The Modern Artisan Project

A partnership between The Prince's Foundation and YOOX NET-A-PORTER (YNAP), the Modern Artisan Project has has given textile students from the UK and Italy the opportunity to produce a sustainable menswear and womenswear collection, equipping them with skills for their future careers.

The project was born out of a mutual interest in sustainable fashion between The Prince of Wales, President of The Prince’s Foundation, and Federico Marchetti, Chairman and CEO of YNAP.

The programme aims to strengthen textile skills training and profits from the sale of the collection will be donated to The Prince’s Foundation to enable the charity to develop and deliver training programmes that will help preserve traditional textile skills.

Six Italian students from Politecnico di Milano led the design of the collection while four British artisans undertook training in small batch productions skills at Dumfries House before crafting the majority of the collection by hand in the estate’s Textile Training Centre.

The capsule collection comprising 10 pieces of womenswear and eight pieces of menswear is available across all four YOOX NET-A-PORTER online stores.

During the manufacturing process, the artisans learnt advanced technical production skills such as industrial sewing, pattern drafting and quality control, while also developing the expertise to handle wool, cashmere and silk fabrics to ensure garment finishes meet the requirements of the luxury market. These skills have been formally recognised with the manufacturing artisans completing a Modern Apprenticeship Award in Heritage Textiles in partnership with Glasgow Clyde College.

Read more about the Modern Artisan Project.