At 80, Marangoni Institute looks to conquer the world

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Mar 23, 2015

The Istituto Marangoni is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year with a series of initiatives and ambitious plans to expand. Among its most famous students are Franco Moschino, Alessandra Facchinetti (Tod's), Julie de Libran (Sonia Rykiel) Alessandro Sartori (Berluti), Rodolfo Paglialunga (Jil Sander), Andrea Pompilio (Canali) and Umit Benam...

Founded in 1935, the venerable Milanese fashion school, which has trained 45,000 students from 92 different nationalities over the course of nearly a century, is now looking to export its "Italian flair" across the globe.

"Our goal is to convey Italian fashion, which is the result of a heritage of local craftsmanship as well as a strong sense of aesthetics, to young aspiring designers worldwide. We want to go where Italian fashion is imitated and desired, invest in these countries where we’ll find new emerging fashion talents in ten years," said the intsitute’s managing director, Roberto Riccio. 

The Istituto Marangoni has 5 Schools: two in Milan (one dedicated to fashion and the other to design), one in London in 2001, one in Paris opened in 2006, as well as a training center in Shanghai that was opened in 2012. It’s the "training center" format that the institution would like to roll out globally, but this time in partnership with local investors, while all the teachers will be Italian.   

This "shortened" school cycle format will offer training courses for only two years, with the opportunity for students to complete a third year at the European Marangoni Institute locations in order to finalize their education. "This will ensure quality education for foreign students who can’t afford an expensive education in Europe while exporting our Italian savoir-faire," said Roberto Riccio. 

The first 10 'Marangoni training centers' should be opened in Istanbul in 2016, while plans also include new centers in Mexico City, Jakarta, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai.

The Marangoni Institute is also preparing to celebrate its 80th anniversary in style. For the occasion, it will distribute 80 scholarships totaling 1 million dollars. The school has also announced several initiatives throughout the year. 

On the agenda: a gala evening with a fashion show organized in Florence on June 15 (the day before the opening of Pitti Uomo), three days of seminars, a major fashion show during Milan Fashion Week in September organized in partnership with the National Chamber of Italian Fashion, and finally, in October, the publication of a photo-book written by Cristina Morozzi, the school’s director of education, illustrated with pictures of Aldo Fallai.