Craised on bread and Devil Wears Pradawith magazines always in hand and a passion for mum and dad’s wardrobe: if you dream of working in fashion we have to start somewhere. In Italy there are more and more professional schools and universities dedicated to fashion careers, unfortunately there are few public paths accessible to all. A valid alternativeboth for pre and post graduate, are the training courses offered by the Maisons.
With the aim of educating young creative minds to be included within their staff or introduced into the working world, there are many the fashion brands that open the doors of their headquarters to the next generation of craftsmen. There is no shortage of alternatives based on the client advisor and in-store experience even if it is the Made in Italy (now also promoted by the birth of new dedicated high schools) the point of departure and arrival of new careers in the world of fashion. Which Maisons offer this type of service? Here you are a practical guide to the best programs.
Bottega Veneta
Just last October Bottega Veneta presented the‘Labor et Ingenium Academy: a project aimed at promoting craftsmanship and passing down artisan techniques from generation to generation. Craft and creativity, these are the pillars on which this school was founded, which is located more precisely in Povolaro Dueville in the province of Vicenza. Here a complete training program will be delivered led by five master craftsmen of the Maison, for 50 students per year. With the important guarantee of inclusion in the company at the end of the course.
Photo Courtesy: Bottega Veneta
Santoni
Not just fashion, but also the world of footwear opens the doors to young creatives who dream of working in fashion. And who better than Santoni, a leader in the sector, can train the craftsmen of tomorrow? That of the brand is a commitment on multiple fronts, with various projects underway to promote training and support the world of work. Since the foundation of theAcademy of Excellence, a training course with the aim of passing on the precious artisanal knowledge of the maison. To then move on to collaboration with Adopt a school of the Altagamma Foundation, which involves high schools. The one with the ITS Foundation New technologies for Made in Italy, in the province of Fermo, which manages the ITS Smart Academy courses. And a collaboration with Academies of Fine Arts of the Marche region in the development of master training courses which include both a theoretical part and a practical training course, carried out in the brand’s offices.
Kiton
25 it is the number of young tailors that Kiton introduces into the world of work every year at the end of their career School of Haute Couture. A project born twenty-three years ago and which still trains new generations today exponents of the Neapolitan sartorial tradition. Furthermore, in these very days, the brand opens the doors of its Academy by temporarily transferring it to Milanfrom the 13 to 16 January 2024 in the Hall of Honor of the Triennale. With the exhibition Tailoring school. A journey into education, Kiton invites visitors to see and touch the experience (and results) of their training path.
Working in fashion thanks to training schools, here’s how. Photo Courtesy: Kiton
Prada, Valentino and Tod’s
The modus operandi, as now seems clear, is the same for many brands. Create schools within their companies where to recruit, educate and place young resources. With more or less publicized projects, the Prada Group Academy, specialized in the leather goods, footwear and luxury clothing sector. As well as The Art Workshop by Valentino, dedicated to inclusion in the Haute Couture team. But also The Crafts Workshop, founded in 2012 as a training center for the Tod’s group, or the collaboration betweenMassoli Academy and Fendi with a limited course for 9 students focused on women’s tailoring.
Saint Laurent
As an area specialized in craftsmanship, Italy is not only home to national brand companies, but also international competitors in the luxury sector. Like Saint Laurent, with headquarters in Scandicci in the province of Florence, who understood the potential of internal training courses and proposed their own. In the splendid setting of the Palazzo delle Finanze, a building renovated by the company, a new project was born new specialized school to train new recruits and provide advanced courses for experienced personnel.
Photo Courtesy: Saint Laurent
LVMH
The larger the company, the more extensive the training courses it offers, obviously. This is why it is interesting to inform yourself and keep up to date on all the proposals of the great luxury giants, such as LVMH. The French multinational, in fact, owns theInstitute of Professions of Excellence which offers dual training: on the one hand thanks to specialized schools, and on the other thanks to the contribution of the Maisons or partners of the LVMH Group. Present in France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Japan, there are 17 partner schools nationwide and 15 Maisons with which it collaborates. From creation to craftsmanship through client experience, a world of consultable opportunities opens up on their website.
A dream that becomes reality: working in fashion is always easier when the distances between skills and knowledge are shortened.
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