The groundbreaking FASHION JOURNALISM/COMMUNICATIONS class at ISI Florence, taught by Mark Bernheim and Alessandro Masetti, engaged in two special events in June.
The first field trip – a key feature of the course itself now in its fourth iteration – was a visit to the largest and most important menswear trade show in the world, the famous PITTI UOMO #94, held at the historic Fortezza da Basso in Florence. Among the tens of thousands of fashion visitors, designers, stylists, marketers, and writers, the ISI Florence class had a special place. At the event, open only by registration, they mingled for an entire afternoon and interviewed hospitable fashion figures who spoke with them about their unique visions and products.
The students already had rare opportunities earlier in the term to visit the Ferragamo and Gucci museums in Florence and walk together in the street of the world fashion capital of artisan craftsmanship together with their teachers.
They read leading fashion commentators from the communications world and analyzed best strategies for writing at a professional level in the world of style. They practiced their individual writing skills in a close seminar format. It’s a course unique to ISI Florence. Imagine listing this course on a student’s resume! How to make an impression in a job interview one-on-one.
The visit to Pitti Uomo #94 is shown in the illustrations.
Also, the magnificent Palazzo Pucci in central Florence opened its doors for the first time to Pitti Uomo guests, and the students walked through the dazzling clothes and accessories of the genius that was Emilio Pucci, a Florentine noble. His daughter Laudomia welcomed the group.
Some days later, on the invitation of Professor Bernheim and Director Stefano Baldassarri of ISI Florence, the New York Times Bureau Chief reporter Jason Horowitz made a special visit to the Fashion Communications class (see the announcement below).
Jason Horowitz has been Rome bureau chief for the last year. Among many hard news stories on Italian politics, he covers the feature “how” columns, which analyze the process of Italian life and culture as well as how ‘la vita italiana’ continues to absorb the attentions of the world. In his meeting with ISI Florence students, Mr. Horowitz spoke at length about the recent noteworthy NYC Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Gala “Heavenly Bodies” for which the Vatican loaned scores of precious inspirational garments to the Met. It was not an easy process, and Mr. Horowitz explained the fascinating background to much of it.
Students eagerly heard counsel from him on reporting and professional advancement at a particularly exciting and challenging moment for journalism, not only at the NY Times, but worldwide. Other faculty members and students attended his talk at Palazzo Bargagli.
The visit is shown below.
Many thanks for the visit go to Jason Horowitz, who helped Professor Bernheim’s innovative fashion communication course end on a high note.
ISI Florence is planning to offer this popular course to many students enrolled for Spring and Fall of 2019, in addition to continuing in the Summer term.
The 2018 fashion journalism class at ISI Florence