AZ Academy, the programme edited by Richemont, Creative Academy and Accademia Costume & Moda (ACM) to support independent designers in transforming creative ideas into successful business and attracting potential investors, unveils the 19 finalists of its Business for Designers initiative.
The talents, hailing from Mexico, China, Finland, South Korea, Italy and France, among other countries, were selected for their distinctive visions and their potential to influence the future of the fashion industry, said the statement. The finalists are recent graduate designers from international fashion schools or independent designers already working in fashion, leather goods and accessories. They were selected by the AZ Academy's jury including designers Isabel Marant and Lutz Huelle, as well as Richemont’s chief executive officer Nicolas Bos, among others.
The postgraduate training project starts in January 2025 with a 12-month programme. Creativity, innovation, sustainability, production, finance, legal, marketing, inclusivity as well as an immersive experience with suppliers and tutorships are just a few of the topics that will be explored during the AZ Academy program, held at Accademia Costume & Moda’s Milan campus. The last stage of the programme will be a final presentation of a fully reviewed and ready-to-pitch business case proposal, collection and industrial plan for potential investors interested in supporting new fashion businesses.
The finalists include Spanish menswear designer Brais Albor Rodriguez; London-based Clementine Baldo; German designer Merle Breuker; British sustainable fashion designer Rose Brown; Filipino designer Sandra Jao; Lei Jiang, a London Royal College of Art graduate; Mexican, but Milan-based designer Eduardo Juarez Camacho; Seoul-based Yeaji Lee, the founder of the It’s Yeah brand; Chinese fashion designer and ceramist Liwen Liang; French designer Manon Marcelot; Milan-based shoe and accessories designer Adria Mirabelli; Rome-born Caterina Moro; Mexican, but Paris-based designer Ricardo Sanher; Andrey Savin, the designer and founder of the luxury British bridal brand House of Savin Limited; Slovakian designer Viktoria Skrek; Milan-based designer Yulia Voytenko; Helsinki-based jewelry designer Ildar Wafin; Taiwan-native Wei-Sheng Wang, a graduate from Parsons, and Indonesian designer Theo Weiren.
As emerging creative talents and new designers aspire to launch their own brands after graduating from global fashion schools, AZ Academy: BUsiness for Designers comes to fill a gap: offering a never-before-seen programme tailored to equip designers with the necessary skills and knowledge to transform their creative ideas into successful, investable businesses.
Richemont’s first project to support independent designers, AZ Factory has become an innovative fashion entity, a privileged place to encourage dialogues between different generations of talents. “At AZ Academy we will create a bridge between designers and investors, transforming creative visions into viable business plans to attract investors. What better way to pay tribute to Alber Elbaz?,” said Mauro Grimaldi, Strategic Advisor to the CEO of Fashion & Accessories Maisons at Richemont.
Photo: AZ Factory Pre-Fall 2024
