Martina Motta

• PhD in Design
• Research Fellow at Politecnico di Milano

One of the biggest problems of the fashion system today are the living and working conditions of the people who manufacture clothes. 80% of those who sew clothes are women [1]. The reasons why mainly women are hired is because they are more controllable and sub-missive than men and do not have the courage to ask for more rights. They are controlled...

For ages associated with manual work, in the paradigm shift through the Industry 4.0 knitwear is nowadays one of the industrial sectors that is most experiencing the dualism between craftsmanship and technological innovation. The article investigates the relationship between the creative process of knitwear and its tools, in a comparison between a...

In the contemporary context, the knitting industry is dealing with a scarcity of 3d simulation tools, resulting, to date, in a sampling-based method where refinements to a specific design are often abandoned or compromised. While, in other design fields, virtual 3d modeling profitably interacts with hardware technology (e.g., 3d printers) (Verbrugg...

One of the many ways to describe the Italian fashion system, is the one that defines it as the action and interaction of people in the process of making: on their artifacts, knowledge, expertise relies the essence and the engine of the fashion industry. In the contemporary time, driven by the shift towards sustainability, designers are working toge...

Mutable trends and a dynamic interplay between the past, present, and future characterize the contemporary fashion industry. Knitwear, a sector deeply rooted in tradition, is experiencing a resurgence and is becoming pivotal in bridging creation and consumption, challenging traditional fashion norms, and empowering individuals to engage with fashio...

Starting from an examination of the fifth industrial revolution phenomenon applied to the Made in Italy clothing sector, this paper aims to investigate the present and future scenarios that Industry 5.0 opens up in the world of knitwear design. Unlike other design sectors, the convergence between physical and digital environments, which is at the c...

Knitting, one of the most ancient human handworks, is transitioning from a purely manual process to a technological industrial practice supported by digital tools and advanced machinery. This transformation is challenging the learning process, traditionally based on the tactile experience, the manual interaction with the medium of creation, and the...

Knitwear is a consolidated industry in Italy and, at the same time, a typical expression of the Made in Italy paradigm linked to the ideas of craftsmanship. While, on the one hand, knitwear is associated with the idea of craft and manufacturing traditions, on the other hand, it is nowadays produced by numerical control machines (CNC) where the tech...

The transition to digital design tools challenges the craftsmanship of textile and fashion designers as part of the product value chain, opening for reflection on how textile craftsmanship should be taught in education due to the current trend of digitalisation. By looking at new forms of craftsmanship, this research expands on the idea of teaching...

Sustainable development has three main pillars including economic, ecological, and social aspects, in which “human” plays a prominent role, in this regard, people’s health and safety interventions should be considered by employers and industrial sector managers toward working quality of life. Therefore, the role of some multidisciplinary science su...

Born with a very artisanal and manual connotation, knitwear design has evolved into a highly technological industrial practice supported by digital tools and advanced machinery. For this reason, teaching in the field is a constant challenge requiring innovation and updated information, together with a memory of the more traditional aspects. The art...

The pandemic has altered human attitudes affecting common gestures: hugs, kisses, hands shaking, all the human behaviors related to touching have become dangerous, generating what scientists called “touch hunger”. If with touch we define ourselves as our form of being in the world we are in front of complex touch-related costs that make people toda...

Link to open access download: https://series.francoangeli.it/index.php/oa/catalog/book/455 Traditionally associated with craftmanship and manual work, knitwear seems a quite unusual subject of investigation for scientific research. This book places it as an integrative part of the industrial design culture where the dialogue between a productive s...

Sustainability is a widely discussed issue for fashion, and designers are asked to take a central role both in facilitating the transition towards sustainable supply chains and in shaping lifestyles to promote change in society. The article focuses on the knitwear sector, analyzing how this industry scenario, placed halfway between an ancient manua...

