@tbwabackslash

class="content__text" Faced with a shortage of specialized craftspeople, luxury brands are launching their own schools and training centers. Last week, LVMH announced the creation of a “centre for excellence in the trades”, which will house an employee training area as well as practical craft workshops for the general public. In the same week, Bottega Veneta launched a school to train the next generation of craftsmen. Bottega’s “Accademia Labor et Ingenium” will include training programs for university students as well as refresher and development courses for the label’s current employees. Classes cover everything from bag design, to production, to professional communication skills. These efforts aim to preserve age-old skills that are at risk of disappearing as craftspeople retire. Altagamma, which brings together Italy's luxury goods companies, estimates that over the next five years, luxury goods companies will need to employ 346,000 professionals in top-level trades, including more than 40,000 in fashion and leather goods. The challenge is making these professions attractive to a younger generation that tends to devalue trades. "We need to ensure that people approaching the professional world see a career as a craftsman as their first choice, rather than a fallback option,” says Diego Della Valle, CEO of luxury shoemaker Tod’s. With the luxury industry heavily tied to Italy’s national pride and identity, these educational initiatives are being driven by something much larger than recruitment problems. They’re a concentrated effort to keep the country’s craft heritage alive. Edge: Stability Pursuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #StabilityPursuitBackslash #LVMH #bottegaveneta #bottega #craftsmanship #craftspeople #madeinitaly #italianheritage #luxurycraft #luxuryfashion #luxurytrends #tradeschool #luxurylabels @lvmh

October 23, 2023