When you think of acclaimed fashion schools, New York City or Milan often come to mind as the destination. Lucky for us, Istituto Marangoni’s new location in the posh Miami Design District is here to provide an exciting opportunity to study fashion with an Italian imprint that you won’t find anywhere else in the Americas. Haute Living sat down with Roberto Riccio, Group Managing Director of the Istituto Marangoni Group, about what makes Istituto Marangoni different from other fashion schools in the U.S.
In 1935, Istituto Marangoni’s founder, Giulio Marangoni, wondered how future talent would be able to learn fashion. “Giulio Marangoni asked himself if fashion can be taught,” says Riccio. Marangoni believed you could, in fact, teach fashion and he took a chance. He decided to create the Istituto Artistico dell’Abbigliamento Marangoni, or the Marangoni Artistic Clothing Institute in Milan. At the time Marangoni founded the Institue, fashion was still known to be in Paris. Designers like Coco Chanel were the main figures due to haute couture being the dominant force. “There was no fashion in Italy at the time,” Riccio states.
Although France was the fashion capital at the time, Marangoni believed Italy had much to offer and provided various stimuli to help designers evoke inspiration. “We are surrounded by beauty. The beauty and aesthetics are the fundamentals of Istituto Marangoni’s philosophy,” Riccio explains.
Istituto Marangoni, renowned for the high academic standards and celebrity alumni, attracts the best young talent. The institution consistently plays a key role in shaping global fashion trends and holds the merit of creating some of the biggest names in the industry, including Domenico Dolce, Franco Moschino, Alessandro Sartori (Zegna Group Creative Director), Paula Cademartori, Julie de Libran (Artistic Director of Sonia Rykiel), Rocco Iannone (Creative Director of Pal Zileri), Maurizio Pecoraro brand owner and Istituto Marangoni’s International Fashion Chair) and more.
Eighty-three years later, Marangoni’s mission to teach fashion, art and design at an undergraduate and graduate level is still going strong. It currently educates 4,000 students per year from 107 countries at its schools, located in Milano (the School of Fashion and the School of Design), Firenze (School of Fashion & Art), Paris, London, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Mumbai and Miami, the international capitals of fashion, design and luxury.
The school, which offers Associate, Bachelor and Master programs, will be anchored by values that were ‘Made in Italy’ but will also blend with Miami’s unique cultural elements, such as the local emphasis on sustainability and innovation. This includes integrating forward-thinking and sustainable practices into the course programming and looking at Miami’s commitment to resilience to shape the overall DNA of the campus. Istituto Marangoni will also uphold the brand’s own international imprint of ‘Italianness,’ which seeks to contextualize theoretical teachings in a way that promotes creative platforms and potential opportunities for students and alumni. The concept will be brand new for the U.S. and will reinvent the fashion industry of Miami.
Working with some of the most recognized names in fashion and design, teachers are able to pass on their expertise to their students, creating a worldwide fashion legacy. Part of the amazing opportunity that comes with attending the institution includes constant contact with the best companies in fashion and design, who look to the Istituto for new individuals to work in their companies.
Istituto Marangoni’s classroom layout mirrors the style of the industry, which prepares the students to be ready for any job in the fashion industry they choose. “We are able to prepare students perfectly for what should happen on day one,” adds Riccio. The students are also taught how to hand-draw their sketches—something that may seem to be outdated and looked over at other fashion schools and programs throughout the world.
Miami is Istituto Marangoni’s first location in both North and South America. With Miami’s growing fashion and art scene, the city has become an area designers love. Its proximity to Europe, the Caribbean and South America make it an ideal location for the school. “I think that I can be proud to say Istituto Marangoni was one of the pillars to support the development of Italian fashion in the world and is now practically everywhere,” Riccio voices.
The prestigious institution will now deliver the brand’s proven and unparalleled education model to students throughout the U.S. and Latin America.
Hakan Baykam, president of the new school, has identified the unique opportunity in Miami to pioneer a new fashion hub. As the visionary behind the expansion, he is building an impressive Istituto Marangoni Advisory Board in the Americas that consists of names like Esteban Cortazar, Craig Robins, Carlo D’Amario, Oscar Feldenkreis, Karla Martinez, Milan Vukmirovic, Paula Cademartori and more. He is also curating a high-profile team of leaders for the new campus, which includes Massimo Casagrande (an Istituto Marangoni alumnus, founder of his own menswear label and former Versace designer) as Director of Education and Pablo Arbelaez as School Director.
“We were looking to create a new global fashion destination and selected Miami for its existing international allure and for its need for a firmly established fashion school. The city’s rapid growth in the design and art categories coupled with its accessibility to Latin America made it the perfect choice for us,” said Baykam. “Miami already has the groundwork for success, and we feel that a brand of Istituto Marangoni’s caliber will take the city to the next level. This new campus is just the first step to developing a fashion hub that will be taken seriously around the world.”
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