Diego Della Valle designed the artisan of the future. With a 3-year university degree and the knowledge of one or two languages. “We need to explain young people that being artisans of the future is a noble craft”, says Diego Della Valle, patron of Tod’s, after presenting the men’s collection of the brand during Milan’s men’s Fashion Week. More than on the collection and company, the Marche-born entrepreneur focused on the role of artisans, its future and the need to make it a cool career for new generations.
“Being an artisan is cool”
“You are the owner of your hands. Your hands become your company and so, if you strive to be better, you are a free and independent individual – says Della Valle -. If we, as entrepreneur, strive to make young people understand that manual work is cool, this could be the time to design and show the way of the future to them”. But it’s clear that between making statements and the signups of young people to training programs there is a lot of room. So?
Businesses joining forces to support education
Strengthening the education system can be achieved by a defining an alliance between companies. “Each one, depending on knowhow, could lend a hand to schools from a financial standpoint, but also for experience”, says Diego Della Valle. But the real question is the one posed by Il Corriere della Sera: How can we convince young people that being an artisan is cool. “We need to make them proud of what they would do: an artisan today is rare and of interest”, adds Della Valle. He adds to the discussion the development model. For example: 3-year degrees for artisans and language.
From Tod’s 100 new artisans per year
On Il Giornale, Della Valle also introduced the initiative of Tod’s to manage generational change for workers: Bottega dei Mestieri. “This approach will allow us to train about 100 new artisans per year”. Being an artisan, he concludes, is a sustainable career because “if something is done right it lasts a long time”.
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