International Lab of Mittelmoda - The Fashion Award

On the occasion of GO! 2025 – Gorizia and Nova Gorica European Capital of Culture, a special edition of Mittelmoda The Fashion Award, the prestigious international competition for young designers, will take place.

The event, free and open to the public, will combine the senior contest and the regional junior competition Mittelmoda District into a single showcase, celebrating over 30 years of creativity, craftsmanship, and Made in Italy at the heart of Europe and the global fashion scene.

On the occasion of GO! 2025 – GORIZIA and NOVA GORICA as European Capital of Culture, the Chamber of Commerce of Venezia Giulia and the International Lab of Mittelmoda are organizing a special edition of MITTELMODA THE FASHION AWARD, featuring a unique and original fashion show, free and open to the public, which will take place in GORIZIA on Friday, November 7, 2025. 

Mittelmoda The Fashion Award is one of the most prestigious and sought-after international fashion competitions.

Founded in Gorizia in 1993, it has built a global network involving over 680 fashion design schools across 71 countries, offering a tangible opportunity for creative exchange and dialogue with the business world, while promoting the values of beauty and quality that define Made in Italy. 

The International Lab of Mittelmoda, chaired by Matteo Marzotto with Angela Missoni representing the National Chamber of Italian Fashion, is an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to support creativity, craftsmanship, and market-oriented innovation across the entire fashion supply chain: from fabrics and materials to garments, knitwear, accessories (bags, shoes, eyewear, jewelry), and more. 

Its aim is to offer a meeting point for exchanging ideas, proposals, and innovations among companies, international media, industry professionals, teachers, students, and emerging talents.

Thanks to a memorandum of understanding with all the National Associations of Confindustria Moda representing businesses in the textile-fashion-accessory sectors (including Assocalzaturifici, ANFAO, and Confindustria Moda - Textile Fashion Federation), as well as the support of leading trade fairs (Milano Unica, Lineapelle, MIDO, Micam) and the collaboration of the Fondazione del Tessile Italiano, Mittelmoda acts as a platform to attract and showcase talents with both specialized and cross-disciplinary skills, essential to the broader Italian fashion system – from creatives and pattern makers to digital marketers and production technicians. 

For the past 15 years, the final event of the international contest has taken place in Milan, at the start of Fashion Week, both at the request of key partners and sponsors – given the presence of style offices and industry media in the city – and thanks to the rotating hospitality offered by trade fairs held at Fiera Milano, with support from MAECI and ICE.

To strengthen its bond with its Gorizian roots, for the past 12 years the International Lab of Mittelmoda has also promoted Mittelmoda District, a junior competition aimed at high school students (lyceums and technical institutes with a fashion focus) in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. 

Each year, over 500 students participate, culminating in a dedicated final event (the latest edition was held in December at the Teatro Verdi in Gorizia, filled with students from across the region). 

The special 2025 edition will, for the first time, bring together the international senior contest and the regional junior contest in a single spectacular event, merging local talent with the global network built over 30 years, and transforming Gorizia and Nova Gorica into the largest international runway for creativity and manufacturing excellence.

For several days, Gorizia and Nova Gorica will host young designers, faculty members, and experts from fashion schools and academies around the world, alongside entrepreneurs, journalists, and opinion leaders, celebrating over three decades of an initiative born in a Central European, cross-border context that has made it unique. 

The International Lab of Mittelmoda – a non-profit organization founded and led by the sector’s key institutions (Fondazione del Tessile Italiano, Confindustria Moda, National Chamber of Italian Fashion), in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce of Venezia Giulia – has been promoting Mittelmoda The Fashion Award and the junior Mittelmoda District contest for 30 years, working closely with corporate partners who share its mission: to support creativity, develop new talent, and strengthen the connection between education, business, and the culture of Made in Italy.