Italian Innovators

The secret language of shoes (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD)

* The mission to make #shoes visible.
* The journey of a young #shoemaker from Campania to America
* Italian immigrants and American #shoemaking
* The immigrant's mindset. Rooted openness (from Boston to California)
* Shoemaking and the cinematographic industry. The first Ferragamo store in #hollywood
* Return to Italy. #florence and the crisis of the 1930s
* Limit and #creativity. How the wedge heel was invented. How the rainbow sandal launched Ferragamo's fame
* The postwar recognition by Neiman Marcus and the creation of the invisible shoe
* The shoemaker of #celebrities: Eva Peron, Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Sofia Loren
* A pioneer of the Italian #fashion project. From Florence to the world
* A living legacy. #ferragamo today

Check out all the other episodes in the content library and make sure to join the newsletter of the show at www.italianinnovators.com. Don't forget to leave your comment here below and subscribe to the YouTube channel. Thanks for listening!

A conversation between Luca Cottini (PhD) and Paolo Ciuccarelli (architect, communication designer, professor of design at Northeastern University, and founder of the Density Design Research Lab at Politecnico di Milano)

* The impact of Italian education on a professional career (1:26)
* The Italian cultural model as an archetype of design thinking (6:41)
* Architecture and communication. The inside and the outside of an object (10:27)
* Communication design and rhetorics (17:55)
* Data visualization and the relationship between complexity and simplicity (24:15)
* The impact of meta-design in artificial intelligence, communication (and literature) (30:16)
* The benefits of academic research and entrepreneurship (36:20)

Check out all the other episodes in the content library and make sure to join the newsletter of the show at www.italianinnovators.com. Don't forget to leave your comment here below and subscribe to the YouTube channel. Thanks for listening!

What's in a leather purse? (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD)

* The #houseofgucci movie. Story-branding, Italian family businesses, the founder's story
* What an elevator attendant at a fashionable hotel learned about #celebrity. How Guccio Gucci really started his entrepreneurial adventure in 19th century #London
* #Florence, 1921. The foundation of the House of Gucci and its Italian growth (Rome, Milan)
* Scarcity and #creativity. How the diamond shaped #leather and the GG logo were ideated
* The bamboo bag, celebrity culture, and the contemporary evolution of the #brand
* What culture generated Gucci? What culture does Gucci generate? The leather district. #fashion as a language of effortless sophistication

Check out all the other episodes in the content library and make sure to join the newsletter of the show at www.italianinnovators.com. Don't forget to leave your comment here below and subscribe to the YouTube channel. Thanks for listening!

The joy of Italian dresses. The art of Italian living (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD)

* A stroll through #Florence. From the 13th century (Dante's house, the Bargello) to 15th century city (Brunelleschi's dome, Palazzo Pucci)
* Aristocracy & #fashion, Renaissance & #modernity. The Florentine upbringing of Emilio Pucci
* Pucci's American discovery. From the winter olympics of 1932 to his studies Reed College
* From #sports to #aviation. How a pilot become a smuggler and a spy. Pucci and the Ciano affair.
* The postwar years. From stretchable ski suits to #swimwear. From Capri to Rome and back to Florence. Pucci's impact on the birth of Italian #moda and the #design of dolce vita
* The American success of Pucci. From airplane uniforms to car interiors, from Marilyn Monroe's dresses to the logo of the Apollo 15 mission
* The secret recipe of Pucci's success. The primacy of #color, the joy of Italian living

Check out all the other episodes in the content library and make sure to join the newsletter of the show at www.italianinnovators.com. Don't forget to leave your comment here below and subscribe to the YouTube channel. Thanks for listening!

Forever Modern. Jewels are laboratories of lasting originality (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD)

* From Studio 54 to Tiffany's. How a young Italian model became NYC's top jewel #designer
* An independent and unexpected path, from Italy to Japan, from Spain to New York City
* An extraordinary career at Tiffany's. The most remarkable pieces of Peretti's creative imagination
* The aesthetics of Peretti's style. Translating ideas into forms, forging life in matter
* Catalonia as a creative laboratory. The clash of opposites between Sant Martì Vell and NYC
* The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation. The real jewel is a life well lived

Check out all the other episodes in the content library and make sure to join the newsletter of the show at www.italianinnovators.com. Don't forget to leave your comment here below and subscribe to the YouTube channel. Thanks for listening!

