The exhibition FUTURE MAKERS – New Visions for the Fashion of Tomorrow, organised by the Italian Embassy in Belgrade, was officially inaugurated by the Italian Ambassador to Serbia, H.E. Luca Gori, on the evening of 15 April 2026, as part of the 57th Belgrade Fashion Week, at the Silosi Cultural Centre.
The Play with Design initiative – created by the Embassy in collaboration with NABA (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti), Belgrade Fashion Week and the Festival Drugacije Mode – brought together new generations of Italian and Serbian talent on a platform for creative and collaborative dialogue.
The exhibition represents a meeting point between Italian and Serbian creativity, showcasing the work of students from NABA Milan and fashion academies in Belgrade, with a focus on the future of sustainable fashion.
The exhibition will remain open until 22 April, offering visitors the opportunity to see how Italian and Serbian fashion students have created a mutual dialogue inspired by the history of fashion and textile archives. 
Italian students, inspired by examples from one of Europe’s most important archives of silk scarves and textile patterns – the Mantero Archive – analysed motifs, symbols and visual languages, translating their research into a spatial artistic installation. In turn, the Belgrade exhibition created a visual dialogue between these installations and the works of Serbian fashion students. In this way, a shared approach to themes was developed, along with artistic parallels in the interpretation of meanings and the visualisation of forms through different expressions of fashion.
Among all the works by Serbian fashion students, conceived as artistic responses to the atmosphere, materials or symbolism of the NABA students’ installations, two received a special award: a study period in Italy at NABA. The awards were granted to Tamara Marić and Nenad Pavlović, while other participants included Isidora Kvasnevski, Emilija Đorđević, Lea Pecović, Aleksandra Mandić and Marko Milosavljević.
Students who did not receive the award, as well as others, still have the opportunity to apply for scholarships at NABA: two partial scholarships covering 40% and 60% of tuition fees for Master of Arts and Academic Master programmes, with enrolment planned for October 2026 and February 2027. Applicants must hold a bachelor’s degree or be expected to graduate by the 2025/26 academic year. Selection will be based on portfolio and academic profile, with the application deadline set for 15 May 2026. More information at admission.naba.it.
As part of the project, several workshops will also be organised, focusing on sustainability and responsible fashion, including “Silk and Renaissance – Paint Your Own Scarf”, “Fashion and Responsibility”, and others. These workshops will offer participants the opportunity to explore materials, techniques and creative processes with an emphasis on environmental sustainability and ethical awareness in the fashion industry.
NABA (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti) is the first private academy recognised by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) (since 1981). It offers undergraduate, postgraduate and master’s programmes in Milan and Rome, and has recently introduced its first PhD in Artistic Practice, becoming the first Academy of Fine Arts in Italy to offer a doctorate entirely based on artistic practice. 
This collaboration and joint exhibition add further value to the work of the Costume Design Department and the FSU.
The Faculty of Contemporary Arts in Belgrade (FSU) has, for 28 years, been one of the leading private institutions in contemporary applied arts and creative industries in the region, with a strong tradition of educational excellence. As part of the Creative Academic Alliance (CAA), it provides students with a unique educational experience combining art, creative industries and modern technologies. Its bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programmes are accredited and designed with a vision of high-quality and efficient education, blending artistic tradition with the demands of contemporary creative industries.
The exhibition is open at Silosi until 22 April.
