Istituto Marangoni Firenze Adds High-Profile Collaborations
EDU-INDUSTRY: Amid growing competition for international fashion schools to provide premium academic curricula, the Florence unit of Istituto Marangoni has secured high-profile partners including the Yoox Net-a-porter Group and Italian luxury houses Versace and Etro for three post-graduate master courses kicking off in October.
The school’s goal is to shorten the gap between academic education and the labor market.
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In particular, the e-tailer will support the school’s nine-month master course in Fashion e-Business and Digital Transformation, aimed at providing future fashion professionals with skills ranging from digital capabilities and e-commerce to design thinking, sustainability and new media.
Experts from the YNAP group as well as from other leading fashion companies will provide guest lectures, as well as workshops and masterclasses flanked by a project work initiative. Students will be tasked to develop a strategic plan following a company brief.
Ivana Conte, director of education at Istituto Marangoni Firenze, touted the master’s course in that it allows students to “develop skills and abilities that nurture a digital first entrepreneurial approach.”
“The master’s course developed together [with Istituto Marangoni Firenze] is further proof of our commitment toward new generations, offering them not only a high-profile education, but also an opportunity to acquire skills that are essential on international markets,” offered Paolo Inga, global human resources director at Yoox Net-a-porter Group.
Versace and Etro are supporting the Florence school’s students with two scholarships beginning with the 2021-2022 academic year.
Each brand will cover 50 percent of the school’s tuition fee for the winning applicants in the Luxury Accessories Design and Management and Fashion, Art and Textile Innovation master courses, respectively.
Students applying for the Versace scholarship will be tasked with creating a handbag, footwear and a piece of small leather goods inspired by the Italian brand’s signature codes, while those interested in attending the Etro-backed Art and Textile Innovation course are required to provide sketches or digital drawings of three total looks, one with a sustainable bent, in sync with the brand’s DNA and offering a creative take on the use of fabrics and materials.
On July 6 Istituto Marangoni Firenze’s director Lorenzo Tellini, alongside Conte and representatives of the two brands, will select the winning projects.
Istituto Marangoni counts nine campuses across Milan, Florence, Paris, London, Mumbai, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Miami.
As reported, the enrollment rate at Istituto Marangoni Firenze — which was opened in 2016 — inched up 9 percent in 2020, despite the pandemic.
Courtesy of Istituto Marangoni Firenze
Last week in conjunction with men’s trade fair Pitti Uomo, the Florentine fashion school hosted its fashion show displaying the collections by the 10 best designers from its Fashion Design undergraduate courses. Among them, Filippo Matteo Paolo Barbagallo was the recipient of the International Catwalk Award assigned at the London Graduate Fashion Week 2021.
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