Since the beginning of 2021 I joined Fashion Tech Accelerator team to contribute to the setting-up of the creative Labs area of Scale7, the first Fashion & Design business incubator founded by Qatar Development Bank (QDB) in partnership with M7 located in in Msheireb Downtown, Doha, Qatar.
As the act of creating in fashion and design requires cutting edge tools and quality collaborations, next to the incubation and acceleration programme, Scale 7 decided to offer maker-oriented Labs to companies and individuals in order to access digital fabrication and craft tools to practise multidisciplinary work in a hands-on environment. Scale7 was created to become a catalyst for reshaping the fashion and design industry in the country and the region.
Starting remotely in 2020, I curated on one side the coordination of the installation of the Labs composed by 4 areas: Digital Fabrication, Fashion, Photography and Jewellery; and on the other I crafted the learning programme with the aim of engaging local participants to introductory and intensive courses.
For two years, in collaboration with my colleague Leyla Tawfiq who moved to Doha to follow daily management activities we’ve been organising and holding training sessions directly, or inviting international professionals like Emilio Antinori (Design for Craft) and Valentina Barella (Oriunda Jewels) to focus on advanced 3d printing and jewellery making.
During my stay I also organised a Designer in Residency programme to support local creatives into developing innovative workflows to optimise their skills in bringing ideas into this world using digital fabrication technologies.
ZOESCOPE 