by Mira W.
Accademia Costume & Moda presents the Industry Project developed in collaboration with Maison Valentino for the Master in Alta Moda, Fashion Design. The 18 students involved in the project had the opportunity to engage directly with Alessandro Michele, Creative Director of Valentino and ACM alumnus, together with Yvan Mispelaere, Design Director Haute Couture Valentino, who personally followed every stage of the journey — from the launch of the brief to the mid-review and final presentation of the collections — accompanying the students through moments of dialogue, critique and in-depth creative exchange.
The project was coordinated by Santo Costanzo, Head of Fashion Department at Accademia Costume & Moda and Coordinator of the Master’s Programme.
At the core of the brief was the relationship between the Apollonian and the Dionysian: two opposing yet complementary principles that run through the history of art and aesthetic thought, here translated into a reflection on contemporary Couture. On one side, measure, structure and the discipline of form; on the other, instinct, metamorphosis and expressive freedom. Starting from this creative tension, students explored the identity codes of the Roman Couture Maison — artisanal techniques, embellishment and sartorial construction — developing collections capable of combining personal research, design awareness and a contemporary vision.
Throughout the project, students experienced every stage of the creative and sartorial development of a Couture collection, engaging in research, experimentation and garment construction. Through the study of volumes, proportions and silhouette, each proposal took shape through intensive atelier work involving moulage, embroidery, material manipulation and artisanal craftsmanship developed over months of design practice. Hours of hand construction, fittings, transformations and technical research enabled students to engage directly with the complexity and language of contemporary Alta Moda.
The uniqueness of the project lies precisely in the nature of the collaboration with Valentino: not a symbolic or occasional presence, but a genuine and generous dialogue with the Maison’s Creative Director. For the 18 students, it represented a rare opportunity to experience the creative process of Couture in its most authentic dimension — one shaped by research, construction and transformation. The opportunity to share months of research, dialogue and creative development in close contact with the Maison Valentino transformed this experience into something deeply formative, human and creative, leaving students with an experience destined to stay with them over time.
