This January, Class of 2024 students in NYU Stern’s one-year Fashion & Luxury MBA Program traveled to Florence, Italy as part of an intensive three-credit course designed to immerse students in one of the hubs of the European fashion and luxury industry. Over one week in Florence, students experienced the fashion and luxury business through a global lens, from seeing how recycled wool is produced at the Manteco factory to getting a tour of Brunello Cucinelli in Solomeo, Umbria, central Italy, among other experiences.
The immersion is a required experiential learning course for all Fashion & Luxury MBA students and was led by Professor Thomaï Serdari, the Program’s Academic Director.
As a part of the course, students learned from industry leaders and had the opportunity to visit the historic sites and factories of a wide range of family-owned Italian luxury brands, including Aquazzura, Benetti, Brunello Cucinelli, Ferragamo, Gucci, Manteco Factory, Panerai, Santa Maria Novella, and Tivoli, among others.
Notable Stern alumni also played a key role in helping connect students to these iconic brands. Alumnus James Ferragamo (BA ’93, MBA ’97), Chief Transformation & Sustainability Officer at Ferragamo, hosted a talk at Palazzo Feroni with students and met the group at one of the company’s factories, while another — Jonathan Kiman (MBA ’12), Chief Marketing Officer at Gucci — helped facilitate a visit to Gucci’s ArtLab and archives.
And finally, students engaged in a Stern Solutions experiential learning project with Tivoli, a fine leather goods manufacturer, focused on the intricacies of developing business across two continents, since Italian manufacturing is often the backbone of American fashion and luxury businesses.
See photo highlights from the Florence immersion below:
Fashion & Luxury MBA students with James Ferragamo (BA ’93, MBA ’97), Chief Transformation & Sustainability Officer at Ferragamo, at Ferragamo Palazzo Feroni in Florence
Gucci
Benetti
Manteco Factory
Brunello Cucinelli
Verrazano Winery
