Design Central

Roberto Riccio, Managing Director of Istituto Marangoni – Europe’s premier fashion and design school – talks to Youth Inc about his institute’s unique philosophy, its courses and also the prospect of opening a centre here in India

What separates Istituto Marangoni from other institutes?

Establishing oneself by differentiation, this is something that people learn from our school.

We believe in business vision, which is why through our courses we think out students, should learn about marketing, image, style, photography etc. If you are able to understand all these aspects and put it together this business will be a success. In 1979, Georgio Armani believed that there should be something for the middle class. Everybody would like to own an Armani, but few cannot afford it. That gave rise to Armani Exchange.

Fashion is an amazing business, but it is important to do it in the right way. You need to know the link between the media and image, to be able to present yourself in the right way. Armani didn’t start out as a designer, for many years he worked at one of the biggest malls in Milan; this also the case with many other persons.

At Istituto we want to provide an experience, we don’t want to sell a course. This is also one of the reasons why we are in the centre of cities in Milan, Shanghai, London and Paris. Location for us is very important because you need to live that experience. This is also why we encourage a year in Europe because of the whole experience that comes with it. So, even if we do launch a centre in India, we suggest a year in Europe to enhance the learning experience. To give you an example, teachers bring to class a product from one of the many stores in the vicinity like Milan, London or Paris following which discussions are held in class.

What are Istituto’s prospects in terms of jobs and internships?

Istituto is connected to 100 industries or around 80 years. Just to give you an example, we have meetings to discuss our courses with external organisations. As usual they make and audit of the strength of the institute. For this they also invite a certain number of delegates. One among them, the global HR director from Dolce and Gabbana stated that out of 27 students 23 were recruited from Istituto Marangoni. I believe this has a lot to do with the teaching methodology, the ambience and a lot of other factors that make students ready for jobs in the future.

Where does India in terms of fashion and design on a global scale?

India needs to get onto the second level of fashion. Right now, India looks only at internal and local markets. For the country to do well in the international sphere in terms of fashion, external markets need to be tapped and approached.

In terms of design, India is still at a nascent stage. But, I think in the next 10 years, with the country’s growing population and economy, it will get to the top.

Can you explain the purpose of the short term courses offered?

Short term courses have been designed to give students a flavour of Istituto’s Italian heritage and teaching styles. It is also designed for those who wish to pursue our full-time courses, but are lacking in terms of finances. Our aim is to make our education accessible to all those interested in it.

Were there any new courses started this year?

This year we introduced a new course called Fashion and the Cities. It’s a versatile course that encourages travel and learning across the different Istituto Marangoni campuses over the course of 4 weeks. No doubt it is an expensive course, but it is completely worth it as a student studies fashion on a global scale through a single course.

Any plans for expansion to India?

There are very interesting creative minds in India which is why we are discussing the prospects of opening a school here. For Marangoni it is more about providing an experience by keeping in mind locality, location and several other factors. Hence it is something that will take time as all these factors have to fall perfectly into place. Even if a school is established in the near future, we would recommend that students go to Europe for a semester just to get the right kind of exposure.