Digital Fashion Art Direction in Italy: Shaping Sustainable Practices and Mindsets

The contribution presents an ongoing research that intends to investigate the digital dimension of art direction for fashion in Italy, with the aim of understanding how the identity concepts of Made in Italy are intertwined and configured with the concept of twin transition. The aim is to put forward the hypothesis that digital art direction in fashion and the professional figure of the art director, in the various declinations and facets that this role can have within the fashion system, play a key role in conveying sustainability, social, ethical, and environmental messages: messages that can activate greater awareness in consumers, influence their purchasing behavior, and effectively contribute to an idea of prosperity through conscious development, which produces more widespread well-being. Art directors, through their taste preferences and the emotions they trigger, can judge whether the meanings of each possible visual element fit the visual identity of the brand; therefore, the choice of visual elements is not based on rules and logic, but on the art director’s own ability to interpret contemporary trends. We also want to highlight the critical and sometimes negative aspects of digital communication for fashion, as it also has elements that are not really sustainable, such as the large production of data and the problem of its storage.