i-Portunus, the international mobility project founded by Creative Europe, has launched an open call for artists, creators and cultural professionals active in the field of cultural heritage, aimed at international collaboration and production oriented residencies.

As we have recently received in donation a wonderful collection of historical jacquard fabrics, we would like to invite designers and artists from abroad to apply to the call with a residency project based on this collection, that is part of the Archive of the textile company Texnova, consisting of precious woven fabrics designed and produced since the end of the ‘30s and ‘40s.
Other parts of the Archive have been donated to Istituto Buzzi and the Textile Museum of Prato.

If you are interested in the project, we will be happy to give you more information about the Archive.
Applications have to be made via i-Portunus website, following this link.
Deadline to apply is 15 April, 2021.
Residencies fee should be entirely covered by i-Portunus support.

We will be happy to review your projects in advance and help with invitation letters!

We are excited to announce that we have been selected by ECHN as one of the 15 creative hubs around Europe for the Creative Flip project called Learning Labs.

Each hub will collaborate with an educational institution to encourage the creation and diffusion of new skills.

Our educational partner is  MADE Program and together we are developing a heritage design workshop that can be administered to all kinds of students in the creative field and that has the ambition to render archives a common and easily accessible creative tool.
We will be working with our in-house archives but we are looking forward to work on archives all over the world!

Lottozero Open Club has come to an end and we are very happy with the outcome! Many of you participated, both old friends and new, many of whom came from far away.

We shared knowledge, experiences, research, ideas and opinions with you and with some of the protagonists of the textile district of Prato and beyond. We started a dialogue with professionals of different ages, backgrounds, areas of intervention, working methods and points of view.

This to us, is the true meaning of sharing, and our favorite way to cultivate this great passion that unites us, textiles, creating connections capable of generating innovation and continuous exchange.

Here you can find the recordings of the online events realized in collaboration with the Textile Museum of Prato and Associazione Ex-Allievi Istituto Buzzi.

While we wait to be able to plan new activities again, we would like to hear from you. Please take the time to complete this survey, and let us know what kind of events and workshops you would like to attend at Lottozero in the future.

We're excited to announce that for the second time we are participating in the Creative Flip, P2P exchange program between creative hubs.

This time, we are exchanging practices, knowledge and expertise with Romantso in Athens, and the main theme is weaving!  

Two members of our communities, one from each hub, textile designer and weaver Alexandra Bissa from Romantso and textile artist and weaver Cristina Mariani, will exchange pictures of both our cities, draw inspiration through them, create a 4-color palette and weave a 20x20cm piece.

Due to Covid-19 we will be doing it all online and we challenge you to participate!! Select one of the two color palettes and prepare a drawing or weave a 20 cm x 20 cm piece. Post it on your social media and tag us so we can share your project later in January!

Creative's Flip P2P is co-funded by the European Union, led by the Goethe Institute and partnered up by European Creative Hubs Network.

Due to the health emergency situation and ongoing social distancing museums and exhibitions are still closed, but we would like to invite you from afar to joins us for a closer look to our current exhibition.

About ABOUT A WORKER it’s a solo exhibition focused on the design research and social approach of About A Worker, young and emerging French duo, founded by Kim Hou and Paul Boulenger in 2017.

In collaboration with Center for Contemporary Art Luigi Pecci on the occasion of Kim Hou’s residency at Lottozero, the exhibition is a chance to retrace About A Worker’s four previous collections, in which workwear becomes a field of experimentation and creativity for meaningful fashion design.

With the support of Comune di Prato.
Technical Sponsor: NGW group, Ditta Turi Marcello

We are happy to present the creative path of French designers Kim Hou and Paul Boulenger founders of ABOUT A WORKER.

About A Worker is an innovative project that paves the way to a new way of making fashion, where the worker is placed at the center of the creative process, with the opportunity to express, through design language, a vision of their work and their personal stories.

The exhibition project About ABOUT A WORKER (02.11.20 - 31.01.21), is curated by Elena Ianeselli and Alessandra Tempesti, and is conceived as an in-depth examination of the four collections through which the creative thought and critical approach of the French duo is developed. Visitors are accompanied in a path that recalls the industrial environment and gives particular emphasis to the stories and processes of inclusion that underlie the creation of the collections.

