European Design Institute

This Istituto Europeo di Design (European Design Institute) isn't just another school: it's an international network of concentrated activities linked to design, fashion, communication and visual arts. A unique entity with sites in Milan, Rome, Turin, Madrid, Venice, Barcelona, Sao Paulo, and soon in Rio de Janeiro too. 8,500 registrations a year. 475 employees and consultants. About 1,500 teaching staff. With turnover exceeding 60 million euros.

The courtyard of the IED in Rome

Lee Yoo-Sun, IED, Milan. Bracelet, rendering

New IED premises, Venice, Certosa island

IED, Barcelona, workshop

The president of the IED is a successful Sardinian businessman, Francesco Morelli, who founded the institute 40 years ago. Last February Morelli handed over running of the IED to Emilio Paccioretti, who brought with him all the experience acquired during his career as an executive in avant garde training centers and in companies like Pirelli, Zambon, Forma Per (school for business training), Prometeia (consultancy). And chiefly a philosophy that acts as a link between the creativity of the young and the material production needs of a business.

At the time of his appointment, the new managing director found a company on a growth curve, which had just opened a center of excellence in Venice, on the Certosa island, used for Master courses in film, photography, fashion and design. Paccioretti announced that he also wants to open a "talent school, for specialization courses open to the best IED graduates worldwide". A project in synergy with global strategy that aims to "create a point of worldwide excellence in every IED center, connected to local capacity". As happened in the fashion capital, Milan, where the IED holds its Master courses in cool hunting, and in Turin for automotive design.

Park Jong Nam, IED, Milan. Neck ornament

Lucinta La Macchia, IED, Rome. Wristwatch, rendering

Carlo De Cillis, IED, Milan. Ring

Chiara Russo, IED, Rome. Jewel

Sarah Michelotti. IED, Rome. Bracelet

Apart from Masters and workshops, the ordinary courses last three years and are dedicated to four disciplines: IED Design, IED Arti Visive, IED Comunicazione and IED Moda Lab. The Milan, Rome, Barcelona and Sao Paulo Moda Labs also have a jewelry design department. "We do not hold traditional courses," explains Brazilian designer Chris Mazzotta, coordinator of the Rome jewelry department. "Experimenting or at least familiarizing with production techniques for the entire sector, from couture to costume jewelry, is important, but for a school that considers jewelry in the fashion system context, perhaps it is even more crucial for methods to be taught". The courses all aim to develop an ability for interpreting new social trends and read consumer tastes as indicators. "Design is a process of synthesis," continues Mazzotta "where the reasons of aesthetics blend with intuitions, technological and marketing input, to create objects of great appeal." Tomorrow's designers are being trained through the teaching of a wide range of subjects that include semiotics, sociology and marketing. To avoid ending up confined in an ivory tower, IED does work annually with about 200 business partners, for simulations and on-the-job training. Some of the Roman jewelry design department's recent partnerships range from Limoni (production and distribution of accessories, fragrances, eyewear and jewelry) to Didus Design, specializing in prototyping jewelry in which students see virtual models transformed into prototypes. "We keep a close eye on the great social themes like ethics and ecology," he concludes "and, of course, on stylists like Armani, Dolce and Gabbana, or Fendi, who can risk new and offbeat designs."

My Own Show 2007. Model by Giovanna Pontes Cassis

My Own Show 2007. Garment designed by Alessandro Vigilante

My Own Show 2007. Model by Bente Bjor

Mijl Lee, IED, Milan. Pendant

Model created by the Automotive Design department of IED, Turin

If Rome is dedicated to fashion design, in Milan it is part of the genetic code. Arianna Brambilla, who coordinates the jewelry design department, emphasizes this, adding that "attention to the fashion and accessories world is inherent to how the best contemporary designers work." When seeking partners for students preparing a thesis or doing on-the-job training, the Milan department contacted not only jewelry companies (like Comete, Unoaerre and Utopia), but also "Nike, Alviero Martini, Persol, Luxottica or Sector, because working across the board expands the designer's mental horizons. Functionality is lust one aspect of the product. I agree with Philip Starck," adds Ms Brambilla: "when he says that the designer is in the business of selling joy, materializing a person's desires in a designed product". Every September, the partnership between Moda Lab and the fashion world is celebrated during "My Own Show", the catwalk for creations by new IED talents (picked from amongst the students worldwide, by a panel chaired by Franca Sozzani, editor of Vogue Italia). The collections are produced by prestigious fashion sector companies and there are also frequent partnerships with large automotive manufacturers. "At the Geneva 2008 salon, IED Turin presented a bodywork prototype for a Maserati coupé, which was appreciated by Montezemolo and by BMW and McLaren executives," says Paccioretti. Who is already looking ahead to the opening of the Rio school, planned for early 2009. "The municipal council has offered the IED a very high-profile building, the old Copacabana casino: that's where young Brazilian design talents will study."

www.ied.edu