A conversation between Luca Cottini (PhD) and Andrea Prencipe (Professor of Organization and Innovation, and Rector of Luiss Guido Carli University in Rome)

* The founding vision of Luiss Guido Carli University. To establish a #university requires trust and the willingness to invest in the future (1:45)
* What makes the institution distinctive in the Italian #academic landscape (6:45).
* The #pandemic as an occasion to re-design #universities. On #datascience and the process of #internationalization (11:10)
* The secret of #madeinitaly is #education. The value & meanings of "educated in Italy" (17:55)
* An ideal portrait of the student of the 21st century (in dialogue with J.H. Newman - 21:50)
* An ideal portrait of the #innovator of the 21st century (in dialogue with I. Calvino - 26:45)

Check out all the other episodes in the content library and make sure to join the newsletter of the show at www.italianinnovators.com. Don't forget to leave your comment here below and subscribe to the YouTube channel. Thanks for listening!

From Naples to Milan. The Birth of Alfa Romeo (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD)
* The road to Naples. From the periphery to the big city, from poverty to #education
* The formation as civil #engineer and the start of #business (air compressors, train tracks)
* The great war and the great occasion. The acquisition of the #automobile company Alfa
* Alfa Romeo. The growth of the company, the creation of a legend
* The dream to manufacture automobiles in Southern Italy. The factory of Pomigliano d'Arco
* The legacy of Alfa Romeo: speed, power, and #elegance
* The secret of successful #entrepreneurship (find out at the end of the video!)

Check out all the other episodes in the content library and make sure to join the newsletter of the show at www.italianinnovators.com. Don't forget to leave your comment here below and subscribe to the YouTube channel. Thanks for listening!

A presentation by Luca Cottini (PhD). Delivered on June 24, 2022 at the Superyacht Design Festival, organized in Milan by Boat International Media Company.

* Industria (industriousness) and cultura (cultivation): the 2 concomitant faces of value creation
* Italian #design is not "Made in Italy". What makes on object Italian? What does "Italian" add to it?
* The origin of Italy's distinction. From an incomplete industrialization to a unique industrial model
* The Italian vs the anglo-salon approach to #innovation
* Objects as #storytelling devices: from decoration to personification. The object as a living actor
* How can an #object (or a story) achieve eternal freshness? The parallel path to creativity of the writer and the #designer (the models of originality of Dante, Petrarch, Ariosto, Tasso, and Collodi)
* Design as a #philosophy of gesture: the empowerment of objects from use to lasting meaning
* The boat as a complex #architecture of meaning and a synthesis of functionality and storytelling
* Three assembling sites of Italian #yachting: the fabbrica, the court, and theatre
* Yachts as #opera houses, combining different "works" in a unique synthesis of industry & culture

Visit the official webpage at www.italianinnovators.com to find out more about the project and sign up for the newsletter of the show. Check out the video version of the episode on YouTube and subscribe to the Italian Innovators channel to receive notification of new episodes and lessons. Thanks for listening!

A conversation between Luca Cottini (PhD) and Alberto Milani (entrepreneur & creator of the jewelry & lifestyle luxury brand Alberto Milani "a love affair with Italy", president of the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce of New York, and co-founder of Piazza Italia Market)

* A leader in jewelry. The path to entrepreneurship (1:10)
* Between tradition and innovation. What's in a jewel? (3:00)
* How does the Italian obsession for beauty translate into jewelry design? The 3 qualities of Made in Italy (6:48)
* The distinctive character of Alberto Milani jewelry lines (11:50)
* The history and service of the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce in New York (13:48)
* The innovation hub of Piazza Italia (16:25)
* (in italiano) Le difficoltà e le sfide di un'azienda italiana che voglia entrare nel mercato americano; come si fa a creare un'influenza (20:00)
* The recipe for excellence: creative design and strategic thinking (27:05)

Visit the official webpage at www.italianinnovators.com to find out more about the project and sign up for the newsletter of the show. Check out the video version of the episode on YouTube and subscribe to the Italian Innovators channel to receive notification of new episodes and lessons. Thanks for listening!

The epic of boating (A presentation by Luca Cottini, PhD)
* The joy of a boat ride. From Dante to the 21st century
* #boating as a #storytelling metaphor and a long-lasting craft
* Four generations of #boat making. The Riva story from Sarnico to the world. From racing to luxury
* The vision of a bold entrepreneur. The synthesis of wood craft and American engine technology
* Carlo Riva's transformation of the boat into an object of lifestyle. Celebrities and glamour
* The historic Riva models (Tritone, Sebino, Florida) and the myth of Aquarama
* The collaboration between Riva and Lamborghini. The Aquarama #278
* Re-inventing global #yachting, The International Tourist Port in the Tigullio Gulf
* A long-lasting legacy

Check out all the other episodes in the content library and make sure to join the newsletter of the show at www.italianinnovators.com. Don't forget to leave your comment here below and subscribe to the YouTube channel. Thanks for listening!