Huge success of the year-end events

Here we have a few of the comments of the national press after the year-end events. The complete press coverage will be available shortly.

LA NAZIONE, Thursday 26 April 2012

An evening with the Accademia Italiana

By Eva Desiderio

Florence - Tonight, an interesting debut with more than two hundred and fifty designs, as students enrolled at the Accademia Italiana, an international design school that has its headquarters in Florence in Piazza Pitti in the classical Temple Leader Building and in Rome in Piazza della Radio; will be presenting their collections at the Fashion Show whilst others present at the Design Exhibition that includes projects from Interior and Product Design, Graphic Design, Photography and video clips set to music.
The Design School, founded and directed by Vincenzo Giubba, places over 90% of its graduate students in employment within one year of graduation, and this is without doubt an asset and an excellent invitation to the evening for those who are already enrolled and for those 2000 guests who have been invited to attend not only the event but also the presentation of the Pyramid of Excellence, that for the year 2012 will be awarded to the artist Michelangelo Pistolettto, to Anna Molinari "the soul" of Blumarine, to Emilio Cavallini for his hosiery, to Bottega Veneta for leather accessories, to Poltrona Frau per interior design, to Giovanni Bianchi -creative director for La Perla lingerie and to Francesca Lavazza for the artistic calendar that she edits.
"Body and Soul" is the theme of the design exhibition as well as the Fashion Show that will be held this evening at Obihall in Florence.

"This year we have chosen a particular theme - explains the President of the Accademia Italiana - the linking theme that has inspired the creations has been "Body and Soul" which is the title of this event." The theme has been elaborated by the students through research and diverse academic experiences that at times are antithetical: ranging from cult objects to tattoos. As always, concludes Vincenzo Giubba, the students have chosen this evening's award winners because the idea is that it is the students that award the great masters for their innovation, research and support to the work of the young designers.

Awards given to: Michelangelo Pistoletto, Giovanni Bianchi Anna Molinari

LA NAZIONE, Friday 27 April 2012

Pyramid of Excellence Awards
Design students award the Great Masters and then the Show

By Eva Desiderio

Florence - It all began eight years ago with the first Pyramid of Excellence awarded to Franco Zeffirelli. Then followed many other important names, from Elio Fiorucci to Eva Cavalli, from Evelyn Swarovski to Ermanno Scervino, from James Ivory to Alberto Alessi. And here, yesterday evening again the awards were given to the great masters of artistic creativity in fashion and design selected by the students of the international school that has headquarters in Florence and in Rome.

Many guests were present at the Obihall for the end of academic year event amidst endless applause by the students for their prêt-à-porter collections; for the Interior Design and Graphic Design projects as well as Photography and video clips, that in all amounted to over 250 works demonstrating fantasy, originality, talent and enthusiasm of the almost 1000 students that study at the Accademia Italiana.
"Our primary characteristic and resourcefulness is our internationality - with over 50% of the students coming from all over the world" explained Vincenzo Giubba who founded the School twenty-eight years ago and directs it with energy and courage. "For over 15 years students coming from over 200 universities in the United States have studied at the Accademia Italiana. Important as well are the three-year degree programmes validated by the University of Wales, under the guidance of HRH Charles, Prince of Wales. In addition we also have an Admission's Office in Philadelphia and another one in Asia where affiliated courses have been developed. We are very proud of the results achieved by our professors: over 90% of our students are able to find employment in their particular field within one year of graduation, a positive sign that the School achieves high standards and has important links with the outside world that offers the students opportunities to do internships and specialisations."

Many of the graduates already work for important names in the design field ‘Made in Italy' as also in the field of Photography, Graphics and New Media. There are ex-students such as Danilo Liotta who even before graduating was offered a place on the staff of Vivienne Westwood and Matteo Smaniotto, who was immediately offered a job by Saverio Moschillo, the patron of John Richmond.

