Born in 2024 from the synergy between Centro di Firenze per la Moda Italiana (CFMI) CFMI, Pitti Immagine, and UniCredit – with the support of Piattaforma Sistema Formativo Moda and Polimoda –, the CFMI Academy grows and evolves from a training course to a Fashion Incubator Project: a project that aims to support the new generations by encouraging innovation and entrepreneurial enthusiasm. The CFMI Academy 2025 draws inspiration from the need to start a project research path capable of giving impetus to entrepreneurial ideas that combine responsible innovation, sustainability, and excellence of Made in Italy fashion.
The initiative, launched in October, saw the participation of 20 projects from Italian Fashion Design Academies. The selection process will see 5 projects emerge which will involve 15 senior students committed to developing an innovative, sustainable business idea capable of having autonomy on the market.
“CFMI Academy – said Antonella Mansi, president of the Florence Center for Italian Fashion – evolves from a seminar training moment towards a project path involving students from the best Italian fashion academies. Students are offered the opportunity to participate in a course dedicated to the development of entrepreneurship which can provide them with concrete tools to start a business. In a delicate phase for the fashion-accessory system and with a decrease in the consumption of luxury products, it is courageous but also farsighted to imagine introducing new stimuli into the market starting 'from the bottom', from the new entrepreneurial visions of those who are at the end of their journey training: this is intended to be a cultural operation to "spread the spirit of enterprise", in our opinion very important for a country with a manufacturing DNA like Italy".
To achieve the objective, participants will be able to count on the support of the teachers of the respective academies and the tutors identified by the project partners (CFMI, Pitti Immagine, UniCredit, Polimoda, Piattaforma Sistema Formativo Moda ETS) among experts in the fashion sector and banking. The training will include workshops and mentoring meetings with the involvement of industrial groups at the forefront of fashion industrial processes. The first appointment is scheduled in Florence, in Fortezza da Basso, on January 30, 2025, the final day of the 96th edition of Pitti Immagine Filati.
The call includes two judging commissions. The first, technical, will be made up of the project partners and tutors involved, while the second, final, includes professionals, entrepreneurs, and experts in the sector. The projects will be evaluated on criteria such as innovation, contemporaneity, sustainability, feasibility, and communication, with particular attention to ESG parameters.
Depending on the type of projects selected, the initiative's partners will provide know-how and tools to support the development of the business idea, as well as business networking and visibility opportunities. The awards ceremony, with the official presentation of the winners, will be held in October 2025 as part of the Fashion Graduate Italia event.
“Among the strategic objectives of the ETS Fashion Training System Platform Association – commented Matteo Secoli, president of ETS Fashion Training System Platform – is support for the new generations by encouraging the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurial drive. It is in this context that participation in the "CFMI Academy" project is inserted, launched in October 2024 on the occasion of the tenth edition of the Fashion Graduate Italia event promoted by Piattaforma ETS. We believe that the synergy with an Institution of excellence as a Center of Florence for Italian Fashion can contribute to promoting a constructive dialogue between the training sectors and the business world within the fashion market, activating a network that can give life to joint projects that enhance the young talents of the fashion sector.”
