ITS Arcademy launches its exhibition program for 2026

ITS Arcademy – Museum of Art in Fashion, Italy’s first contemporary fashion museum, is opening its doors with two new exhibitions on 26 March 2026. Exposure – The Power of Being Seen, the curatorial debut of Tom Eerebout, and Rise and Shine will make the museum’s collection even more accessible for visitors and promote the work of contemporary designers, including the winners of ITS Contest 2026, who were officially announced in Trieste on 20 March, setting the stage for this landmark moment in the museum’s calendar.

Since its inauguration in 2023, ITS Arcademy has quickly established itself as a vital cultural hub. Housed on the fourth floor of a historic building steps from Piazza dell’Unità d’Italia, the museum was founded by Barbara Franchin to preserve and share the vast archive built through more than two decades of the ITS Contest.

The whole collection now comprises 15,643 creative project portfolios, 1,318 garments, 189 accessories, 120 jewelry pieces, and over 700 photographic works—a unique record of the evolution of radical, artistic, and experimental fashion, preserving that legacy and making it available for present and future generations. Generali became the museum’s first private partner, supporting the safeguarding of these innovative projects for future generations. While supporting the creatives, ITS Arcademy allows everyone, whether they have any design background or not, to learn about fashion and discover it as a form of contemporary art.

Previous Arcademy exhibitions have already demonstrated the museum’s distinctive approach. Its debut show, The First Exhibition – 20 Years of Contemporary Fashion Evolution, curated by Olivier Saillard, offered visitors a rare glimpse into early creations by now-established talents. Discover our interview with Olivier Saillard, where he reflects on curating fashion beyond exhibitions, the emotional life of garments, and the dialogue between past and present.

Subsequent presentations included Born to Create, which highlighted the best projects from the 2023/24 ITS Contest, The Many Lives of a Garment, a poetic collaboration between Saillard and philosopher Emanuele Coccia that ran until January 2025, and Fashionlands: Clothes Beyond Borders, which was on view from March 2025 to early 2026, exploring fashion’s power to transcend cultural and geographical boundaries. Read our conversation with Emanuele Coccia on nature as a metaphysical system, the fusion of ethics and aesthetics, and the deeper meaning of clothing.

The museum has also lent works to major international events, such as seven pieces from its collection featured in the 24th International Exhibition of Triennale Milano (Inequalities) in 2025. These projects have consistently blended archival treasures with forward-looking dialogue, making fashion accessible to everyone—regardless of background—while positioning it firmly as a form of contemporary art.

At the heart of every exhibition is Barbara Franchin’s founding vision: to transform the vast ITS archive into a living cultural institution rather than a static repository. What began twenty-four years ago as a talent contest has evolved into a true home for emerging designers, where their most experimental work is not only exhibited but permanently preserved and shared with the public. This dual commitment—discovery today and legacy tomorrow—is what makes ITS Arcademy unique on the international museum scene.

Rise and Shine – The Ten Designers of ITS Contest 2026

Every year, ITS holds a contest for emerging fashion designers, providing them with an opportunity not only to launch a successful career, but also to meet with industry pioneers and find a community of like-minded people. Founded in 2002 by Barbara Franchin, ITS Contest has become one of the world’s leading platforms for new talent. The finalists receive grants and participate in a residency. Their work is acquired into the ITS Arcademy collection, and many past finalists have gone on to lead major international fashion houses.

This year, the winners’ work not only joins the collection, but gets a specially dedicated fashion exhibition. Rise and Shine showcases the vision of ten young creatives who have received the award—Darius Betschart, Steven Chevallier, Yi Ding, Jamie O’Grady, William Palmer, Stan Peeters, Chloë Reners, Tidjane Tall, Anna Maria Vescovi, and Wenji Wu. Several of them have been awarded with special nominations by several of the ITS Contest’s partners and patrons, which include Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, Fondazione Ferragamo, Fondazione Sozzani, Miss Deanna, Pitti Immagine, and Inside Out Fashion Textiles & Home, Io Sono FVG, Swatch, and Ray-Ban Part of EssilorLuxottica. OTB Group, led by Renzo Rosso, has awarded all ten of the winners with I:C OTB Award, providing them with special mentorship and sustainability workshops.

One of the nominations still remains unknown: the winner of the Public’s Choice Award will be announced next year, while now visitors have the chance to vote for one of the ten designers, stepping into the dialogue with their art.

Exposure – The Power of Being Seen, From Harry Styles to Lady Gaga

Exposure – The Power of Being Seen, From Harry Styles to Lady Gaga explores the relationship between a celebrity and a stylist and the journey of image-making and identity construction. Showcasing clothes and accessories worn by Lady Gaga, Harry Styles, Beyoncé, Madonna, Björk, Gwyneth Paltrow, Damiano David, Kylie Jenner, Jenna Ortega and Chappell Roan, the exhibition unveils how fashion shapes the cultural codes and narratives.

Curated by Tom Eerebout, a Belgian stylist and fashion consultant who worked with and consulted for pop-culture icons including Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue, BANKS, and others, the exhibition also includes garments made by ITS Contest participants. The exhibition shows fashion as a tool for constructing identity—what Eerebout is known for.

Outside the museum, large-scale photographs bring the fashion exhibition into Trieste’s streets, creating an open-air display. The images explore the relationship between body, dress, and gaze, inviting visitors to engage in a dialogue with art.

The exhibitions will be on view until 3 January 2027.