Left (l-r):
Paul Thompson,
Alessandro
Benetton
and Dan Hill
outside
Fabrica in Treviso
Below: An
internal
agora at Fabrica
The appointments of a new
managing director and a
head to a newly formed
international advisory board
look set to bring fabrica,
the creative and training
arm of benetton, out of the
shadows, reports Shumi
Bose
for its near-ubiquitous clothing
stores, notorious advertising
campaigns and international
presence, most people would
be familiar with the United
colors of benetton. but you’d
be forgiven for being unaware
of fabrica, benetton’s research
and communications centre
in Treviso, italy, which is the
creative engine for much of
the brand’s broader activity.
The recent appointment of
Dan Hill (strategic designer)
as fabrica’s managing director
and Dr Paul Thompson (rector
of the royal college of art,
London) as head of a newly
formed international advisory
board seeks to pull back
the curtain on this unusual
institution. Established in
1994, in the grounds of
an 18th-century villa and
based in a breathtakingly
lovely building restored and
designed by Tadao ando,
fabrica is an anomaly among
8
STUFF OCTOBER 2014
corporate headquarters. Every
year, an intake of around 30
design students is hosted in
Treviso, with study fees and
accommodation underwritten
by the company on a strictly
portfoliobased
scholarship
system. For one year these
students are engaged in real
projects, working within a
range of creative disciplines
that include graphic and
interaction design, product
design,
art
installations,
documentary film making.
fabrica is also home to the
influential coLorS magazine,
distributed in four languages
and produced here in a full
editorial studio alongside
other printed materials. These
projects are live, often serving
the benetton brand (in the
case of various commercial
andcreative
advertising
campaigns) but extending to
wider organisations too, for
example global awareness
campaigns for humanitarian
causes, such as those for
Teachers Without borders,
UnicEf and the WHo. The
recent shake up at fabrica
sees alessandro benetton,
hitherto less involved in the
family concern, stepping up to
provide the business acumen
and future direction of the
institution to the revitalised
this interstice
of creativity an
business sees
young designers
emerging with real
commercial work
under their belts
board.admitting
that
the
brand, despite its thriving
talent incubator, has perhaps
become ‘a little dusty’, the
appointments of Hill and
Thompson suggests that the
school – for want of a better
categorisation – should like
to make its presence felt in a
more meaningful and visible
way. Thompson will act as
the head of a new advisory
board, thereby consolidating
connections
with
formal
academia;
Thompson’s
international
experience
prior to the rca makes him
well-positioned to pull in
expert perspectives from an
international panel, including
voices from north america, asia
and Latin america, where the
benetton brand has significant
presence. Hill’s track record
makes him an extremely
interesting choice for the mD
role – the corporate title itself
sitting slightly at odds with the
broadly educational stance of
fabrica.