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Francesca Lancia born in Rome on 17 July 1987. After taking her Secondary School Diploma in Classical Studies, she decided to enrol in the three-year course in Fashion Communication at IED Rome, motivated by her strong passion for fashion journalism and writing. This enabled her to get to know and learn to appreciate the importance of other professionals working in the same area, such as the editor, the stylist and the photo editor. A variety of experiences in the field led her to realise that she is really cut out for publishing, with a special focus on writing, and have enabled her to keep discovering and developing all the roles involved in an editorial office.
Her secret dream is to write a book and work as a publishing co-ordinator.

How did IED help you discover your talents?

When I decided to enrol at IED I knew only two things: I loved writing and skim magazines, to be honest I spent hours watching them carefully and I still do it, I try to study them and understand how they were made from images to the texts up to the topics chosen each month. I was immediately impressed by the course in fashion communication for its multidisciplinary. The first year I felt confused, but only because the more I went the more I liked all those roles that we faced during classes. But afterwards, everything became clearer. I not only discovered the many aspects of this field, but I have been able to put my knowledge into practice immediately, and I think this is the biggest help that IED has given to me, or rather the ability to “prove” and learn to interpret more than one role. When your picture is complete, the final choice is spontaneous and the most important thing is that it is a conscious choice.



What experience in particular led to the realization that publishing was, indeed, your path?

During the three years I got to know people who have given me the opportunity and confidence to put myself to the test immediately. During the second year, some colleagues and I created an online fashion magazine, Fashion E-zine, through which we could put into practice everything we learned every day. Nowadays we still take care of all the magazine aspects, from the monthly theme to the matters to be discussed until the selection of the shooting. In short, we’ve learned what it means to create a coherent product but especially we have learned to distinguish all the difference between reality and fiction, and seeing how the magazine has evolved over time represents an immense satisfaction as well as a great opportunity. Through IED and Fashion E-zine, I realized that publishing is my future, not only writing but creating a magazine as a book. To see how, step by step, it takes shape and becomes real is an indescribable emotion!

Can you tell us about your award-winning project, Refugens?

Refugens is an editorial product whose main theme is based on the “Moods” of fashion and I call it a haven for creative minds. A report on fashion trends that have characterized an entire year, seen through the visions of 12 emerging artists in photography, styling and illustration. Each of them has the opportunity to become a guest editor of the magazine for one month, so that they can freely express their perceptions of fashion. Refugens is a collectible publishing product as well that makes an annual compilation of all the visual stimuli that capture our attention; in other words, it is a complete trend report covering fashion and how it has been perceived and assimilated.

What inspired you to undertake the project initially?

I chose to develop Refugens for several reasons, first of all to be able to contain in a single project, all those are my passions, writing and publishing, taking care of every detail from the planning to the layout, finally passing for image editing and content. I also believe in the very concept on which it is based, or rather offer really a means by which to emerge and be known that is not related by third parties but has its own way of expressing themselves, a right connection between container and content.

What are plans do you have for your future now?

At the moment, I prefer to focus on the present and on the opportunities that are given to me now, but always with the strong conviction to continue writing and one day to become editorial coordinator, of a magazine or books. It is precisely this aspect that I love most about this job, being able to test myself, never stop to look around and face challenges every time. I think is one of the few jobs that could keep my mind  alive and can not get bored from. I feel adrenaline when working and being smiling even just writing makes me realize that I could not do anything else.