First Level Academic Diploma in Fashion Design - IED Firenze

Language

Italian, English

Start date

October 2026
January 2027

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 artisanal expertise with advanced technologies, fostering a dialogue between tailoring skills and digital tools - from garment construction to 3D design. 

The course offers an immersive learning experience within contemporary fashion processes, with a particular focus on production systems, sustainability, and innovation. Situated in an area known for a well-structured and internationally recognized fashion supply chain, the program turns the local production environment into a real-world laboratory, providing comprehensive future-oriented training grounded in a solid design culture.

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

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
MNEME

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

Professional fashion catwalk with models parading

17 September 2026

IED fashion takes centre stage at 080 Barcelona Fashion

Acceptance Letter (by IED Barcelona lecturer Jeakyong Sim), Compte Spain and L’AMAR (brands founded respectively by IED Madrid alumni Santi Mozas and Nacho Lamar) will take to the catwalk at Spain’s most international fashion event in October.

Crowded stalls of an auditorium

15 September 2026

More than 200 students from 52 nationalities open the 2026-2027 academic year of the IED Barcelona

On 14 September, the Welcome Event welcomed a new generation of creatives and designers joining the undergraduate programmes.

14 September 2026

Chimera – Hybrid Artifacts: Design Connects Turin and São Paulo

Seven bags, two cities and one shared project. A collaboration between Italy and Brazil has evolved into an international design journey, bringing together different cultures, materials and design languages.

11 September 2026

Issue 4: Material World - Plural Intelligences

What happens when we recognize the intelligence of materials and learn to work with it responsibly, collectively, and collaboratively?

11 September 2026

IED Kunsthal Bilbao temporarily transforms Doña Casilda Park with ‘Sareak’

A cross-disciplinary project bringing together nearly 200 members of the community to reflect on contemporary communication through design.

11 September 2026

Peio Santisteban’s “Flores para un monstruo” Wins the IED Madrid Fashion Talent Award 2026

Twelve students from the Fashion Design Bachelor’s Degree at Istituto Europeo di Design Madrid presented their collections for the second consecutive year as part of the OModa Madrid Es Moda programme.

07 September 2026

Fashion show and festival: the IED Public Programme is back

In September, IED's Public Program returns with a calendar of events across its campuses in Italy and Spain, offering opportunities for dialogue, exchange and discovery open to the community and the wider public.

07 September 2026

From Turin to Tokyo: IED and Pioneer Denim bring new visions of denim to the international runway

Projects by students on IED Torino’s Undergraduate Programme in Fashion Design, developed using materials supplied by the company, are heading to Tranoï Tokyo and Denim Première Vision as part of the collaboration with Pioneer Denim, bringing together research, experimentation and product culture.

07 September 2026

IED Madrid Alumni Talent at OMODA Madrid es Moda 2026

Designers and IED Madrid alumni Luis Berrendero and Carlota Barrera have taken part in this edition’s programme, alongside other IED Madrid initiatives such as its Fashion Show 2026 and the event with Roberto Verino.

Don't miss it

14 September 2026 - 18 September 2026

Barcelona

IED Barcelona 2026 Undergraduate Welcome Week

The welcome event for undergraduate students, teachers and staff to mark the official opening of the new academic year will take place on Monday 14 September.

Exhibitions and Festival

02 October 2026 - 08 October 2026

Madrid

Sepiia’s 10th Anniversary Exhibition

IED Madrid alumni and designer Federico Sáinz de Robles celebrates the 10th anniversary of his brand, Sepiia, with an exhibition.

An open notebook showing two pencil sketches, one of a lamp and the other of designer handbags
Exhibitions and Festival

17 October 2026 - 17 October 2026

Barcelona

Barcelona Dibuixa 2026: “The Power of Hand Drawing”

IED Barcelona is offering this workshop, where participants will discover, guided by architect and lecturer Gianfranco La Cognata – Laco 2, how design takes shape through illustration.