Istituto Marangoni, the leading Italian fashion, art and design school, an-nounces the group expansion into the Americas with the opening of the first U.S. School in Miami’s Design District, the 10th in the world.
Istituto Marangoni, which was founded in 1935 in Milan and has more than 80 years of history and success in training the top professionals of fashion and design, can praise itself for the education of four generations of students from five continents and for having launched over 45,000 professionals in fashion and luxury fields.
It currently educates 4,000 students per year from 107 countries at its schools, located in Milano (the School of Fashion and the School of Design), Firenze (School of Fashion & Art), Paris, London, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Mumbai and now Miami, the international capitals of fashion, design and luxury.
The prestigious school now will deliver the brand’s proven and unparalleled education model to top students throughout the U.S. and Latin America.
“Bringing Istituto Marangoni to the Americas satisfies a long-term vision to support and develop youth interested in fashion and design from all over the word,” said Roberto Riccio, group managing director of Istituto Marangoni. “We are thrilled by the opportunity to give emerging talent in the Americas a platform to hone their skills and realize their true potential in the industry.”
Istituto Marangoni, renowned for the high academic standards and celebrity alumni base, is poised to attract the best young talent in the hemisphere. The institution consistently plays a key role in shaping global fashion trends and holds the merit of creating some of the biggest names in the industry, including Domenico Dolce, Franco Moschino, Alessandro Sartori (Zegna Group creative director), Paula Cademartori, Julie de Libran (artistic director of Sonia Rykiel), Rocco Iannone (creative director of Pal Zileri), Maurizio Pecoraro (brand owner and Istituto Marangoni’s international fashion chair), and more.
Hakan Baykam, president of the new school, has identified the unique opportunity in Miami to pioneer a new fashion hub. As the visionary behind the expansion, he is building an impressive Istituto Marangoni advisory board in the Americas that consists of names like Esteban Cortazar, Craig Robins, Carlo D’Amario, Oscar Feldenkreis, Karla Martinez, Milan Vukmirovic, Paula Cademartori and more.
He also is curating a high-profile team of leaders for the new campus, which includes Massimo Casagrande (who is an Istituto Marangoni alumnus, founder of his own menswear label and former Versace designer) as director of education and Pablo Arbelaez as school director.
“We were looking to create a new global fashion destination and selected Miami for its existing international allure and for its need for a firmly established fashion school. The city’s rapid growth in the design and art categories, coupled with its accessibility to Latin America, made it the perfect choice for us,” Baykam said.
“Miami already has the groundwork for success, and we feel that a brand of Istituto Marangoni’s caliber will take the city to the next level.
This new campus is just the first step to developing a fashion hub that will be taken seriously around the world.”
The academic curricula will follow teaching methods that Istituto Marangoni has been strengthening for more than 80 years. The school, which offers associate, BA and master’s programs, will be anchored by values that were “Made in Italy” but also will blend with the city’s unique cultural elements, such as the local emphasis on sustainability and innovation. This includes integrating forward-thinking and sustainable practices into the course programming and looking at Miami’s commitment to resilience to shape the overall DNA of the campus.
Istituto Marangoni also will uphold the brand’s own international imprint of “Italianness,” which seeks to contextualize theoretical teachings in a way that promotes creative platforms and potential opportunities for students and alumni. The concept will be new for the U.S. and will reinvent the fashion industry of Miami.
The Miami School will feature impressive course offerings beginning with short courses in winter of 2018.
For more information, visit: istitutomarangoni.com/en/.
