Polimoda appoints Tim Blanks as mentor of the Master in Fashion Critique and Curation

Tim Blanks, Editor-at-large of The Business of Fashion, is the mentor of the Master in Fashion Critique and Curation at Polimoda. At the Italian fashion school, Blanks will put his experience and knowledge at the disposal of the future generation of fashion critics and curators, trying to encourage students who are “going out into the world with a new set of tools to deal with the future,” Blanks explains during his conversation with Massimiliano Giornetti and Linda Loppa.

Blanks has been reporting on the fashion system for over 30 years with a critical outlook and an independent vision. He hosted CBC’s television series Fashion File and was Editor-at-large of Style.com. Next to that he curated numerous books on fashion, like Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, New Fashion Photography, Dries Van Noten 1-100, Bottega Veneta. Art of Collaboration and his latest, Versace Catwalk: The Complete Collections. At the 2013 CFDA Awards, he was awarded the Media Award in honor of Eugenia Sheppard, the premier industry award for fashion journalism.

The Master in Fashion Critique and Curation will teach students how to develop an independent and strong critique on fashion, understand the possibilities of storytelling and communication and explore the importance of words. “The written word can be used to (...) express things in a very different way from an image,” notes Blanks. “I know one picture is worth 1,000 words, but if the 1,000 words are fabulous words, you’re still going to want the 1,000 words.” The course also aims at establishing an open conversation with students to explore not only communication but fashion history, criticism and culture. “I think that it is very important to communicate the depth of fashion to the student, to communicate the breadth of it as well, the history, the richness, the personalities.”

The new Master will launch in April 2022, and is a 32-week course taught in English. The course aims to shape free thinkers that seek to be the new critical voices of contemporary fashion, capable of influencing the fashion system with their narrative, from the editorial industry to exhibition spaces to social media and the metaverse.

Photo: Polimoda