Florence (Firenze) is a World Heritage Site with renowned works of art, architecture, and monuments from the Byzantine, Medieval, and Renaissance eras. Florence is also one of Europe’s top fashion and design centers. Armani, Versace, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Pucci, Gucci, Ferragamo, Cavalli, and many other notable brands are either headquartered or have major design and production facilities in Florence.
KEI offers the following summer options:
Session @ Accademia Italiana (6 weeks; 6 credits): Students can enroll in two 3-credit courses or one 6-credit intensive course. Courses are taught in English. Subjects include Fashion Design, Graphic Design, Interior & Product Design, Studio Art, Liberal Arts/Humanities, and Italian Language.
Apprenticeship @ Scuola Firenze (1 month; 6 credits): Apprenticeships are organized by Schola Academy Firenze in collaboration with renowned brands such as Stefano Bemer, Scuola del Cuoio, Superduper, and Cibrèo. Apprenticeships are hands-on experiences supervised by Master Artisans and Artisans from the partner brands. Fashion apprenticeships integrate design, technical skills (pattern-making, construction, etc.), branding, and marketing. Culinary apprenticeships integrate the knowledge of ingredients, cooking skills, and restaurant management. The aim is to provide students with the knowledge and skills to realize their ideas and creativity into an actual finalized product. Apprenticeships are ideal for students who want to work on their own projects and develop their own brands.
Typical summer apprenticeships include:
- Custom Handmade Sneakers (Stefano Bremer)
- Sustainable Leather Experience (Bagmaking)
- Food Artisan @ Cibrèo
Internship @ ZeroLab (1 month; 6 credits): The fashion sector represents the backbone of the Tuscan and Italian industry, counting almost 22,000 companies that employ over 120,000 employees and impacting over 28% of total exports. A fundamental part of the fashion sector is leather goods, where the high quality of products makes it possible to achieve an international reputation for the most important luxury brands. Zerolab’s mission is to reduce waste by exploiting artisan skills to transform waste into new products. Internships at Zerolab focus on one or multiple aspects of the company’s operation, including but not limited to developing promotional plans, social media campaigns, tracking engagement, and evaluating the effectiveness of marketing ideas, developing partnerships, and preparing rescued leather inventory for reuse and resale.
KEI Program at a Glance:
Visit www.KEIabroad.org/Italy/ for more information about courses, syllabi, housing, cultural field trips, fees, KEI support services, and more.
