IED introduces its fashion and design programmes in Portugal with Escola Superior Artística do Porto

The Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) has signed a joint venture with Cesap, the parent organisation of Escola Superior Artística do Porto (ESAP) in Porto, Portugal, to create new academic opportunities in fashion and design and foster international exchange.

The two institutions plan to jointly develop undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the fields of fashion and design that will be available through ESAP.

Both entities are owned by non-profit organisations: IED is currently owned by the Fondazione Francesco Morelli, while ESAP is owned by Cesap, Cooperativa de Ensino Superior Artístico do Porto, a non-profit public utility institution.

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“Beyond the educational value of the courses we are designing, we are convinced that the collaboration will promote new exchanges and student mobility between Portugal and the countries where IED is present – Italy, Spain and Brazil – through its network of schools, also leading to new synergies at an institutional and business level,” Riccardo Balbo, chief academic officer of IED Group said in statement.

IED is not entirely new to the Portuguese design scene, having partnered with Modalisboa for the past four editions, contributing to the promotion of local talent through the Sangue Novo contest.

The winners of this competition for young fashion designers were awarded, in the spring of 2023 and 2024, with two master's scholarships at IED's campuses in Florence and Milan.

“Cesap, as the founding body, and ESAP, as one of the most prestigious higher education institutions in the field of art education in Portugal, have the highest expectations for this partnership with IED, an institution of enormous international renown,” Manuel F. Costa e Silva, President of Cesap said.

He continued: We hope to carry out short, medium and long-term projects with a significant impact on the higher education landscape in Portugal, in the field of design and fashion, with its many aspects and manifestations."

"Both institutions have a history in art, design and fashion education that will be fruitful in pursuing common goals that include not only teaching, but also a series of other activities that we hope will be a positive factor in affirming the identity of the institutions involved and in the necessary openness to society and the times we live in, and being able to meet those demands," the executive concluded.

This article was originally published on FashionUnited.IT, subsequently translated with help of an AI tool and edited by Veerle Versteeg.