The idea of the exhibition was born from the collaboration with the Center for Contemporary Art Luigi Pecci on the occasion of the exhibition "Protext! When fabric become manifesto" curated by Camilla Mozzato and Marta Papini (24.10.20 - 14.02.21), for which About A Worker was invited to present an unpublished project, following a period of research and residency developed in collaboration with Lottozero textile laboratories.

With the support of Comune di Prato

Special Preview: Friday 23rd of October from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Entry only upon reservation through Eventbrite

The exhibition will be open from 02.11.20 to 31.01.21, by appointment (info@lottozero.org / T +39 0574 22883)

We are extremely proud to be part of the brand new Textile Culture Net! An international network of four institutions worldwide: CHAT (Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textiles) in Hong Kong; Central Museum of Textiles in Poland, TextielMuseum in The Netherlands and Lottozero in Italy.

Textile Culture Net will showcase textile art and design from around the globe. Using Instagram and other contemporary digital platforms, the network will offer a diverse palette of cultural perspectives, as well as ways to present, collect and facilitate the making of textile art and design.

Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing social distancing and travel restrictions, the 4 textile institutions will jointly curate online events and exhibitions to exchange ideas, methodologies and skills regardless of geographical boundaries.

Stay tuned for our upcoming online exhibitions!

Over the years, many of you have written to us asking for advice on sustainable products and production, we decided to collect and share our knowledge!

That's why we are creating, "The Directory" a map of Italian businesses.

We are looking for virtuous designers, artisans and brands who produce sustainable fashion garments and accessories, created with an awareness of their impact at every stage of the value chain, and with respect for the environment and people. The Directory aims to foster exchanges and relationships within our community and to make responsible consumption increasingly easier, making this choice a custom rather than an exception.

To apply with your business, your brand or your company fill out this short questionnaire on your approach to sustainability!

The selected companies will be included for free in our Directory and will be present on the Lottozero website with photos, information and contacts.

Lottozero Open Club is the creation of time and space to be shared with others.

It is the need to get back to meeting people and re-create a community.

LOTTOZERO OPEN DAY

Saturday 26th of October from 11.00 to 18.00

Is an entire day completely dedicated to the discovery of the textile laboratory and the techniques that it offers.

LOTTOZERO OPEN NIGHTS

Is a fixed appointment every Monday evening from 18.00.

Is a program of events that includes workshops with artists and designers, talks, presentations and meetings with some of the local associations.
Is the desire to transmit knowledge and experiences of textile culture.

Are you curious to know how a fabric takes shape?

Do you want to understand how a loom works?

Do you want to try screen-printing and discover the sophisticated operation of a knitting machine?

We wait for you in our headquarter in via Arno 10, on September 26th, for an open-day entirely dedicated to the laboratory and the textile techniques it offers!

We will show you all the machinery and tools we have available and with the help of two special collaborators we will make small demos to explain how they work. You will be able to try needles, threads, colors and fabrics.

The OPEN DAY is the first event of LOTTOZERO OPEN CLUB, a series of events thought to involve the local community and share knowledge and experiences related to textile culture: workshops with artists and designers, talks, presentations and meetings with some associations of the territory. We will share soon the full program of ours OPEN NIGHTS, with all the guest and dates.

In the meantime, we hope to see you on Saturday 26th, from 11 to 18 o clock.

Access is free and upon reservation through eventbrite.

Project financed thanks to the Urban Regeneration Fund of the Tuscany Region and Giovani Sì.

Imagine a soft architecture, in which walls and slabs are replaced by textile surfaces hanging from thin structures, imagine a 2D fabric architecture, challenging building conventions and exploring new spatial possibilities.

That’s what Italian architects Marco Ferrari and Cristina Gallizioli will be working on during their two-week residency at Lottozero, from 13 to 26 July, going on with a project developed at the Danish Art Workshops in Copenhagen with the support of Statens Kunstfond and Kvadrat.

July 23th, Villa Romana, 19.30:
Talk with Marco Ferrari and Cristina Gallizioli, in dialogue with curator Alessandra Tempesti.
The event is part of Villa Romana Scuola Popolare.

This year for Fashion Revolution Week we were going to do something really special: not one, but two editions of our beloved Fashion Revolution Fair, which would have been part of Cambiamoda, a project we have been working on with numerous partners and thanks to the support of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation.

