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Two French fashion institutions announce closer ties
Paris will soon have a major fashion school, the result of closer ties between the Institut Français de la Mode (IFM, the French Fashion Institute) and the School of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne (the Paris couturiers' union chamber).
The partnership, labelled as 'strategic', was recently announced by the two fashion academies, and relies on heavyweight mentors: Pierre Bergé, Chairman of the IFM board of directors, Sidney Toledano, President of the orientation committee at the School of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne and IFM's CEO (also the CEO of Christian Dior), Ralph Toledano, President of the French Federation of Fashion and of Ready-to-Wear Couturiers and Fashion Designers (and boss of the Puig group's fashion division), Pascal Morand, Executive President of the same federation and of course Dominique Jacomet, the Director of IFM.
Pascal Morand, IFM's first director, and Dominique Jacomet will jointly lead the steering committee working on forging closer links between the institutions.
The press release actually provides very few details on the partnership. For example, whether the two academies will keep their separate venues or will become a single entity.
According to the information we have, this could occur at a later date through a merger, though not before 2018.
In the light of what the press release states, it is still early days: "The governance bodies of the IFM and the School of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne have recently sanctioned the principle of a closer relationship between the two academies."
Indeed, for a long time a number of reports have drawn attention to the need for establishing a major French fashion academy, the latest being an industry report by Lyne Cohen-Solal.
As Pascal Morand stated: "The new entity will enjoy a critical mass allowing the conception and implementation of a highly ambitious project on a worldwide scale." The new institution will offer a complete range of higher education courses in fashion management and creativity.
The two academies currently cater to a total of 700 students, 200 of them apprentices and work-study students, with 40% of students from outside France, as well as to 2,000 executives engaged in continuing education. They also have 25 partner companies and foundations.
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