75 lecturers and guest lecturers with professional experience. 80 fashion and luxury industry projects and collaborations. 54 internships and 100% internship placement for BA and MA students choosing the internship pathway. At Ferrari Fashion School in Milan, industry connections are built into fashion education, from classroom projects to Professional Practice and Advanced Practice.
Fashion education cannot exist in isolation from the industry it prepares students to enter. As roles, technologies and business models continue to evolve, students need more than theoretical knowledge: they need opportunities to work with professionals, respond to real challenges and understand how the fashion system operates from within.
At Ferrari Fashion School in Milan, industry integration is a structural part of the educational model. Looking back at the 2025/26 academic year, the numbers offer a clear picture of what this means in practice.
75 Lecturers and Guest Lecturers Combining Fashion Industry and Academic Expertise
Ferrari Fashion School worked with 75 lecturers and guest lecturers during the academic year, all with professional industry experience.
Of these, 67% are currently active in fashion and the creative industries, across a broad range of professions: designers, stylists, art directors, buyers, merchandisers, marketers, HR professionals and recruiters, top managers, communication consultants, photographers and film directors.
This diversity matters because the fashion system extends beyond individual creative roles. Students are exposed to different perspectives across design, image-making, communication, business, retail, talent and management, reflecting the increasingly interconnected nature of the industry itself.
At the same time, 24% of the faculty are now primarily dedicated to higher education, bringing consolidated academic and teaching experience to the School.
The combination is essential: current professional practice keeps education connected to how the industry is evolving, while experienced academics ensure teaching quality, continuity and a sound learning environment.
80 Fashion and Luxury Industry Projects and Collaborations
During the 2025/26 academic year, Ferrari Fashion School developed 80 projects and collaborations with companies and professionals across the fashion and luxury industries.
These activities take different forms: live briefs, workshops, guest lectures, company visits, sponsored materials, special projects and opportunities to present students’ work to external professionals.
Students worked on projects and initiatives involving companies including Bally, Brunello, Dolce & Gabbana, Atelier Emé (Oniverse Group), Inditex and Philipp Plein, alongside textile manufacturers, creative agencies, photographers, stylists, entrepreneurs and other industry specialists.
The objective is to expose students both to established names and to the processes behind professional fashion practice: interpreting a brief, researching a context, developing a proposal, responding to constraints, presenting an idea and receiving feedback from professionals working in the field.
In many cases, the outcome is a concrete deliverable rather than an exercise based on a hypothetical scenario.
How Industry Projects Become Part of Fashion Education
Industry connections extend across different areas of study.
Fashion Design students work with companies, textile manufacturers and suppliers to understand materials, production and collection development. Fashion Styling and Communication students engage with image-making, art direction, visual storytelling and exhibition projects. Fashion Business students explore branding, marketing, retail, entrepreneurship and the changing dynamics of the luxury industry.
At Master’s level, this dialogue becomes increasingly specialised, combining advanced research and creative development with direct exposure to professionals and companies.
This multidisciplinary network reflects the fashion system itself, where creative, technical, communication and business functions increasingly intersect.
100% Internship Placement
During the 2025/26 academic year, 54 internships were secured, representing 100% internship placement among third-year BA and MA students choosing the internship pathway.
This result is particularly significant because professional practice is embedded within the academic structure of Ferrari Fashion School’s Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts programmes.
Professional experience is not treated as an optional activity taking place alongside education. It forms part of the academic journey itself, giving students dedicated time to apply their knowledge in professional, research or international contexts.
400 Hours of Professional Practice for BA Students
All Ferrari Fashion School Bachelor of Arts (Hons) programmes include 400 hours of Professional Practice. Students can complete this through an internship, a project developed with a company or an international mobility experience.
Professional Practice allows BA students to apply the knowledge and skills developed during their studies in a professional or international context, while beginning to define their individual career direction.
600 Hours of Advanced Practice for MA Students
All Ferrari Fashion School Master of Arts programmes include 600 hours of Advanced Practice over a full semester. Students can undertake an internship, develop a research project or spend a semester abroad, depending on their academic and professional objectives.
At postgraduate level, Advanced Practice gives students an extended period to deepen their professional experience, research interests or international exposure within their MA journey.
One-to-one career guidance and industry relations accompany this process, supporting students as they prepare for the transition from education to professional practice.
What Employers Say About Ferrari Fashion School Students
Numbers alone do not measure the quality of an industry connection. Feedback from the companies hosting students provides another important perspective.
Across the employer evaluations collected during the academic year, 68% of all individual ratings awarded to Ferrari Fashion School students were at the highest possible level: “Highly Satisfactory.”
Employer feedback provides an external measure of how the knowledge, skills and professional behaviours developed at Ferrari Fashion School translate into professional environments.
Fashion Industry Connections as Part of the Educational Model
At Ferrari Fashion School, industry integration extends across teaching, projects, internships, career guidance and professional feedback.
The 2025/26 figures, 75 lecturers and guest lecturers, 80 industry projects and collaborations, 54 internships and 100% internship placement for students choosing this pathway, reflect an educational model designed to connect fashion education in Milan with the professional ecosystem students are preparing to enter.
Behind these numbers are opportunities for students to encounter the fashion system before graduating: through the people who teach them, the companies they work with, the briefs they respond to and the professional environments in which they gain experience.
