‘Manifattura’: Polimoda opens second fashion campus in Florence

Italian fashion school Polimoda unveils Manifattura, a new campus located in Florence at the former Manifattura Tabacchi cigar factory.

Manifattura was presented on October 15, 2024 by Ferruccio Ferragamo, chairman of Polimoda, and Massimiliano Giornetti, director of the fashion school, in the presence of the mayor of Florence, Sara Funaro.

Stretching over 10,000 square metres, the campus includes laboratories for the design and manufacture of garments, a wing dedicated to footwear, accessories and leather goods, an entire floor devoted to research into knitwear and textiles, and six photography studios.

Drawing rooms, lecture halls and computer laboratories complete the facility. Two warehouses ensure the sourcing of supplies: fabrics, leathers, sewing accessories and leather goods.

At the heart of the campus is a multifunctional auditorium, designed to host traditional courses as well as events such as conferences, discussions and cultural events that are open to the city.

‘We are developing new programmes, including courses in costume design, fashion film and photography, men's tailoring techniques, law and fashion archives,’ Massimiliano Giornetti said in a release.

Walter Van Beirendonck, Peter Pilotto and Rick Owens to visit Polimoda during new academic year

For the 2024/2025 academic year, Polimoda is introducing Walter Van Beirendonck as a mentor for its master degree in fashion design, and Peter Pilotto, who will teach on the bachelor degree programme in fashion design.

In addition, the school's close collaboration with the fashion industry has been strengthened by the contributions of James Ferragamo of Ferragamo, Vogue Italia's Francesca Ragazzi and Matteo Ward of WRAD Consulting.

The 'An/Archive' creative hub is a pillar of the new Polimoda campus. It is a lively, accessible space for research, meetings and events based around iconic pieces by leading designers.

To kick off the opening of the new campus, Massimiliano Giornetti has announced the acquisition of two works by Rick Owens. These two silhouettes will be explained in class by Ahmad Daher, head of women's design at Rick Owens, and Aurora Fiorentini, costume and fashion historian.

The other key element of An/Archive will be the Polimoda Library, currently located on the Villa Favard campus, the historic Florentine complex and Polimoda's central location. This library contains over 29,000 volumes, including monographs, photography books, specialist magazines, videos and lookbooks.

This article was originally published on FashionUnited.FR, translated from French into English with the help of an AI-tool and edited by Veerle Versteeg.