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Dubai: Legendary Italian fashion school opens new campus

Istituto Marangoni will offer several three-year undergraduate courses

Dubai is now home to a boutique fashion school that aims to blend an innovative learning experience with Italian expertise to enhance local talent and shape the future of the UAE fashion and design industry.

Istituto Marangoni, one of the world's leading fashion and design schools, officially opened its campus at the Dubai International Financial District on Tuesday.

The institute will offer a range of three-year undergraduate studies, including interior design, product design, visual design, fashion and accessories design, fashion business and fashion styling and creative direction. It will also offer professional and short courses covering different aspects of the fashion and design industry. Classes for the new students' intake will commence on September 19.

"We are looking forward to welcoming our students and to help them transform their talents and passions into a professional career," says Roberto La Iacona, School Director - Istituto Marangoni Dubai.

He adds, "Since 1935 Istituto Marangoni's mission has always been to empower talents. Some of the internationally-recognised and award-winning fashion and design stars, including Domenico Dolce, Franco Moschino, Alessandro Sartori, Rahul Mishra and Rafael Lopez graduated from Istituto Marangoni and we now want to support the growth and development of the UAE fashion, design and creative industry by educating a new generation of local talents."

Located at Gate 8 at the DIFC, Istituto Marangoni Dubai offers students a contemporary and stylish environment equipped with all the industry- and sector-specific facilities, including a drawing and sketching room, pattern and cutting room, fabric library, fashion and design book library and an outdoor terrace.

The realisation of the 1,050 square metre campus was directed by the Italian architect Giulio Cappellini who also designed furniture pieces, including chairs, tables and sofas used for the school.

Istituto Marangoni also has campuses in Paris, London, Mumbai, Miami, and Florence.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, earlier, Stefania Valenti, Managing Director at Istituto Marangoni, said, "As per our research, we felt that the Middle East was an ideal destination to create such an institution here because there are a lot of luxury brands here. There is an appetite for a culture that is very focused on luxury whether it is jewellery, accessories, or any other fashion collection."

She adds, "Two years ago, before Covid, we analysed the market here, and we got some insights that seemed very encouraging. It was evident that there was a lack of higher education in a vertical institution focused on fashion as a core business, multimedia arts and visual arts. There are institutions that are positioning themselves more toward interior and visual design. So, we understood the potential for us to be here, to bring a boutique school with a classroom that has a maximum of 20 students."

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She further underlined the school would have a specific methodological approach that is "learning by doing".

Valenti added, "We will teach students not only theoretically, but there'll be a lot of laboratory work where the students would create prototypes and collections as part of their course curriculum. The finalisation of specific collection and fashion styling would entail a lot of shooting and creation of projects related to its promotion utilising different tools. They will also be taught about new content production activity related to online syndication."