The Glove School Readies for New York Opening
To try to give designers and fashion students a better grasp and appreciation of glove-making, The Glove School will be in New York starting Tuesday at the Italian Cultural Institute.
Designed to promote and protect the art of glove-making, approximately 200 students are expected to cycle through the program from institutions like the Fashion Institute of Technology, Pratt University, LIM, Queens College, Montclair State, The New School’s Parsons School of Design.
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After debuting in Italy, the New York edition coincides with Lineapelle New York 2024 and has been organized with the Chiroteca Business Network, a new entity that is made up of such companies as Gala Gloves, Artigiano del guanto, Andreano and Gargiulo Leather. It also has the support of Stazione Sperimentale per l’Industria delle Pelli, Unione Industriali di Napoli and Lineapelle.
The main event at the Park Avenue venue will be a workshop entitled “The Demonstration of Leather cutting and Glove-making ‘breaking’ and cutting: how Neapolitan ‘glove-masters’ create handmade gloves.” The aim is to show students the various steps of the process of glove-making up-close, such as the manual cutting of the leather, according to the know-how of a “glove-master.” The artisan craft will be explained by the “glove-masters” Alessandro Pellone and Francesco Ricciardiello, who hail from Naples, Italy.
In recent years, gloves have fallen out of favor with some consumers, due to more relaxed dress codes and more manageable winter conditions in some areas. But red-carpet turns by high-profile personalities like Kate Middleton have given gloves more of a high-fashion charge. In addition, the pandemic has made the accessory appealing to germ-conscious shoppers. Gloves, however, trail behind handbag and footwear sales in terms of market share in accessories.
In addition, the event will cap off with the official opening that will be led by the director of the Italian Cultural Institute of New York Fabio Finotti, the general director of the Stazione Sperimentale per l’Industria Edoardo Imperiale, and the chief executive officer of Lineapelle, Fulvia Bacchi.
Organizers are looking into holding The Glove School in other places, according to a spokeswoman.
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