Digitising fashion archives: methodologies, labour and interfaces through the case of promemoria group

This paper explores the systematisation behind the creation of digital fashion archives, focusing on the complex relationship between archival methods and matters, labour, and technological interfaces. By initially distinguishing between digitised and born-digital archives, the study highlights the heterogeneous nature of contemporary fashion archiving practices and the challenges they pose in terms of materiality, preservation and curation in the digital age. Drawing on the unexplored case study of Promemoria Group, an Italian company specialising in the digitisation of fashion archives and their management, the research investigates the invisible labour involved in digital content production. Through a semi-structured interview with Cecilia Botta and Nicoletta Esposito from Promemoria, the paper presents the premises and practices of digitising fashion archives today, exploring the specific techniques of curation, mediation and storytelling developed by this agency. The findings reveal how technological infrastructures and human labour together shape the construction, accessibility, and perception of fashion heritage in the digital age.