Sources: to build a business archive

Of course, we feature two-dimensional presences – we have already told you about the vintage appeal of our pictures showing FILA athletes during competitions and about the papers from our colorful sales catalogs. But the core of the FILA archive is 3D and is shaped by the fabrics, the clothes, and the shoes that marked the history of the brand and its evolutions. Thousands of items, displayed on mannequins and various structures, characterize the walls, designing a sort of parallel dimension.

The conservative effort goes along with practical necessities: the Foundation archive is first of all a working space, where designers coming from all over the world search for the inspiration for tomorrow’s collections. To ease such a creative process, over the years we have decided to catalog the items simply. The working spaces are articulated: along with the main space we have the so-called ‘Collab Room’ (selecting and exhibiting the results of the FILA’s most recent collaborations with other brands) and the ‘Rolando Room’, the office preserving the vintage clothes that marked the debut of FILA SPORT. Another remarkable space is the one devoted to all the shoes produced through the years. After being treated with a chemical spray, they are packed and hanged vacuum-sealed, according to a process that has been developed to preserve their physical and aesthetical characteristics. By transforming itself into an active tool, the FILA archive goes beyond the two-dimensional sphere and mutates into an expanded concept.

Guest designers are invited to explore the city of Biella all the time, to discover the landscapes and the traditions that contributed to the birth of FILA. Our physical approach also considers an increasing amount of online enhancing events. Like this blog, of course. Or like Archivi Della Moda: Comunicazione e storytelling (‘Fashion archives: communication and storytelling’), a series of webinars organized by Fondazione FRI from 9 to 11 June on fashioresearchitaly.org. Annalisa Zanni, Project Manager of Fondazione FILA Museum, will be one of the guests, presenting a unique case study, along with the numerous events making it closer to a wider audience day by day.