Executive changes at IED: Danilo Venturi to manage Milan office, new director in Florence

Fashion and design school IED has announced changes to the management of two of its main locations. In the context of its development plan, the Italian institution has named Danilo Venturi director of IED Milan, with Benedetta Lenzi set to occupy the Florence office Venturi has been managing since 2022.

Danilo Venturi comes from a multidisciplinary background and has broad experience in fashion and education, as per a news article on the IED website. At IED Florence, the executive has carried out IED’s expansion strategy that allowed the Florence office to extend its campus and create multiple locations throughout the city.

It all started with the historic headquarters in Florence’s Via Bufalini. In 2023, the fashion workshop at Palazzo Pucci was added and more recently IED opened the Polo delle Arti Digitali e Visive in the spaces of the former Teatro dell'Oriuolo.

Benedetta Lenzi has more than 15 years of professional experience with the art and design system. She will focus on further expanding the international reach of the Florence office.

IED: Danilo Venturi new head of Milan office, Benedetta Lenzi to manage Florence

The IED Group's expansion plan also involves the historic Milan headquarters and its development in the area to be redeveloped in the Ex Macello where the future IED international campus will be built.

The Istituto Europeo di Design has a well-established presence in Milan, the city where it was founded and ‘where a dialogue with the creative, entrepreneurial and institutional fabric is present’, the news article reads.

In addition to the school being involved in important city events such as the Salone del Mobile and Fuorisalone, Milan Fashion Week, Milan Digital Week and PianoCity to name but a few.

Commenting on the news in a release, Danilo Venturi, said: “In the IED educational model, art inspires, design contributes to design sense, fashion creates identity awareness and communication has an impact on society. Each sector benefits from the other.”

He continued: “This is what happens between the IED Group's locations: in the permanent dialogue between Milan, Florence, Rome, Turin, Cagliari and with Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao, the exchange and benefit are reciprocal and continuous, this model keeps the system alive and allows it to always respond to new challenges.”

“Accepting the direction of the Milan office means continuing a project path begun in Florence and at the same time preserving an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary training model and pursuing an international ambition,” the new director of IED Milan said.

Benedetta Lenzi added on her part: “‘I am honoured to have been called to join the team of the European Institute of Design and to be able to give my contribution to a group that is confirmed as one of the most innovative realities in the international design scenario.”

“Directing IED Florence, which is based in a unique cultural context, will be a continuous source of inspiration,” she continued.

“I therefore consider it strategic to continue to strengthen relations with the territory, with institutions, the art museum sector and the textile industry, making the creativity and talents of our students available to them to network towards new projects,” she conclude