The evening's event was opened by the Mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi who praised the efforts of the students and their contribution to today's contemporary designs. Then followed the Fashion Show evidencing the new design proposals rich in ideas, content and maturity achieved by the students: ranging from casual to knitwear and accessories.

Amidst the applause, awards were given to the artist Michelangelo Pistoletto who encouraged the students to push forward with their creativity; to Anna Molinari who with her brand Blumarine is a testimony to Italian fashion design: "I encourage the students to have lots of passion and dedication in their work, which is difficult but at the same time very beautiful"; to Giovanni Bianchi -Creative Director of La Perla, a high luxury brand of seductive lingerie; to Emilio Cavallini - the stylist who has revolutionised the world of hosiery in the last 30 years; to the brand Bottega Veneta for their luxury creations in leather accessories and to Poltrona Frau for their furniture design; to Francesca Lavazza for the Lavazza Calendar that in the last edition proposed images from some of the best photographers in the world such as Anne Leibowitz and La Chapalle. The Pyramid of Excellence award is a bronze sculpture designed by Oscar award winner Gianni Quaranta who teaches at the Accademia Italiana in Rome and is committed to helping students enter the professional work place once they have graduated.

IL CORRIERE DELLA SERA, Friday April 27, 2012

Evening: show of the creations of the students of the Accademia Italiana
Fashion design students celebrate, Pistoletto Oscar for creativity

By Loredana Ficichia

The artist Michelangelo Pistoletto had never received such a young award for creativity. This "Pyramid of Excellence" one of seven Oscars awarded last evening by the Accademia Italiana to important names of industry, art and fashion left him visibly disturbed. On the stage of Obihall, with the trophy, the applause went also to the fashion designers Anna Molinari for Blumarine and Emilio Cavallini, and to the company Bottega Veneta for leather accessories, Poltrona Frau for furniture design, Lavazza for the artistic calendar produced by the creative director Michele Mariani of the Advertising Agency Armando Testa and La Perla for lingerie. The year-end celebration of the Accademia Italiana, international Institute for fashion and design that has headquarters in Florence (Piazza Pitti and Lungarno delle Grazie) puts together nearly a thousand designers, artists and photographers coming from all over Italy and all over the world, as nearly one half of the students come from other countries, adds to the famous guests the Mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi who arrives with the former Councilman Giuliano da Empoli, climbs onto the stage and greets everyone with "I really like your title "Body and Soul" he says, I will use it as a message to provoke the city: we need to take back our Soul".
The eighth edition of the Award for the President of the Accademia Italiana, Vincenzo Giubba aims to highlight the international vocation of the school of design, active for more than 28 years. The most recent addition is the bachelor's degree program in Photography and New Media - he adds - calling attention to the video-clip in the show, together with the design objects created by the students. But the big event is the fashion show. Backstage a small army of slim Vikings, some in theater costumes. The creativity on the catwalk is the synthesis of a year of work and study, and even of internships abroad. The theme "Body and Soul", in fact, takes life with 250 "courageous" creations, on the launch pad that each year the Accademia builds at the end of the academic year in line with the international job placement methodology, with results that - they affirm - touch 90%. Confirming are the stories of Danilo Liotta, 23 year old Calabrese hired by the Maison Vivienne Westwood, or Cornelia Bamert, one of the most important Eco-stylists who with her line "Redesign the World" is changing the way of conceiving sustainable glamour. Brilliant are also the cases of Matteo Smaniotto who found a job before he completed his degree, with John Richmond, and Ambra Gregoretti (Prada), Barbara Fusillo (Miu Miu), Vahan Khachatryan and Elisa Lucherini (Dolce & Gabbana), Giorgia Varoli (Max Mara), to name just a few. "The key to the success of the Accademia Italiana - concludes Gianni Quaranta, honorary president (and designer of the "Pyramid of Excellence") - is, in fact, teaching to integrate ideas, dreams and innovations into the production reality."