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Fashion School Q&A: Domus Academy Milan

By FashionUnited

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Founded in 1982, Domus Academy is a private school of design in Milan, Italy. Domus Academy was established by the Mazzocchi family, owners of Editoriale Domus as the first postgraduate design school in the country. The school offers postgraduate and professional courses in fashion, industrial design, and design management. FashionUnited spoke with Mark Anderson, Director of Education, about the institute’s future plans, courses, and community.

How is everything going at Domus Academy? Are the physical classes back?

The last 16 months have been challenging for education at all levels. At Domus Academy, we quickly switched to synchronous, real-time online delivery allowing us to maintain the same small classes and close relationship with the professors and mentors. The online lectures and classes required learning new communication tools and also different ways of collaborating. To a certain extent, this reflected standard international business communications even before the pandemic. Out of necessity, the frequency of these modes have intensified, and the tools have become more ubiquitous.

Our students have returned to Milan and campus and we are back to offering classes physically at Domus Academy while maintaining a degree of online study in a hybrid delivery model. The students appreciate the flexibility.

How would you describe the Domus Academy student community?

Domus Academy offers postgraduate-level study only with a predominantly international student body. The students have undergraduate degrees in their disciplinary areas and join our community with varied previous experience. This allows for a rich exchange at a peer level.

What kind of courses does Domus Academy offer? What is the focus area?

Our primary offerings are degree-granting courses in 4 areas; Design, Fashion, Experience and Business Design. Within these areas, we offer 11 separate programmes ranging from fashion, product, and interaction design to luxury brand management, fashion styling and visual merchandising, and business design.

Beyond our degree programmes, we also offer a series of online and on-campus short courses that are open for enrolment. We also offer an 8-week preparatory course that is generally oriented to students entering into our master's programmes and is intended to bridge study between the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The primary focus is to ensure that the students have the technological and software skillset for the master's programmes.

What do we need to know about Domus Academy?

Domus Academy has a non-traditional academic structure that allows students to learn intuitively and naturally while honing their skills and knowledge in their fields and other correlated disciplines. Domus Academy is one of the few higher education institutions with a multi and interdisciplinary study built into the academic model, allowing students to expand competencies to prepare for evolving and emerging professions.

What are the plans for this year? Any new things coming up?

We are pleased to be offering 11 new International Double Award Master’s programmes for the next academic year beginning in September 2021. Our students will be able to earn both a 1° level Academic Master degree and a full Master of Arts degree in collaboration with Regent’s University London.

We are continually working to ensure that our programmes are up-to-date and that the students have the latest equipment that facilitates and promotes new learning modes. We have recently introduced state-of-the-art, advanced technology, including high-resolution laser projectors and large format interactive touch screens into our classrooms. This accommodates in-class and hybrid activities and facilitates connectivity and exchange (between people and computers) in the classroom itself and seamlessly with the other side of the globe.

Another noteworthy upcoming event is the new Open Lecture series that will begin in September (open to the public) with international guests in fashion and design.

Do you have any tips for future students who want to study at Domus Academy?

Future students who want to study at Domus Academy should be passionate learners and curious observers that exercise critical perspective in their creative endeavours. They should cultivate this mindset, acquiring their disciplinary skills and knowledge while keeping in mind the importance of overall culture.

Photos: Domus Academy

Domus Academy
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