IED and Tiny Idols collaborate on the costumes for the Paralympic Opening Ceremony

Date

11 March 2026

A special workshop with the costume director of the 2026 Paralympic Opening Ceremony, Silvia Ortombina, led to the finalisation of Vibes—an “invisible cage” created entirely from deadstock—and the costume for Rob Scandurra.

True narrative devices, the costumes worn by performers and athletes played a decisive role in creating the powerful emotions that emerged from the stage of the Arena di Verona during the Opening Ceremony of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Paralympic Games.

They were conceived by costume director Silvia Ortombina, also known as Tiny Idols, who has long explored the dialogue between fashion and performance. Under her direction, students from the Fashion Design and Fashion Styling & Art Direction courses at IED Milano collaborated in recent weeks to finalise, first and foremost, the customisation of Vibes, the costume featured in the first segment of the ceremony, conceived and produced by Filmaster and directed by Marco Boarino.

“Together with IED Milano we brought together a group of 20 creatives to complete the customisation of Vibes, a key costume that stages an invisible cage—a matrix made of conditioning and prejudice, the labels in which we often find ourselves confined without even realising it,” comments Silvia Ortombina. “We worked with jersey sourced from deadstock, building layer upon layer and using every last thread of the leftover material. Upcycling allowed us to transform existing matter into something new, theatrical and full of meaning. What may seem like very little can truly become precious.”

The starting materials for this creative upcycling process were provided by AND CIRCULAR. Based on this deadstock, the balaclava headpiece that characterises the Vibes costume was also developed together with IED student Gaia Karabits.

In the laboratories of IED Milano, under Ortombina’s direction, student Greta Ciabrelli also created the striking stage dress for singer Rob Scandurra, and contributed to the finalisation of the liquid-fabric costume for performer Chiara Bersani, thanks to the collaboration with Ghostlab Milano (which also worked on the Vibes costume) and the brand Agglomerati.

“The value of this project lies first and foremost in the collaboration between different skills: students from related yet distinct courses worked together, bringing different approaches and sensibilities into dialogue while engaging with the vision of Tiny Idols and her team,” comments Umberto Sannino, Head of Fashion School IED Milano. “Contributing to such a symbolic moment as the Paralympic Opening Ceremony is a great honour. Projects like this demonstrate how education can engage concretely with the world of cultural production and performance, offering students the opportunity to work in real contexts of great social significance.”