Globally diffused but very locally specialized, the fashion industry represents great opportunities for territories and enterprises, while making them deal with a high level of complexity in managing common practices and differences. In such a complexity, designers become crucial figures with the role of experts that can imagine and investigate new...

In a rapidly changing global economy, skills largely determine competitiveness and the ability to stimulate innovation in the businesses of the future. The integration of production, educational and scientific systems becomes the new method to address and manage the complexity in the contemporary time, but also a determining factor for the localiza...

Uma das muitas maneiras de descrever o sistema de moda italiano, é aquela que o define como a ação e interação das pessoas no processo de fazer: em seus artefatos, conhecimento, expertise reside a essência e o motor da indústria da moda. Na contemporaneidade, impulsionados pela mudança em direção à sustentabilidade, os designers estão trabalhando e...

Digitalization is one of the main grounds for discussion in the textile manufacturing industry. As in other creative fields, digitalization in textile design has brought craftsmanship together with work using digital tools and mechanical processes to creatively embed advanced knowledge in structural design and this dualism is even stronger in the f...

. ** FOR THE FULL-TEXT CLICK ON THE DOI (LINK)** . Textile products, a synthesis of the complex relationship between physical and sensory characteristics, have always played a fundamental role in the culture of furniture design projects. Like many other production sectors, the furniture one in recent years has been called to meet the growing demand...

Could the specific properties of a material influence the thinking and the making of a design product? this paper illustrates the results of an applied research activity made at the School of Design of Politecnico di Milano, with Lanecardate, a spinner company in Biella that, being entirely dedicated to woollen yarns, is a leader in the production...

When the COVID-19 emergency has raised, the entire world had to stop, adapt, and face the challenge. The article reports the reaction undertaken with an ongoing project that in February 2020 was experimenting with the therapeutic effects of knitting on patients. The project, driven by scientific international studies, was bringing the intervention...

Brand identity is a key topic in fashion design and communication. It relies on several tangible and intangible elements, such as recognisability of trademarks and styles, of materials and processing details, on storytelling, values, testimonials, company history and so on. The evolution of communication strategies in the digital era, and of global...

The paper aims to highlight the final results of the Laboratorio di Sintesi Finale in Design della Maglie-ria, at the Politecnico di Milano, in collaboration with M Missoni, the second line Missoni brand. The methodology used was archival research, and it is based on archives of past collections as an inspira-tional point to revisit the original ae...

Di seguito vengono presentati alcuni dei progetti sviluppati all’interno del corso di Design della Maglieria al Politecnico di Milano, o immediatamente dopo la sua conclusione, con tesi di Laurea Triennale e Magistrale. Gli esempi riportati ben rappresentano quali possono essere oggi le possibilità di sperimentazione a disposizione dei giovani desi...

If for traditional fashion design as clothes making or as basics for the creation of fashion products the concept of good design is now acquired, knitwear is now facing its decisive change from hobby into project; the enhancement of craft (Micelli S. 2011) does not refer to any nostalgia for the past times, and even better in Italy it is a very fer...

In the actual globalized context in which the cross-fertilization among disciplines and different fields of project mixes together forms, systems and processes, cultural identities can make the difference in the production and in the consumption of the products. “h a n d s t o r i e s o f i t a l y. The Burano’s jacket” is a project developed as a...

The following paper aims to show some of the results of the SMART - K research whose purpose was to create a software for 3D modelling to be applied within the production chain of the industrial sector of Italian knitwear. Today, the market offers software for knitwear designers that can represent the product concept in 2D and still remain purely d...

In the actual globalized context in which the cross-fertilization innovation process among disciplines and different fields of project mixes together forms, systems and processes, cultural identities can make the difference in the production and in the consumption of the products. The approach to fashion design and system build around it must be fa...

In the contemporary design scenarios knitting is a really fertile project area. Even if most of the people think about it as an old-fashioned hobby, reserved to old grannies making ugly jumpers, it’s clear that today knitting is a very interesting challenge from a designer point of view. Knit design involves many aspects and allows intervention and...