There is a thread that runs through the world’s finest fashion schools and reaches the manufacturing heart of the Prato district. It is called Feel the Contest and, in its 2026 – Master Edition, it takes shape in an exhibition hosted at the Textile Museum of Prato, open to visitors until 27 september.
The chosen title, “The thread that unites inspiration and creation”, captures the spirit of the project perfectly: bringing the creativity of young international designers into dialogue with the excellence of Italian yarns. On display are 33 outfits created by students of master’s knitwear programmes at some of the world’s most prestigious academies — from the London College of Fashion to Politecnico di Milano, from the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology to Istituto Marangoni Firenze, all the way to Tokyo’s Bunka Fashion College.
Seventeen years of dialogue between school and industry
Feel the Contest is part of the Feel the Yarn® project, the brand through which the Consorzio Promozione Filati (CPF) has brought together Italy’s leading producers of yarns for knitwear and weaving for seventeen years. Wool, cotton, cashmere, angora, linen and a wide range of natural and man-made fibres become the raw material young talents are invited to work with.
The mechanism is as simple as it is virtuous: each designer is paired with a Feel the Yarn member company, which supplies its own yarns to bring the creative proposal to life. This is how a student’s inspiration meets a company’s know-how, and stylistic research becomes a real, wearable, technically accomplished garment. For the 2026 edition, the chosen theme was colour, the common thread of a showcase that the works — first presented during Pitti Immagine Filati #99 — interpreted with remarkable expressive freedom. Accompanying the outfits are the multi-material works of Irene Pietrobono from the “ArteMonium” collection.
Leonardo Mannelli, President of the Consorzio Promozione Filati, described the goal as celebrating “the perfect union of art and fashion,” reaffirming how important the bond between companies and young designers is as they seek their place in the working world. A message echoed by Fabia Romagnoli, President of the Textile Museum Foundation, who recalled the museum’s mission to nurture emerging talent while paying tribute to the extraordinary craftsmanship of Italian yarns.
The four awards of the 2026 edition
Four prizes were awarded this year: the Absolute Winner is Katagiri Trashipuntso (Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology), paired with Lanificio dell’Olivo; the Creativity Award went to Margherita Carmignani (Politecnico di Milano); the Technique Award to Monica Beduzzi (Istituto Marangoni Firenze); and the Social Award to Rosalie Reya, of Istituto Marangoni Firenze, in collaboration with Accademia by Industria Italiana Filati.
Photo by Laura Ravallese
Accademia and the creativity chosen by the public
It is precisely in the Social Award that the story of Industria Italiana Filati is woven in. The garment designed by Rosalie Reya, developed with Accademia yarns, is the one that won over the public and the community, earning the most “shared” recognition of the entire edition.
This result is no coincidence. Among the most important companies in the Prato district, Industria Italiana Filati specialises in producing fancy yarns for high fashion: yarns born from research, material experimentation and a chromatic sensibility that makes them creative tools before they are products. This is the material with which a young designer was able to translate her vision into a garment capable of stirring emotion. Through the Accademia brand, the company offers creatives, established and emerging alike, a wealth of technical expertise and taste that embodies the very essence of Italian textile craftsmanship.
The exhibition is open at the Textile Museum of Prato until 27 September 2026.
