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From Milan to Riyadh... Marangoni International Institute to Open in 2025

Officials are seen at the press conference on Tuesday. (Photo: Turki al-Okaili)
Officials are seen at the press conference on Tuesday. (Photo: Turki al-Okaili)
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From Milan to Riyadh... Marangoni International Institute to Open in 2025

Officials are seen at the press conference on Tuesday. (Photo: Turki al-Okaili)
Officials are seen at the press conference on Tuesday. (Photo: Turki al-Okaili)

Istituto Marangoni, one of the top fashion universities in Milan, unveiled a strategic partnership with the Saudi Fashion Commission to establish an institute in Riyadh in 2025.

The announcement came during a press conference in the Saudi capital on Tuesday, in the presence of Deputy Minister of Culture Hamed bin Mohammed Fayez.

According to a statement, the institute’s mission in the Kingdom is to open new horizons for developing local talent, empowering women, and enhancing employment with the aim to transform the fashion sector into a dynamic market for young consumers and innovators in the digital world. The institute will be accredited by the Saudi Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC).

The institute aims to provide academic services designed to boost career paths in the fields of fashion, business and luxury management. The main academic program includes a 3-year advanced diploma, and is available in specific basic areas, such as fashion product design and management, creative direction, perfume and cosmetics management and interior design.

Officials underlined the importance of this partnership, which they said reflected efforts to bolster foreign investments in the Kingdom.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Chief Executive Officer of the Fashion Commission of Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Culture Burak Cakmak said the partnership with the Marangoni Institute was a good indicator of the foreign investors’ interest to work in the fashion sector in the Kingdom.

He added that the authority has worked over the past three years on many aspects to empower the sector, including identifying local brands, providing programs to professionalize business, and supporting talent at the international and local levels, leading to the launch of Fashion Week in Riyadh in October last year.

Managing Director of Istituto Marangoni Stefania Valenti explained that Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 has encouraged the institute to work with the Kingdom, pointing to the presence of a consistent program led by the Saudi Fashion Commission.

Moreover, she added that the growth of local and international brands in the Saudi market requires ready creative management.

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Fashion

80-year-old LL Bean Staple Finds New Audience as Trendy Bag

Gracie Wiener poses with some of her tote bags in Washington Square Park in New York, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Gracie Wiener poses with some of her tote bags in Washington Square Park in New York, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
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80-year-old LL Bean Staple Finds New Audience as Trendy Bag

Gracie Wiener poses with some of her tote bags in Washington Square Park in New York, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Gracie Wiener poses with some of her tote bags in Washington Square Park in New York, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

L.L. Bean created it 80 years ago to haul heavy blocks of ice. Now it's a must-have summer fashion accessory, The Associated Press reported.

The simple, sturdy canvas bag called the Boat and Tote is having an extended moment 80 years after its introduction, thanks to a social media trend in which they're monogrammed with ironic or flashy phrases.

New Yorker Gracie Wiener helped get it started by ordering her humble bags from L.L. Bean monogrammed with “Psycho” and then “Prada,” the pricey Italian luxury brand, instead of just her name or initials, and posting about them on Instagram. Then others began showcasing their own unique bags on TikTok.

Soon, it wasn’t enough to have a bag monogrammed with “Schlepper,” “HOT MESS,” “slayyyy” or “cool mom.” Customers began testing the limits of the human censors in L.L. Bean’s monogram department, which bans profanity “or other objectionable words or phrases,” with more provocative wording like “Bite me,” “Dum Blonde” and “Ambitchous.”

Social media fueled the surge, just as it did for Stanley’s tumblers and Trader Joe’s $2.99 canvas bags, which were once selling on eBay for $200, said Beth Goldstein, an analyst at Circana, which tracks consumer spending and trends.
The tote’s revival came at a time when price-conscious consumers were forgoing expensive handbags, sales of which have weakened, and L.L. Bean’s bag fit the bill as a functional item that’s trendy precisely because it’s not trendy, she said. L.L. Bean's regular bags top out at about $55, though some fancier versions cost upward of $100.
“There’s a trend toward the utilitarian, the simple things and more accessible price points,” she said, and the customization added to the appeal: “Status items don’t have to be designer price points.”

L.L. Bean’s tote was first advertised in a catalog as Bean’s Ice Carrier in 1944 during World War II, when ice chests were common. Then they disappeared before being reintroduced in 1965 as the Boat and Tote.

These days, they’re still made in Maine and are still capable of hauling 500 pounds of ice, but they are far more likely to carry laptops, headphones, groceries, books, beach gear, travel essentials and other common items.

Those snarky, pop-oriented phrases transformed them into a sassy essential and helped them spread beyond Maine, Massachusetts’ Cape Cod and other New England enclaves to places like Los Angeles and New York City, where fashionistas like Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon and Sarah Jessica Parker are toting them — but not necessarily brandished with ironic phrases.

“It’s just one of those things that makes people smile and makes people laugh, and it’s unexpected,” said Wiener, who got it all started with her @ironicboatandtote Instagram page, which she started as a fun side hustle from her job as social media manager for Air Mail, a digital publication launched by former Vanity Fair Editor-in-Chief Graydon Carter.

The folks at L.L. Bean were both stunned and pleased by the continuing growth. For the past two years, the Boat and Tote has been L.L. Bean’s No. 1 contributor to luring in new customers, and sales grew 64% from fiscal years 2021 to 2023, spokesperson Amanda Hannah said.

The surge in popularity is reminiscent of L.L. Bean’s traditional hunting shoe, the iconic staple for trudging through rain and muck, which enjoyed its own moment a few years back, driven by college students.