Course
The Undergraduate in Fashion Design is a wide art and design program, created to help students express their creativity with a personal signature in style. Becoming Fashion Designers and, ultimately, Creative Directors, means researching, analyzing, experimenting, discovering and creating with solid training in techniques including pattern design, knitwear, printing, drawing and draping.
Play the role of an authentic author on the international scene and challenge yourself with your first fashion show. The only rule is this: be yourself if you want to become who you are.
There is visible vertical improvement among the students, starting with the basics in the first academic year and followed by the possibility to create a real collection in the third year. The final year offers master’s level learning; students select a specialization and present their dream collection on a real runway with a jury and international press, supported by a portfolio.
Classes are held by teachers from the industry in the open space Design Lab and in the new design headquarters located in Manifattura Tabacchi. Students receive a welcome kit packed with tools and materials and have access to expert guest lectures, an immense library, the computer labs and production machines.Â
Each academic year includes a total of 600 hours of instructional activities.
This course is completed with the possibility of an internship in a fashion company at the end of the 4th year.
Curriculum
The curriculum of the course includes a range of subjects that will help students develop their skills and knowledge in the field. Some of the key topics covered include:
- Fashion Culture
- Fashion Design
- Atelier
- Visual Thinking
- Fashion Industry and Product
- Self-Development
Mentorship
Mentors at Polimoda are important professional figures from the fashion industry who come into the school to share tools, guidance, motivation and resources with students throughout their program. They provide valuable and practical insights into how students can take what they learn in their course and apply it to the real world. They are essential to fostering student empowerment via their challenging and stimulating lessons crafted uniquely for Polimoda students.
The Final Year of the Undergraduate in Fashion Design welcomes Luke and Lucie Meier as its mentors. This mentorship, through its direct engagement with students, weaves together artisanal rigor, visual sensibility, and conscious design values, offering emerging designers not just technical mastery, but a creative vision: a dedication to excellence and feeling in fashion that strips away the superfluous and reconnects with raw, unfiltered imagination.
Luke & Lucie Meier
Creative Directors
Mentors for the 4th year
Luke Meier
Born in Montréal and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Luke Meier brings a multidisciplinary perspective shaped by both business and craft. He completed undergraduate studies at Georgetown University in 1997, graduating with honours and a double major in finance and international business, and further pursued comparative business policy studies at Oxford University in 1996. He later shifted his focus to fashion, completing a menswear tailoring curriculum at Polimoda in Florence between 2001 and 2002, before earning a menswear degree from FIT in New York in 2002. He began his career at Supreme in New York, serving as design director from 2002 to 2009 and later as creative consultant for special projects from 2009 to 2014. In 2013, he founded OAMC, where he continues to serve as creative consultant. From 2017 until February 2025, he has been co-creative director of Jil Sander. In 2019 he was elected Leading Professor of the Fashion Department at the Angewandte University in Vienna with his wife Lucie, and in 2021 the duo co-curated A Magazine by Lucie and Luke Meier. With extensive expertise in fabrics, construction techniques, tailoring, and the development of garments, accessories, and footwear, he also possesses deep knowledge of contemporary culture—including music, art, film, and fashion—supported by more than two decades as an active skateboarder, snowboarder, skier, surfer, and DJ, enabling a refined ability to analyse and reinterpret cultural references across disciplines.
Lucie Meier
Born and raised in Zermatt, Switzerland, Lucie Meier grew up immersed in an alpine landscape that fostered both curiosity and discipline. A native German speaker fluent in English, French, and Italian, she pursued formal training in fashion marketing at Polimoda in Florence, graduating in 2003, before completing a degree in design and patternmaking at the École de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne in 2007, where she also won the prestigious Trophée Saint Roch. She began her professional career at Louis Vuitton in Paris, working with Marc Jacobs from 2007 to 2012, followed by a role as head designer at Balenciaga between 2012 and 2014, collaborating first with Nicolas Ghesquière and later Alexander Wang. From 2014 to 2015, she served as head of summer collections for Christian Dior ready-to-wear and haute couture under Raf Simons, and subsequently became co-creative director of Christian Dior from 2015 to 2016. From 2017 until February of 2025, she has been co-creative director of Jil Sander. In 2019, together with Luke Meier, she was elected Leading Professor of the Fashion Department at the Angewandte University in Vienna, and in 2021 co-curated A Magazine by Lucie and Luke Meier. She was also awarded the Swiss Grand Award for Design in 2024. Known for an extensive knowledge of contemporary fashion and fashion history—including fabrics, construction techniques, tailoring, and garment components—she is also a passionate traveler and outdoors enthusiast with deep interests in the culinary, fine art, and architecture worlds.
Requirements
In order to be eligible for this course, you will need to be selected after the admission process.
During the application you are required to upload a Portfolio including an overview of your previous work with samples and photos.
Basic requirements are:
- Curriculum Vitae (CV) with motivation letter
- English language proficiency
- Secondary school (high school) diploma or equivalent
Careers
Based on abilities and acquired skills, Fashion Design graduates qualify for jobs as Fashion Designers and Creative Directors who are specialized in womenswear and menswear, reference materials (textile, knit, leather) or category (eveningwear, streetwear, underwear) as well as Costume Designers, Accessories Designers and Freelance Fashion Consultants in design research and development.
Student works
