NABA SCHOOL + POLIDORI
NABA STUDENTS WITH THE BAG MAKER FEDERICO POLIDORI
Last December, we were invited to host a workshop in Rome with fashion, communication and video games students from NABA ( Nuova Accademia delle Belle Arti school ) and one of the last craftsmen remaining in the Italian capital, Federico Polidori.
Since ancient time, Rome have been a center for crafts exchange and the house of many local craftsmen. The Forum which was the most important marketplace worldwide at the time, played a strong role in the political and economical life of the Roman Empire. The Forum contained many kinds of shops: selling food, spices, shoes, fabrics, books, precious goods from local and international merchants and makers.
Centuries later, Rome remained a popular place to work at for the craftsmen and artists specialised in the luxury and religious industry. But over years, due to the rise of globalisation, Its special styles and techniques have inspired many companies worlwide, to copy or develop them in their own manner, with their own system for a mass market. Since the 1970s, it’s harder for the last Roman artisans to make their personal techniques and products lasts.
Frieze of the Fabri Tignuarii, Capitoline Musea, Centrale Montemartini ©
ABOUT FEDERICO POLIDORI
Federico Polidori is a bag maker coming from a saddlery craftsmen family. He has been working in his own studio/shop in the center of Rome for more than 40 years. Situatued in the historical district of Rome, his street Via Piè di Marmo, was once the home of hundreds of artisans in different fields. Today, only a few remains.
Polidori has been making and designing leather accesssories by himself and never welcomed trainees to help him out. Except his daughter whom sometimes helps him and who is also an iron craftwoman! Polidori makes and assembles his bags, pouches and belts by hands. He also experiments with various embellishment techniques : such as weaving, embossing , engraving. His creations are all unique as they are mostly designed and customised for his clients. The process behind each item explained why his items are expensive : hours of meticulous work go behind each product.
Before the pandemic, Polidori’s business was doing pretty well. Leather and crafts lovers from all around the globe, would be coming to his shop in ROME to order their custom bag or accessory. But since then, It has been really hard to keep the business in activity, as Italian borders have been closed to many international countries: Tourists are not allowed to come , and the locals are not interested and aware of his crafts.
REVIVING AN OLD CRAFT
For our intervention at NABA, we wanted students to meet a local craftsman, discover his unique crafts and confront them to his daily problematics. As the new influential generation of creative is more than ever driven by new technologies and communication methods, we thought it could a great idea to let them rethink a traditional craftsman company at risk and develop concepts to improve it for today’s time.
GROUP A : EXPANDING POLIDORI FOR THE GEN-Z
Group A decided to imagine a new brand identity for Polidori’s business in order to attract the influential GEN Z in discovering Polidori’s crafts. With a new color palette, tone and imagery the group exposed this new atmosphere through different social media channels such as Tik Tok and Instagram.
GROUP B : DISCOVERING POLIDORI’S GESTUAL
Group B wanted to create an accessible item for Polidori’s business, which could have the power to transmit to visitiors Polidori’s history, crafts techniques and gestures. To obtain the book, visitors would have to assemble it together by themselves, with Polidori’s hand stitching technique.
