First Level Academic Diploma in Fashion Design - IED Firenze

Language

Italian, English

Start date

January 2026
October 2026

Frequency

Full time

Fruition

On campus

Duration

3 Years

Credits

180 CFA/ECTS

Course Coordination

Vivetta Ponti

Course also available in:

Cagliari
Milan
Rome
Turin

The Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Design at IED Firenze combines craftsmanship and technology, offering a pathway where manual skills interact with the most advanced digital tools. The programme provides a comprehensive preparation oriented towards the future, while remaining rooted in traditional knowledge.

Balancing practical expertise with theoretical study, the proximity to Prato – a leading district in sustainable textiles – enables an immersive experience in both industrial and artisanal processes within the sector.

Course structure and contents:

The IED programme spans three years, during which design is integrated with cultural knowledge, dialogue with professionals, technical skill development, and the use of innovative tools.

Year One: Establishes a solid and transversal foundation, integrating technical, cultural, and design tools for an informed first approach to fashion design. Courses combine theoretical subjects such as fashion history and art semiotics with practical disciplines including pattern-making, graphic design, and textile culture, translating creative intuition into structured projects. Students begin to develop a personal design language, producing initial prototypes in denim and natural fibres. Sustainability is emphasised through upcycling practices and textile manipulation. At the end of the year, students may choose a specialisation in clothing or accessories, while maintaining an integrated approach to the total look.

Year Two: Dedicated to experimentation and the definition of individual style. Projects move closer to professional contexts through capsule collections inspired by international brands, with teaching guiding the entire creative process – from research to concept, through to product communication. Workshops, competitions, and interdisciplinary activities enrich the pathway, allowing students to personalise their training. Theoretical studies expand to include photography history, marketing, and communication. Design skills deepen according to the chosen specialisation: clothing or accessories and footwear. Students work on specific prototypes such as knitwear pieces and genderless looks, or, in the accessories minor, leather goods and footwear components.

Year Three: Focused on developing a personal collection that reflects the student’s stylistic identity, designed within a simulated professional context where new materials, tailoring techniques, and visual languages are explored. Theoretical subjects such as phenomenology of contemporary arts and film analysis broaden critical and cultural perspectives. The thesis project, developed with faculty support, includes a professional portfolio, complete outfits, physical prototypes, and visual materials for concept presentation.

Final outputs may range from ready-to-wear collections to experimental fashion product projects, from accessory and footwear lines developed in collaboration with local companies to sustainable capsules created with innovative fabrics and digital printing techniques.

Faculty

Mentor

Elisa Pervinca Bellini

Mentor

Course Coordinator

Vivetta Ponti

Luca Parenti

Art Director    

Guido Riccitelli

Fashion Professor

Simona Ciacchi

Creative Designer    

Domenico Strecapede

Antonella Pilichi

Fashion Designer    

Emanuele Poli

Designer

Leonardo Galeassi

Livia Ridondelli

Fashion Designer

Virginia Fani

University Lecturer    

Marco Innocenti

Art Director

Giovanni Iozzi

Professor

Rita Quinto

Designer

Susanna Spoto

Professor

Stefania Pelliccia

Illustrator    

Elisabetta Digiugno

Art Historian

Rodolfo Bargelli

Professor

Eva Di Franco

Fashion Designer    

Laura Corvino

Fashion Designer

Jl Young Hur

Accessory Designer    

Walter Bolognino

Graphic Designer and Art Director

Pier Fioraso

Art-Creative Director

Renato Stasi

Designer

Serena Signorini

Chiara Mosti

Fashion Professor

Giuseppe Moretti

Professor

Sara Piccolo Paci

Professor and Author

Projects

Fashion Design and Styling

Florence

Final projects / thesis projects
Anomalia

Fashion Design and Styling

Florence

CIEMMECI Group

Fashion Design and Styling

Florence

Amorfo

Fashion Design and Styling

Florence

Maeba International

News

01 December 2025

AQU Catalunya and IED Barcelona begin a mass survey to gauge the satisfaction of recent graduates

More than 60,000 people who finished their university and artistic studies last year will receive the survey, which will serve to improve the degrees currently being taught. Participants will be entered into a prize draw for the latest generation iPhone.

Tres premios a Alumni y estudiantes IED Madrid durante el mes de noviembre: Premio Nacional de Innovacion, Frame Awards & Premio Antalia Decora

28 November 2025

Three awards for IED Madrid alumni and students in November: National Innovation Award, Frame Awards & Antalia Decora

Federico Sáinz de Robles wins the National Innovation Award with his brand Sepiia, while Lucas Muñoz receives the FRAME Editor's Pick mention for his COLAB project for Sancal and Jacobo López del Hierro Llopis wins third prize at Antalia Decora

14 November 2025

From all over the world to Turin: IED welcomes its new international students

Two days between campus spaces and the city center, where new international students, guided by a treasure hunt, started to find their way, meet each other, and grow as a group

10 November 2025

The brand Sepiia wins the National Innovation Award in the Innovative Small and Medium Enterprise category

The brand created by Federico Sáinz de Robles, IED Madrid alumnus, establishes itself as a leading company in resource saving and sustainable fashion

06 November 2025

Casa IED opens in New York: a new space for design culture and creative exchange

In Williamsburg, the creative heart of New York, Casa IED has opened as the first of the spaces that IED will dedicate to cultural exchange and collaborative design.

03 November 2025

2 IED Barcelona alumni bring their brands to the Barcelona Fashion Forward pop-up

Until 22 November, Guillermo Justicia and Laia Canales's firm, Alaire, two of the four winners of the 6th edition of this fashion entrepreneurship program, are presenting their collections in a pop-up shop at the Trent space.

28 October 2025

Elna Solans, IED Barcelona alumnus, triumphs in the 13th edition of the Rec.0 and 080 Barcelona Fashion emerging brands competition

With her brand D’Ars, she has won this award recognizing her as the best emerging fashion proposal in the region.

28 October 2025

IED opens Fashion Graduate Italia 2025 with the best of its Fashion Designers

Eight creatives from the Italian campuses of the IED network take to the runway at BASE with their graduation collections

23 October 2025

Danilo Venturi, Director of IED Milan, took part in Miami Fashion Week.

On the occasion of Miami Fashion Week, Danilo Venturi, Director of IED Milan, took part as moderator of the panel titled “The Digital Stitch: Empowering the Next Generation with CLO3D.” The discussion featured Saul Kapilivsky (Assistant Professor, MFI) and Marz Klimaszewska (Business Development, CLO Virtual Fashion) in a conversation dedicated to the role of technology in educating the next generation of fashion professionals.