MANIFESTO
Being, to know where we come from.
Becoming, to imagine what does not yet exist.
Two complementary forces run through the history of Accademia Costume & Moda. One safeguards the roots, culture and sense of responsibility that define us. The other drives us to explore, experiment and open new paths.
Together, they express who we are and how we choose to evolve.
“Students should not imitate, but learn to recognise themselves: only then can their identity become culture and community.”
Being
Roots
Being means understanding what has shaped us: the roots that ground us, the values that guide our choices and the community to which we belong.
History
A living legacy, capable of continuing to generate knowledge and new meaning.
Culture
Knowledge as a tool for understanding the present and nurturing the creative process.
Stewardship
Caring for what has been entrusted to us and passing it on, improved, to those who come after us.
Identity
Recognising our roots and transforming them into a personal language.
Ethics
Embracing moral and professional principles as a tangible part of our choices.
Loyalty
Act with respect, trust and integrity towards yourself and the community.
Inclusivity
Embracing differences and transforming them into a collective strength.
Becoming
Beginnings
Questioning what we know, exploring unexpected possibilities and having the courage to give shape to what does not yet exist.
Creativity
Give shape to the new and imagine beyond what already exists.
Authenticity
Having the courage to express oneself without imitation.
Individuality
Recognising every student as a unique and unrepeatable journey.
Innovation
Embracing technology, new languages and the transformations shaping the industry.
Vision
Understanding the present, imagining tomorrow and preparing to build it.
Research
Observing, exploring and experimenting in order to interpret the contemporary world.
Sustainability
Acting responsibly towards the planet, people and future generations.
We exist for our students
So that their identity
can become culture,
community and evolution
Every student arrives at ACM with a personal story, perspective and sensitivity. Our role is to create the conditions in which they can recognise, nurture and transform these qualities into a conscious presence in the world.
Education means accompanying each student on a journey in which talent, knowledge and discipline develop together, until they become the ability to interpret the present and contribute to its evolution.
A bridge between those who imagine
and those who make.
Education and industry in dialogue to generate shared value and real impact
Creativity does not grow in isolation. It needs culture, exchange, expertise, materials and relationships. It needs to engage with those who produce, communicate and organise, and with those who transform an intuition into something real.
This is why we see education as a bridge: between students and companies, thought and realisation, personal expression and collective responsibility.
ACM operates within the fashion, costume and creative industries, connecting their different components so that knowledge, craftsmanship and professional experience can continuously enrich one another.
“Fashion does not emerge on its own: it is a continuous dialogue between those who create and those who produce, between those who dream and those who make. Without this encounter, there is no future.”
MISSION
Transforming uniqueness into expertise.
Bringing together design and craftsmanship,
culture and innovation
Our role is to provide every student with the cultural, creative, technical and professional tools they need to give shape to their own vision.
For ACM, expertise is not simply about knowing how to make. It comes from the ability to understand what one creates, to know the materials and processes that make it possible, to articulate one’s choices and to assess their impact.
This is why research and practice, intuition and method, experimentation and rigour develop together. Talent becomes conscious capability: the ability to choose, act and contribute.
“Culture is not only knowledge, it is awareness: the ability to transform what we know into responsibility towards others.”
Rosana Pistolese
We were born from an intuition.
We continue because of the determination to pursue it.
In the 1960s, when fashion in Italy was still regarded primarily as a tailoring discipline, Rosana Pistolese recognised it as a field of knowledge, research and culture.
Her vision connected costume and fashion with their ethical, social and economic contexts. History was not a repertoire to imitate, but something to understand, deconstruct and reconstruct so that it could generate new ways of thinking.
From this intuition, Accademia Costume & Moda was founded in 1964: a laboratory of ideas in which culture, design, technique, industry and society could be understood together.
Safeguarded by Fiamma Lanzara and today carried forward by her sons, Lupo Lanzara and Furio Francini, the third generation leading the Academy, this legacy continues to evolve alongside the students, faculty, professionals, companies and communities that make up ACM.
The continuity of family leadership preserves the institution’s independence and long-term perspective: innovating without losing sight of where we come from, and growing while keeping our responsibility towards students at the centre.
A community nurtured
by a family
in service of its students
We see every student as a unique and unrepeatable journey. Education does not mean standardising talent, but helping individuals recognise it, challenge it and giving them the tools and relationships they need to develop.
Faculty, professionals and companies do not convey a single idea of fashion. They open up perspectives, raise questions and support each student in developing a personal language.
The result is not an ACM aesthetic to be replicated. It is the ability to develop a distinctive voice and make it relevant to its time.
Made in Italy
is our constant companion
For ACM, Made in Italy is not an abstract reference. It is a living system of culture, materials, expertise, territories and people.
From tailoring to manufacturing, from costume for theatre and cinema to industrial development, the Italian ability to bring together design thinking, technical knowledge and quality of execution is embedded in the way we teach.
This is why design and craftsmanship are never separated. The hand informs thought, technique opens up creative possibilities, and engaging with those who make turns an idea into something more precise and considered.
Safeguarding this culture means enabling it to continue evolving.
From Costume to Fashion
From Communication to Business
For ACM, fashion is a cultural, creative, productive and economic system. None of its dimensions can be fully understood in isolation from the others.
Design, making, communication and business are distinct yet interdependent languages. Together, they allow students to understand the complexity of the system and to engage beyond the boundaries of their own discipline.
We educate professionals who are capable not only of entering this system, but of contributing to its evolution.
A vision gains value
when it becomes experience
ACM’s principles guide the way education is designed and experienced every day.
The person comes before the professional profile.
The aim is not to produce interchangeable professionals, but to develop solid skills around an authentic identity.
Culture and practice develop together.
Research engages with design, materials, construction, image, strategy and technology.
Industry is part of the educational experience.
Engagement with companies, manufacturers, professionals and institutions allows students to test their ideas against real interlocutors, processes and responsibilities.
Faculty bring the present into the classroom.
Active industry professionals share expertise and experience developed through practice, keeping education in constant dialogue with a continuously evolving reality.
Every project brings together multiple areas of expertise.
An idea is developed from research to concept, from experimentation to realisation, through to its communication and its relationship with the system in which it will ultimately exist.
It is a method shaped through more than sixty years of relationships, trust and shared work.
One Academy
Accademia Costume & Moda is a laboratory of ideas and research, a space for exchange, participation, self-reflection and communication.
We are independent because we want to continue making responsible choices. We are a family because we believe in continuity, care and the value of relationships. We are a community because no authentic evolution happens alone.
Rooted in Italy and open to the world, we safeguard a culture so that it can continue to transform.
Being, to preserve.
This is our commitment.
This is who we are, every day.