From May 13 to 15, the MACRO Museum in Rome will host a program blending art, science, and fashion of exceptional quality. This event is part of the broader, multi-year project *Experiments in Fashion and Art*, launched by Dobrila Denegri in 2024 with the aim of bringing to Rome practices and research that are radically and sustainably innovating the fashion industry.
The project features conferences, workshops, screenings, talks, presentations, and installations, bringing together in Rome some of the most innovative voices in international research on experimental fashion. They are invited to reflect on the possibilities opened up by artificial intelligence, advanced materials, and emerging technologies, while challenging the boundaries of the discipline and the role of the designer in the present day.
The title “Science Fashion” deliberately evokes the world of science fiction: the practices of the creators involved occupy a space at the intersection of scientific research and vision, addressing urgent issues such as the environment, climate change, energy, and the coexistence of species through radical approaches.
The program is organized into four thematic sections—renewal, dematerialization, interaction, and recovery—and offers a reflection that does not aim to define new trends, but rather to bring about a profound transformation in the way fashion is conceived, produced, and interpreted. From this perspective, fashion extends beyond the realm of the wearable: some research explores pure virtuality, detached from the body and material, while others experiment with new forms of materiality, combining natural principles and technological knowledge into intelligent and adaptive systems. Still others investigate the integration of clothing and technology or focus on collaborative practices and models of co-creation.
Conceived as a space for dialogue between different—and even divergent—perspectives, Science Fashion serves as a platform for reflection on the future of fashion, not only in the realm of production but also in education, drawing on disciplines such as design, art, and fashion studies.
For the 2026 edition, Rome will host, for the first time, international figures who are redefining the boundaries of fashion through science and technology. Among them, Adi Gil of the New York collective three ASFOUR, in conversation with Gloria Maria Cappelletti, explores the possibilities of fashion in the multiverse; Danish designer Jens Laugesen and Croatians Silvio Vujičić and Miro Roman present research developed through a critical and creative use of artificial intelligence.
Alongside them, leading figures in fashion education—such as the Austrian Ute Ploier and the Dutch Elisa van Joolen—will reflect on the future of fashion education together with Rome’s leading academies. The award-winning documentary film Dust to Dust, dedicated to the experimentation with new materials led by Japanese designer Yuima Nakazato, will be screened.
The project also includes educational and participatory events: on May 12, NABA, the New Academy of Fine Arts, will host two workshops open to students with ChrisWna Dörfler and Giulia Tomasello; on May 14, at MACRO, Romana Andò will lead a group brainstorming session titled “The Digital Turn in Fashion Education: Experimentation, Tradition, and New Perspectives.”
The initiative is organized with the support of international institutions, including the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Media, and Sport of the Republic of Austria and the Austrian Cultural Forum in Rome; the Croatian Ministry of Culture and Media; the Danish Arts Foundation and the Danish Academy in Rome; FASHIONCLASH (Maastricht); Sapienza University of Rome and UnitelmaSapienza; NABA, New Academy of Fine Arts; University of Art and Design Linz; Arizona State University; Academy of Fine Arts in Catanzaro; and the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam.
(from the press release)
Science Fashion, curated by Dobrila Denegri, MACRO – Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rome, 12-15.05.2026
Visit here the website for the complete program
For this edition, the project is sponsored by the Department of Culture of Roma Capitale and Azienda Speciale Palaexpo and is organized in collaboration with Azienda Speciale Palaexpo and MACRO – Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome, which reaffirms its commitment to interdisciplinary research and contemporary discourse.
All activities are free of charge and are conducted in English
@EXPERIMENTS.FASHION.ART
images: (cover 1) Giulia Tomasello, «Future Flora», Central Saint Martins (London) Credits, Giulia Tomasello (2) People Carry People (Mensen dragen Mensen), curated by FASHIONCLASH (3) Galina Mihaleva for GALINACOUTURE “Global Nomad” Collection of 3D printing on Textile, 2018 (4) Collections created by the students of Fashion & Technology at the University of Linz, photographed by Anna Breit(5) ThreeASFOUR FW2023 “Parallel Universe” Photo by Petros Kouiouris