But as we all know a global pandemic came in the way, and we decided to move our program online. Join us all week for a series of lectures and workshops which will be taking place live on our Instagram account

PROGRAM

Wednesday 22/04, 17h

Presentation Make it here Residency (in ITA) on the podcast Solomodasostenibile. Silvia Gambi interviews designer Rafael Kouto and Federico Pagliai, director of product development for Beste

Thursday 23/04, 14h

Upcycling Workshop (in ENG) with Rafael Kouto, sustainable fashion designer at 14h

Lecture: Labels and certifications, what to know (in ITA)with Stefano Zanobetti of BuzziLab at 17h

Friday 24/04, 17h

Lecture: All you've ever wanted to know about fast fashion (in ITA) Deborah Lucchetti activist, coordinator Campagna Abiti Puliti and president FAIR

Saturday 25/04,  17h

Lecture: Maintenance and care of your wardrobe (in ITA) with Antonio Mauro, chemist of RS Ricerca e Servizi

The Sewing Club (a.k.a cucito autogestito) has been converted into a weekly online appointment with very special guests who will share their knowledge and personal tips on topics like sewing, pattern making, creative mending and much more!

Tailors, creatives, designers, and anyone who loves the craft of sewing can join us from home for this chance to learn and spend time together, feel closer and share our passion for textiles and dressmaking.

This Tuesday at 17.00 you can take part in a free online workshop with very special guest Eva Di Franco, she will show us how to make a toque style hat! All you need are basic sewing skills, a machine and some fabric.

Check fb event for more infos and follow her class live here on Instagram!

We strongly believe that mutual exchange of creative ideas, knowledge and expertise can keep us connected and enrich all the different actors, innovating and spreading textile culture worldwide.

That's the reason why we have created a new section in our website, entirely dedicated to our community, with special contents and new projects. 

Find out how the Sewing Club (a.k.a cucito autogestito) goes virtual with special guests who will hold online workshop. Discover PORTRAITS, a new format with interviews to the creative actors of our community.

Last but not least, we have launched an online survey to get to know your opinions and ideas...

Check it out!

As our country is in lockdown mode, we are trying to adjust and follow all the government recommendations by closing our spaces and working from home until April 4th.

We are very sad about the current situation but will use this time to reflect and improve, so we can come back stronger than ever!

We hope to be able to open our doors again to all of you soon, until then let’s stay close virtually and support each other through this tough time!

The Lottozero Team

We are happy to announce the 3rd edition of Fashion Revolution Fair.

Lottozero has been active for Fashion Revolution, the global movement calling for greater transparency, sustainability and ethics in the fashion industry, with a variety of projects for the last 3 years.

This year the fair is back with high quality dead-stock fabrics and sartorial craftsmanship for a double event which will take place at Manifattura Tabacchi in Florence and at Base in Milan.

The goal of the project is to reconnect the public with production, with the value of work, with handmade unique pieces and with quality in textile production and tailoring.

We want to open the selection to our community, so we are looking for tailors, dressmakers and independent fashion designers who work made to measure and share these values with us.

The selected creatives will have the opportunity to participate in the two day event, exhibit their designs and take orders to realize customized clothes for visitors. The participation cost is 80 euro for the whole weekend. Among the applicants we will select two winners who can join the fair for free.

To apply please send a selection of works, website or Instagram and a short bio to info@lottozero.org.

Deadline to apply: February 4th, 2020

This edition of the Fashion Revolution Fair is realized thanks to the support of Cambia moda!.

Next Wednesday, January 15th from 17.00 to 20.00, we will be guest of @so_sarpi in Milan and hold a very special workshop to support @tatreezdesign, a social project about embroidery involving Palestinian women living in refugee camps of Lebanon.

We will offer a sustainable design thinking workshop that focuses on fashion and textile production, providing knowledge to understand consumption and production models, materials and processes within fashion and design. We will give a theoretical overview on these aspects complemented with virtuose examples of successful processes and products.

More info here

We hope to see you all there and share with us this important mission!

French artists Darius Dolatyari and Célia Boulesteix are in residency at Lottozero for 2 weeks, until December 30th.

Come and stop by the Lottozero headquarters to see them working on their giant felt piece, inspired by Greek mythology. The project aims at creating a "moving and tridimensional landscape", where bodies, costumes and movements blur together into a landscape made out of felt.

Next Sunday, December 29th at 17.00, you are all invited to see a preview of the work, meet the artists and partecipate to a free workshop on felting (from 17.30 to 18.30)!
Please confirm your attendance to the workshop by email: alessandra@lottozero.org

Thanks to DHG - DyeingHouseGallery for sponsoring the project with their wool fibers.

The project is financially supported by i-Portunus.