October 17, 2024

Polimoda's new Manifattura Campus at the Manifattura Tabacchi in Florence

The new venue joins the historic Villa Farvard, forming one beautiful hub for fashion education

With the start of the Academic Year 2024/2025, Polimoda inaugurates the new Manifattura Campus at the Manifattura Tabacchi in Florence. This is an important milestone in the development of the educational project for fashion for which the Florentine institute has been a spokesman since 1986. This is the birth of a true creative ecosystem designed to place fashion at the centre of a synchronous dialogue with other disciplines, fostering that interaction that reflects the contemporary evolution of the fashion system.

‘Since its foundation in 1986, Polimoda has established itself as a centre of excellence for fashion education. The opening of this renovated and extended campus represents a fundamental step towards the future. With over 15,000 square metres, more than 10,000 of which are dedicated to workshops, Polimoda is the only fashion school in Italy and among the first in Europe to have a structure of this level,’ explains President Ferruccio Ferragamo.

The Manifattura Campus redefines the standards of education in the fashion system: modern, multifunctional spaces house technologically advanced classrooms and laboratories, designed to faithfully reflect the environment and equipment of the industry. Covering more than 10,000 square metres, the campus includes numerous laboratories for design and garment making, a new wing dedicated to footwear and accessories production and leather processing, an entire floor dedicated to knitwear and textile research, as well as six photographic studios of different sizes. Spaces for drawing, theory classrooms and computer laboratories with software and technology for design and publishing complete the facility. Two tailoring and leather goods supply shops and an archive of fabrics and leathers complete the facilities and guarantee constantly updated resources.

In a single structure, students can explore every aspect of fashion: design, accessories design, pattern making, prototyping, fashion styling, art direction, fashion photography, communication, and many more. This integrated vision favours not only a complete education of the student, but also active collaboration between the different disciplines and courses of study, simulating the real dynamics of the working world.

Finally, in the heart of the campus, a multifunctional lecture hall, designed to host not only traditional lectures, but also events such as conferences, talks and cultural meetings open to the city.

Polimoda thus confirms itself as the first institute in Italy, and among the leaders in the world, to propose a vision that is as bold as it is integrated in fashion education, attracting talents from all over the world to Florence. In a multicultural and cosmopolitan environment, fundamental values such as diversity, inclusiveness and sustainability are fully integrated in the renewal concept that guides the institute. With the new opening, Polimoda exceeds 15,000 square metres of space for fashion education, capable of accommodating over 2000 students. The two campuses in Manifattura Tabacchi and Villa Favard, located close to each other, form a single hub for fashion education.