Polimoda is recognized worldwide for its high-quality fashion education. Listed among the best fashion schools in the world, Polimoda prides itself on its professional training by means of highly specialized working and research methodologies.
With 2000 students of 70 different nationalities, Polimoda is not only an educational institute, but a creative campus: a hotbed for visionaries and opinion leaders from the worlds of fashion, culture and education. From 2022, the institute collaborates with the United Nations Office for Partnerships to help design the future of the fashion industry centred on sustainability, inclusivity and climate action, the first academic institution to join the UN Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network.
With its headquarters in Florence, the beating heart of the “Made in Italy” brand, Polimoda is a center where the very DNA of Italian excellence entwines with an international vision. Founded in 1986 as part of an initiative conceived and financed by the Cities of Florence and Prato and fashion-sector trade associations, Polimoda boasts over 36 years of experience in education specialized in the fashion and luxury sectors. President of the school since 2006, Ferruccio Ferragamo, also president of Ferragamo Finanziaria, is an enlightened entrepreneur and his name represents Made in Italy fashion all over the world.
From February 2021, the Director of the institute is Massimiliano Giornetti, an internationally known creative director and previously head of fashion design department at Polimoda. He is an alumnus of the school with a long career in the fashion field, holding the role of Creative Director of Salvatore Ferragamo for sixteen years and collaborating in the relaunch of the iconic brand Shanghai Tang. Together with President Ferragamo and Linda Loppa, Strategy and Vision Advisor and one of the most famous faces in fashion education, he is ready to guide the school, guaranteeing Polimoda’s internationality, connection with the city of Florence and development of relationships with some of the most important companies of the sector.
Polimoda offers a wide range of educational programs — 2, 3 or 4-year Undergraduate programs, 9-month Master programs and 1-month Seasonal courses — that provide high-level training for major professional roles requested by the sector, from managerial and strategic to creative development. Moreover, Polimoda guarantees the most up-to-date curriculums that stay astride with the professional world by continually building a strong network via ongoing interaction with fashion companies, attracting a faculty composed of professionals from the industry and providing flexible, high-quality training that responds to the fast-moving needs of fashion. It is, therefore, no coincidence that an increasing number of former students are either finding prestigious positions at some of the biggest international brands or standing out as emerging fashion designers.
In recent years, Polimoda has established prestigious partnerships with industry leaders such as LVMH for the launch of the first Italian branch of its professional training program, with Richemont for the creation of a high-quality Master in Luxury Business, with Gucci for a farsighted Master in Retail and Omnichannel Fashion Management, with Ferragamo for a Master in Shoe Design and with Tod’s for a Master in Bag Design, with Microsoft Garage for an Undergraduare in Fashion Marketing Management, Pattern Group for an Undergraduate in Atelier Design, and Vogue Italia for a master in Fashion Art Direction. In addition to this, the school has recruited leading players from the sector such as founder of KRISVANASSCHE and the creative mind behind Dior Homme’s creative revolution Kris Van Assche, fashion critic and Editor-at-large of The Business of Fashion Tim Blanks, Founder of Marco De Vincenzo and Etro Creative director Marco De Vincenzo, Men’s Fashion Director of Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus Bruce Pask and CEO and Fashion Director of Tank magazine Caroline Issa, among the others. Together with world-renowned trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort presented the Master in Textiles from Farm to Fabrics to Fashion, for a radical transformation of fashion design starting from the creation of fabrics.
Educational programs are supported by collateral events, meetings, collaborations and appointments with international speakers that provide precious testimonials and stimulate debates on key topics for the sector. Guests such as Marco Bizzarri, CEO and President of Gucci, Renzo Rosso, founder of Diesel and President of OTB group, Rick Owens, Founder and Creative Director of Rick Owens, and many more have been interviewed.
Always attentive to the development of talent, Polimoda dedicates a rich calendar of initiatives and events to spotlight the work of its best students, which includes the Polimoda Final Graduation Show, an annual showcase of our young fashion designers’ graduate collections, and Business Links, a one-on-one format that facilitates connections between graduating students and companies. Through the business development platform, Polimoda Talent also supports the institute’s alumni through a series of scholarships, co-working projects and mentorships for innovative startups and young fashion and luxury entrepreneurs.
The school has three prestigious locations in Florence. The historic Villa Favard in the heart of the city serves as Polimoda’s headquarters and hosts guests, managers and creative talents within its prestigious walls and strategic position. The Polimoda Design Lab and Manifattura Tabacchi, also located in the city of Florence, are dedicated to the school’s laboratories. Equipped with the latest professional equipment, students can work in an environment committed to the realities of the industry, totaling 9800 square meters and capable of hosting over one thousand students.
Inaugurated in 2015, the Polimoda Design Lab is located in Scandicci, the heart of the Made in Italy manufacturing district. It offers students a direct connection with local companies and laboratories for the processing of leather, accessories, handbags and footwear, as well as the new textile department. The headquarters of Manifattura Tabacchi, inaugurated in January 2020 at the iconic industrial complex and the center of an important urban regeneration project, houses workshops for tailoring, sewing and knitting, photographic studios, computer labs, drawing and theory classrooms and a modern auditorium for the fashion design and art direction programs.