Every summer students of all nationalities meet in Florence for hands-on experience of the fascinating and complex world of fashion. The topics on offer vary from fashion design to trends as well as marketing and foreign languages (applied to fashion).

The courses on offer in the summer period are an exceptional opportunity thanks to the favourable mix of Polimoda’s guaranteed high quality training and the very essence of summer itself, full of sun, energy and therefore maximum creativity. Then students coming together from schools all over the world is in itself an added bonus, an incomparable experience. All this encourages the development of new ideas, experiments, and new approaches to the world of fashion.

Summer 2008 at Polimoda offers a pared-down selection of our most popular courses, from the classics to the most innovative new subjects.
It is not necessary to take an entrance exam. In just a few cases, there will be a telephone interview or you will need to send your CV so that we can be sure of the participants’ level of qualifications and motivation.
This makes the summer courses even more stimulating and intense, with a strongly international flavour.

For Summer 2008, we are offering an even more enticing package than usual thanks to the all-new Summer Community.
This is a virtual space on the Polimoda web site dedicated exclusively to those taking part in the Polimoda courses, where you can meet on-line to get to know each other, exchange opinions, information and ask the professors questions prior to the start of the courses you are interested in.

And once you arrive in Florence…the Community comes to life!

Every week a meeting will be arranged to get together, take a break from studying, register for the many activities exclusively on offer for you, meet the teachers both from your courses and others … and much, much more!

Which course should I choose?

There is a rich selection on offer for Summer 2008, and since most of the courses are proposed at the same time in July, making a choice can be difficult.
We will try to help you by dividing the courses into categories:

a) introductory courses in design and marketing
b) specialisation courses
c) language courses

a – introductory courses in design and marketing
Fashion Design
Fashion Marketing

The main aim is to introduce participants to the respective worlds of fashion design and marketing. The two courses on offer give a small taste of the corresponding three-year courses which are the mainstays of Polimoda.

I should choose these two courses if I’m interested in fashion but am an absolute beginner in the subject and want to find out more, or if I’m interested in making a more serious investment in my future in the fashion sector. I’m nevertheless thinking of registering on a three-year fashion course and I need more information to make my final decision (if it’s the right thing for me, if Polimoda meets my requirements).

b – specialisation courses “an introduction to…”
Art Director & New Media
Art & Fashion - Curating Fashion
Fashion Brand Design
Fashion Home & Space Design
Fashion Trends
Pattern Making for Menswear
Professional Portfolio
Make-up Artist

The main aim is to boost your basic training by looking into the details of a specific topic. Polimoda’s summer courses are an introduction and the spirit is once again to give a taste of the profession. They will not give you professional qualifications; to do this you need to go on one of our much longer specialisation courses.
 
I should choose one of these courses if I already have a footing in the world of fashion as a student, professional or self-taught enthusiast, and I want to delve into the details of a specific professional to enrich my experience, satisfy my curiosity or work out if that profession is right for me and therefore if I should continue my studies in that field.

c – language courses
Italian for Fashion
English for Fashion
Preparation for TOEFL
Chinese for Fashion
Russian for Fashion
Italian for Beginners

These courses are some of the programmes on offer from the Polimoda Language Department. On the basis of the course contents, they are divided into the following categories:
1 - pure language courses (Italian for Beginners and the Preparation for TOEFL course)
2 - language courses for fashion design and business (Italian for Fashion and
English for Fashion)
3 - language, culture and markets courses (Chinese for Fashion and
Russian for Fashion)
We don’t just learn foreign languages to break down the mainly linguistic barriers, but to get much closer to the country/ies where the language is spoken. It’s one thing to literally understand what I’m reading or what someone is saying to me, but something quite different to really understand the other person deep down: what they mean, what they want, what they’re trying to get at. In today’s hectic and global world we can no longer allow ourselves not to understand others, geographical distances are no longer a barrier, they have been wiped out by the Internet and free markets. 
English is still the most widely spoken language in business, but not all over the world, and nevertheless, when two people from two different countries meet, speaking a third language, there are very high probabilities of misunderstandings, wasting time, not being convincing and therefore not being successful in business. This is why alongside the customary indispensable courses in Italian (for foreigners coming to our country) and English (for Italians who do not yet speak the language or have some basic knowledge that is not specific to the fashion sector) Polimoda offers courses in language, culture and basic knowledge of the markets in the “more distant” countries (not just geographically) such as Russia and China. 
In light of the range on offer, choose the language course that best meets your needs, while not forgetting that the Polimoda Language Department is much larger if you are interested in pursuing the topic and advancing your knowledge.