Twenty-five-year-old Giovanni Delija from the Accademia Koefia in Rome combines cultural heritage, emotional depth, and digital innovation into a poetic Gesamtkunstwerk in his project Shpirt, the Albanian word for “soul.” Inspired by the symbolism of the Albanian Alps, the geometric embroidery of the Xhubleta, and the Burrnesha — women traditionally known as “sworn virgins” or “sister-brothers” — Giovanni Delija transforms memory into form.
The design is based on a crinoline structure that gives the dress architectural stability. Over it lies a hand-knitted wool covering made of undyed natural yarns in three different thicknesses, creating a tactile, organic surface. The deliberate absence of dye preserves the authenticity of the wool and reflects a respectful approach to materials and resources. The dress becomes an embodiment of artisanal purity, a sculptural silhouette that radiates both resilience and vulnerability.
In contrast to the handcrafted texture, Giovanni Delija uses 3D printing technology to create a coppola, a traditional Albanian cap, and a long necklace. These digital elements symbolize the connection between past and future, the merging of analog heritage and digital evolution.
Giovanni Delija also created a second, virtual version of his work using CLO3D and Blender. In a cinematic video, a figure — half woman, half memory — wanders through the ruins of the Abbey of San Galgano. Amid fog and light, fragments of Albanian dances and rituals appear, fleeting echoes of a past that continues to live on.
“Shpirt means soul, but in my dialect it sounds like home. This dress is both — a place of memory and a path into the future,” says Giovanni Delija. His design is a homage to northern Albanian culture and at the same time a manifesto for the future of fashion, a dialogue between tradition and technology, between past and vision.
