the Renaissance and is still a valuable asset.

Producing in Italy is still undoubtedly a strategic choice provided that the aging highly skilled workforce can train and inspire new generations of equally exceptional designers and craftsmen.

The Fashion System

As we have seen fashion design is an international industry that has to comply with a production method that generally indicates the price range of its manufactures and the market target it caters to.

This means that we can visualize the model as a sequence of vertical ranks, or a hierarchical model as follows:

• Haute Couture: In order for a brand to be listed as Haute Couture it must be registered at the French Chamber of Commerce and have at least one production plant in France. Other requirements are: unique designs that feature the high demanding quality standards.
• Designer Fashion: this category includes top designer ready-to-wear lines, meaning high-quality apparel produced industrially according to retailing sales’ orders. Some examples are: Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, among the many.
• Bridge or diffusion: These are more affordable secondary lines created by high-end fashion houses, they embody strategic marketing as they reach a wider number of customers to make higher revenue. Some of the most popular are: Emporio Armani (by Armani), DKNY (by Donna Karan) Miu Miu (by Prada).
• Upper High Street: These brands are positioned between fast fashion and luxury blending quality and style, they are sold through a variety of chains and retail outlets and include: Reiss, COS, AllSaints and Massimo Dutti among others. They offer more refined designer-inspired clothing than basic High Street Shops like Zara or H&M.
• Mid-High Street: Gap Express and Next are some private labels (meaning a line of clothing sold by a retailer but manufactured by another company) fitting in this category which features contemporary fashion at affordable prices.
• Budget: are low cost and rapidly mass-produced goods at very affordable pricing following the latest trends. Fast fashion products belong to this category and they represent an ever increasing higher market share.

Studying Fashion in Italy

Given the Italian exceptional heritage in luxury fashion design and its high-quality skilled craftsmanship, sadly very little is done, or not nearly enough, to promote and fund properly the secondary schools (Istituti Professionali di Stato per l’Industria e l’Artigianato del Made in Italy) that do exist and are in fact focused in handing down to new generations this priced tradition.

These schools deserve wider publicizing to highlight the valuable opportunities they offer their students, both culturally and from their more strictly practical uses.

Clearly then, these schools are a cornerstone of Italian fashion design even in present day allowing its students to learn the basic practical skills that, step by step, develop in the great ability to preserve tradition while at the same time experimenting innovation through creativity and technical learning so as to tackle the various aspects of this profession, be it fashion designer, pattern making, elegant and skilled tailoring attentive to details, or highly regarded overall craftsmanship that is a fundamental basis for the Italian know-how that is appreciated and sought after world-wide.

Higher Education in Fashion

The world of fashion and the businesses attached to it have become today extremely competitive and in order to succeed in this field formal education has become an important asset.

All Italian Secondary Schools have equal dignity and legal value therefore, all Italian students have access to higher education.

This means that they can enroll in any university of their choice to pursue their education towards achieving an undergraduate certification or towards a Master’s Degree.

Italian public universities do not have extra fees, students only need to pay state taxes, and they also may be eligible for exemption or scholarships based on income and average grades.

There are also other opportunities such as the newly established ITS (Istituto Tecnico Superiore) that have many courses to choose from.

The list below provides a number of public state funded universities for a career in fashion.

Needless to say that there are also many renowned private schools, albeit they have costly tuition fees.

Learning to Master English Is a Must

It goes without saying that in today’s global market learning and mastering the English language is a definite must.

The best option to be taken into serious consideration when applying for a post in the fashion world is to have passed and achieved one of the following: TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), IELTS (International English Language Testing System), or PTE (Pearson Test of English) certification.

For all of those who are not native English speakers it is a widespread recognised requirement to prove fluency in the English language which is still considered as a lingua franca.

The Best Fashion Schools in Italy

© L. R. Capuana