MILAN — Polimoda will open its third outpost next year.
The Italian fashion school, which already operates campuses at Villa Favard in the heart of Florence and in Scandicci, a stone’s throw from the Tuscan city, will inaugurate a new location inside one of the city’s most impressive industrial monuments, the Manifattura Tabacchi, which dates back to the Forties. The complex was originally dedicated to the production of tobacco goods and had been abandoned since 2001.
Polimoda will take over the 645,835-square-foot “Edificio dell’Orologio,” a four-story building that will accommodate 800 people in several classrooms, photographic studios, art rooms, laboratories, computer rooms and an auditorium.
“We are proud to hit this new milestone both because of what it means to us as a school and what it means to the city of Florence,” said Polimoda president Ferruccio Ferragamo. “This is the third branch we have opened over the course of barely 10 years in a territory that we feel is at the very core of our DNA and identity. Like other international fashion schools, Polimoda has made a point of blending into the urban fabric and giving back to the city by rehabilitating historic buildings for public use, thus creating new centers for culture, beauty and knowledge.”
While the inauguration of the third campus is slated for 2019, in October Polimoda will open a temporary location on the ground floor of another building inside the Manifattura Tabacchi, where the fashion school will also host its annual closing fashion show on June 12 during the 94th edition of men’s wear trade show Pitti Uomo.
The investment in the development of an additional campus is due to the increased number of students attending Polimoda, which this current academic year saw its business up 34 percent compared to the 2016-17 academic year.