On a sunny afternoon it still feels like summer in the north of Italy. Como, where one would feel the holiday mood all the year around, is famous for silk and textiles industries. On the shores of the lake, only 50 km away from Milan, we are about to enter the courtyard of Villa Sucota. The historical villa built in the middle of nineteenth century is nowadays well known in the world of culture as Fondazione Antonio Ratti.
Welcomed by the curator Francina Chiara, we are brought to visit a rare fabrics exhibition, a collection of ancient textiles. Collected by Antonio Ratti throughout his life with passion and accuracy – an exhibition on rotation is hosted in two rooms on the ground floor. Archive that consist of more than three thousand single textile items and more than two thousand pattern books was gathered over a period of forty years. The Museum of Textiles (Studio Museo del Tessuto) organizes not only exhibitions and lectures but also holds the Advanced course in Textile Design – a course for young talents from around the world.
Climbing up to the next floors we pass by the offices of administration and arrive to a cosy library with a “postcard view” over the lake. Open to public since few years it holds more than five thousand volumes specialized in textiles, fashion, visual arts and crafts. The purpose of the foundation is to promote the initiative and studies of artistic, cultural and technological interests not only in the field of textile production but also in contemporary art. Many events are hosted by the foundation like advanced courses in visual arts, exhibitions and lectures.
A great source of inspiration not only for textile designers but everyone interested in fashion and its history – the collection’s database is available for everyone on the foundation website.
