FERRAGAMO INDUSTRY PROJECT | MASTER IN ACCESSORIES DESIGN

Florence is not just a city. For those who study accessories, it is a symbolic place where heritage, craftsmanship and contemporary vision converge. It is precisely here that the new Industry Project began, with Ferragamo once again confirming its collaboration and trust in the Master in Accessories Design at Accademia Costume & Moda for the current academic year.

An important signal, strengthening a concrete dialogue between education and industry, and offering students the opportunity to engage with a brand that represents one of the most authentic expressions of Italian luxury worldwide.

The launch of the brief was far more than an introductory moment; it was a full immersion into the Ferragamo universe. Students walked through the Piano Nobile of Palazzo Spini Feroni, the historic headquarters of the maison, absorbing a legacy built on innovation, research and a deep culture of design. The visit to the Museo allowed them to trace the evolution of the brand through its most iconic creations, understanding how tradition and experimentation coexist in a refined balance.

The experience continued at the Osmannoro headquarters, where narrative turned into process. Entering the Archive means engaging with decades of research into materials, forms and detailing; observing the Handbag Modelling Department up close reveals how a creative intuition becomes structure, proportion and function. In these spaces, design moves beyond vision and becomes method, precision and strategy.

The brief assigned to students reflects this very tension between aesthetics and performance. The project, “Sophisticated Everyday Tote”, challenges them to develop a new line of refined tote bags for daily use, independent from existing collections, capable of combining timeless elegance with contemporary functionality. This is not an abstract exercise, but a proposal conceived for a high-end positioning, with careful attention to premium materials, the integration of iconic hardware elements, sustainability and commercial coherence.

Working on a project of this calibre means engaging with real constraints, with a clearly defined brand language and with precise expectations. It means learning to design not only objects, but systems of value.

It is through experiences like this that one truly understands what it means to be trained for the luxury accessories industry: entering the places where collections are conceived, engaging with the professionals who develop them, and translating creativity into a concrete and credible proposal.

When education and brand share vision and ambition, the outcome is not merely an academic project, but an authentic step into the future of design.