MENTORING STUDENTS: Accademia Costume e Moda and Maison Valentino have collaborated on a new project.
On Wednesday, the Roman fashion school presented “Between the Apollonian and the Dionysian: The ACM x Maison Valentino Industry Project” for the masters in haute couture, fashion design.
The initiative involved 18 students who had the opportunity to be mentored by Alessandro Michele, Valentino’s creative director and ACM alumnus, together with Yvan Mispelaere, design director of Valentino haute couture.
Throughout the process, both guided the students from the initial stages to the mid-review and final presentation of their collections. The project was coordinated by Santo Costanzo, ACM’s head of the fashion department and coordinator of the master’s program.
The brief centered on the relationship between the Apollonian and the Dionysian: two opposing yet complementary principles that involve the history of art and aesthetics, to be reinterpreted through the lens of contemporary couture.
The students explored the brand’s codes, balancing measure and formal discipline with instinct, metamorphosis and expressive freedom. They experienced every stage of the creative and sartorial development of a couture collection, diving deep into research, experimentation and garment construction. Their collections took shape through the combination of volumes, proportions and silhouettes with craftsmanship, moulage and embroidery.
In 2004, ACM opened its second campus in Rome located in the Ex Magazzini allo Statuto, a late 19th-century Umbertine building, in the city’s Esquilino district. The school is managed by chief executive officer Furio Francini and president Lupo Lanzara. It was founded in 1964 by Rosana Pistolese, Ottavio Spadaro, Dario Cecchi and Nello Ponente.
