Fashion Styling & Creative Direction

From a solid base in styling, this course moves onto exploring multiple areas of the fashion industry where management of the creative process is core practice.
Participants are encouraged to develop their own ideas and experiment in producing a different variety of visual outcomes, such as fashion editorials, fashion films, brand image and restyling proposals, interactive and print advertising campaigns, and social media visual contents.

The course covers key skills in fashion copywriting, PR and media planning, fashion production management, business planning, time management, and advertising deadlines and budgets. Cultural studies in the history of art, design, dress and fashion culture provide the necessary skills to make a critical assessment. The analysis of style brings shape, reality and energy into the visual space - the material ‘reality’ of image making.

Participants will also be trained on how to create an immediately identifiable and recognizable style in order to produce and develop live photo shoots, managing the team involved in the process of photography, image editing, set construction, still life and moving image, lighting, direction, and choices in make-up, hair and accessories; they are encouraged to decode stereotypes and to think about image positioning from a different perspective in order to discover their own unique personal style.

Module 1 · Visual Research

Students are provided with essential and relevant skills to perform in-depth visual research on specific fashion-related themes or trends and learn how to outline the entire process involved in developing professional creative research.

During this course the students approach fashion photography and its great protagonists, and the study of the image as a source and vehicle of communication.

The goal is to create mood boards and creative research books as a starting point for one's own visual research, through which to express inspirations, emotions and to explore new points of view.

Students learn to search for and collect high-quality images from different sources and to communicate through new languages, learning to use different graphics programs as fundamental tools for presenting their projects.

To complete the course, the opportunity to approach the world of photography on a practical level, learning the basic techniques to develop fashion shooting in the future.

Module 2 · History of Fashion

Students are provided with a broad picture of the evolution of Western Art and Dress from the Renaissance to the end of the 20th century. They also explore the relationship between artistic movements and the development of dress and trends within a wider social, cultural, historical and political framework.

In addition to the history of fashion, art and design, students deepen the psychology of fashion to understand the evolution and changes of the fashion consumer, to understand and interpret the trends of past but also contemporary eras.

It is essential to understand how the fashion industry works, the needs of consumers and the need to follow mass trends and, at the same time, seek a unique and personal style.

To complete this path it is essential to study the science and technology of materials, understand and recognize the types of fabric, shapes and volumes, as well as the technological tools to support the product and the fashion collection.

Module 3 · Communication Strategies

This course aims at enhancing the students’ communication and visual presentation skills, educating them on how to rationalize ideas and develop their ability to visualize and communicate creative outcomes proficiently and with a clear, strategic approach.

During the course, students approach the basics of marketing by analyzing the market, the target, the fashion and luxury brands and their positioning.

The marketing and communication strategies of the various brands are analyzed to understand their evolution and objectives.

The analysis of competitors and off and online distribution channels complete the marketing bases to create consistent projects.

The study of photography is also deepened through practical activities, the study of communication languages ​​and post-production techniques.

This level is completed by a basis of journalism, writing and layout, in addition to the analysis of the promotion and communication campaigns of international brands.

Module 4 · Art Direction

Students learn relevant processes and skills for a comprehensive and multi-tasking approach to art direction management in creative projects; they know how to be professionally involved in all the organizational and production phases of a communication / styling project, and take care of all the creative aspects aimed at the desired final result.

In this level, students deal with theoretical and practical topics related to the creation and management of teams, location search for photo shoots, model casting, make-up and hairstyles. Selection of sound / music, study of lights and creative sets.

Through the goal that the customer / brand wants to achieve, it is necessary to create winning proposals, thinking out of the box, interpreting and anticipating future fashion trends. To support this path, the advanced graphic programs of photography and post-production, visual communication techniques and leadership skills are essential.

Module 5 · Brand Communication

Students approach the study of brand communication and promotion techniques, learning different methods, tools and media that are used in the contemporary fashion field – in order to build a recognizable brand image – alongside efficient brand-related narratives.

The study of offline and online communication tools, the target that the brand wants to reach and the message you want to communicate are essential to support a communication plan that combines marketing strategies with the creative vision of the stylist. Writing techniques and fashion journalism complete the communicative offer and the contents that can present and describe products, collections and fashion shows.

Even the study of the person, the creation of one's own style, for example for Celebrities on special occasions as the Red Carpet, demonstrate how style communicates the personality and unique identity of the person.

Another task of the stylist is therefore to understand what and then find the way to do it through the creation of the style and with the support of visual tools.

Module 6 · Multimedia Design

Participants are taught how to exploit all contemporary communication tools and digital media, in order to build coherent communication and visual messages, through the combination made available by multimedia story-telling, also including the specificities and characteristics of all the different media. platforms.

During this course, students analyze brand communication channels, analyze trade journals, social media and social networks to create coherent content through visual storytelling.

The evolution of styling involves the design and production of fashion videos and films that aim not only to promote brands and products, but to communicate messages and emotions.

The course consists of a strong practical component that allows students to experiment through the use of cutting-edge multimedia platforms for communication, photography and the creation of digital content.

At the end of the course the students find their own communicative style and are ready to face the fashion industry with a strong personality and brand image.

Access to each module is given upon successful completion of the previous one.