At the final awards ceremony of the ITS Contest 2026, MODEM interviewed another jury member, Matteo Ward, CEO of Inside Out Fashion, Textiles & Home - the vertical of the holding company founded and led by Suzy Amis Cameron, dedicated to responsible fashion.
Matteo is also co-founder of WRÅD, a design studio working at the intersection of business, culture and policy, which created the WRÅD Award. This year, the award was presented to Jamie O’Grady, who will receive an exclusive three-day immersion in the Italian fashion supply chain.”
MODEM: As a member of the ITS jury, to what extent do sustainability issues influence your evaluation of young designers today?
MATTEO WARD: Obviously, my mind naturally looks for elements that might suggest a designer’s attention to environmental and social responsibility. However, when I don’t find them, I don’t automatically rule out the project, because that wouldn’t be right. Our role isn’t to judge solely what we see at a given moment but to assess the individual’s potential. I’m much more focused on finding coherence between intent and form.
I pay attention to aspects such as the techniques they use, to determine whether simply helping them find better processes or materials could improve the environmental impact of their work. I try to identify the kind of creativity that can restore fashion design’s power to positively change the world, because a well-designed garment can influence not only ecological, industrial, and social environments but also people’s habits. When someone is exceptional from an environmental and social perspective but lacks creativity, I’m not interested. I’m far more interested in someone who is exceptionally creative and who, with the right guidance, can develop and strengthen their work.
MODEM: You have often stressed the need to move beyond the discourse of “sustainable fashion”. In your evaluation, which concrete criteria allow you to identify a genuinely committed approach?
MATTEO WARD: We need to move beyond the idea that there is sustainable fashion and unsustainable fashion. If it’s called fashion, then designers cannot fail to be ecologically and socially responsible. If they aren’t, it’s a mistake. A complete design project must take environmental and social responsibility into account. What a designer should do today is start by analyzing and understanding the primary habitat they design for: the human body. If you design for the body using harmful dyes, fabrics, or substances, you’re not truly taking full responsibility for your role. Starting from the idea of creating a healthy and wholesome “packaging” for the human body is, in my opinion, the simplest way to approach sustainability.
MODEM: The transition from intention to implementation remains complex. Do you observe among ITS finalists a real ability to integrate these issues into viable models?
MATTEO WARD: It depends. Some are further ahead; others are far behind. We sometimes recognize those who are more advanced with a prize that Wråd gives to a finalist each year. Moving from theory to practice, from intention to action, from value to realization, isn’t easy. What can make the difference, for me, is the designer’s attitude, intelligence, and personality. It depends a lot on that, and we only notice it when we meet the students.
In most cases, and I must say in every edition, there has been enormous curiosity and a desire to learn and understand how to evolve the project. And that’s exactly what ITS aims to support. These students are very young, often at the beginning of their professional path or still studying. We can’t expect everything to be perfect and complete; our work as jurors is also a form of mentorship, which Barbara Franchin organizes in a very structured way, to accompany and help students evolve and accelerate their development.
MODEM: Many young designers today seem to naturally integrate these principles. Do you see this as a real generational shift?
MATTEO WARD: I believe the generational paradigm shift has already happened in many areas, not only in sustainability. But it’s still difficult to translate certain principles into practice or even into purchasing decisions. For example, how many of us are aware that something isn’t right, yet do it anyway because there are dozens of factors to consider?
MODEM: Textile and raw material stakeholders play a key role in this transformation. To what extent is this dimension taken into account in your assessment of ITS projects?
MATTEO WARD: The jury is made up of experts from many different disciplines; each of us brings something to the table to reach the final selection. Barbara encourages us to evaluate projects through our own eyes, experience, and expertise, and then discuss them together. If we encounter a problem, we try to determine whether the designer is coachable - whether we can help them evolve the project if it has potential. What matters most is consistency. If a project claims environmental or social responsibility among its values, I will pay closer attention. When I find inconsistency between a statement and the choices made, the project loses many points.
MODEM: Fashion Weeks are primarily visibility platforms. Can they also become spaces to highlight these commitments, particularly through initiatives that connect young designers and producers?
MATTEO WARD: For emerging designers, absolutely. I think Milan is moving in a good direction; fairs like White have always hosted suppliers. For several years, I was the art director of spaces dedicated to workshops and talks aimed at fostering dialogue among industry experts, companies, young designers, and the public. Then there’s Milano Unica, which brings together suppliers from all over the world.
By Florian Müller & Anna Rita Russo for MODEM.
© Modem