Polimoda Graduate Show 2025

Collections by twenty emerging talents will take the runway in an uncompromising creative exploration defined by original thinking and impeccable execution. Over one hundred looks will unveil personal narratives, bold visions, and material experiments that transcend the conventions of the fashion system.

The graduate show marks the culmination of a journey rooted in self-awareness and the search for identity. Fashion becomes a language to convey cultural memories and artistic aspirations. It represents the end point of a process of growth and professional maturity for a generation of young designers making their debut. These students—from all corners of the globe—have chosen Italy and Florence as the backdrop for their fashion studies. Four years of education have elevated their concepts into ready-for-industry products. Each garment has been conceived, developed, and produced in the new Manifattura Campus workshops, under the guidance of some of the sector’s leading professionals—from the direction of Massimiliano Giornetti and consulting by An Vandevorst, to the exclusive mentorship of Tim Blanks, one of contemporary fashion’s foremost critics.

The result is unspoiled fashion, free from industry over-structures and commercial pressures. It isn’t a reinterpretation of trends but the courage to experiment with languages, materials, and silhouettes that suggest something entirely new—something capable of surprising. It is the intersection of one’s roots and an urgency to engage with the contemporary world. From spiritual connections with nature to colonial influences on religion, through ethnic identities and freedom in twentieth-century dystopian literature, to the impact of AI on body perception, the evolution of gender identities, and the role of women in Western society—each collection tells a story of self-discovery and gives rise to a kaleidoscope of visions that anticipate the contemporary fashion debate.