The ‘AZ Academy: Business for Designer’ course, announced in May, is taking shape. The course, funded by Richemont and targeted to young designer-entrepreneurs, will start in January with a first cohort of 18 students. It is a way for the Swiss luxury group to support emerging designers while perpetuating the sense of community that characterised designer Alber Elbaz, with whom Richemont co-founded the AZ Factory label, closed by Richemont at the start of this year.

“After Alber Elbaz passed away in 2021, we transformed AZ Factory into a talent incubator, spawning 12 collaborations in 18 months. We wanted to preserve Alber’s unique sense of community and joy, turning AZ into a new project that would concretely help designers, while giving the group a bird’s eye view of fashion and young designers,” said Mauro Grimaldi, strategic advisor to Richemont, talking to FashionNetwork.com.

To set up this project, Richemont has forged a partnership with the Creative Academy, its Milan-based training centre for jewellery, watch-making and leather goods craftsmanship, and with Italian academy Accademia Costume & Moda, whose Milan branch will be home to the AZ Academy courses. The programme is funded by Richemont, though students will be paying a registration fee of €3,000. The faculty will be drawn from Creative Academy and Accademia Costume & Moda tutors, as well as Richemont executives.

“We didn’t want to set up another fashion school or a competition, but a sort of language school teaching designers how to translate their wonderful ideas into the language of business,” said Grimaldi. The 12-month master programme is suitable both for emerging designers keen to launch their label and for those who already have one. The aesthetic of their project isn’t considered, only their talent and market potential.

The course consists of three four-month modules. The first will focus on the business side of things, from creating a brand to merchandising, commercial strategy, finance, brand image, creating a lookbook, social media marketing, sustainable development, and legal and administrative aspects. The second module will concentrate on manufacturing, and will feature bespoke mentorships with Italian producers, giving the students the chance to build their own network. In the third and final module, the students will learn how to draw up a business plan, a collection plan, and an industrial plan. At the end of the course, each student will present their own project, through these three plans, to Richemont executives specialised in company acquisitions.

AZ Academy has received over 80 applications. An 18-member jury, including Richemont’s managing director Nicolas Bos and designers Isabel Marant and Lutz Huelle, selected 18 names. The students, from Asia, Europe and the Americas, are aged between 25 and 40, and come from a range of sectors. “There’s a bit of everything, from highly creative projects to more commercial ones. There are two jewellery designers among the students,” said Grimaldi.