Luxury Educates Itself

You know that three’s-a-trend rule? Well, note four recent events in four different countries:

1. In France, Van Cleef and Arpels announce “L’Ecole Van Cleef & Arpels,” a school for both “connoisseurs and professionals” that will offer a “non-technical curriculum” involving the appreciation of fine jewellery, its history, components, and creation.

2. In Italy, the Instituto Marangoni and Ermenegildo Zegna announce the renewal of their masters in menswear, a course designed to provide “a thorough analysis of the menswear industry, focusing on the various stages of production process until acquiring a clear overview of: the concept of suits, outerwear and shirts, the structure of the collection and the packaging of the product through to its distribution.”

3. In the United States, Parsons and the New York City Economic Development Corporation team up to create “fashion draft NYC,” an initiative that “will bring a select group of top business-minded students from around the world to New York City to network and interview with fashion executives,” and follows “fashion campus NYC, a career-building and networking event co-organized by NYCEDC and Parsons this past July to help talented students pursue fashion business careers in New York City.”

4. In the UK, Conde Nast establishes the Conde Nast College of Fashion & Design, a higher-education institution geared toward offering short courses in the publisher’s specialties, and modeled on the Sotheby’s auction house courses.

School, school, everywhere! This may even go beyond trend, to new paradigm: the luxury education. I’d like to think it began as a creative solution to two different problems, but may have important long-term repercussions.

After all, it addresses the fact that more students are finding it tougher to get jobs, and more experienced executives are finding themselves downsized, and both groups are searching for something to do to acquire new skills and distinguish themselves (and luxury is one of the few growth sectors) – not to mention the luxury industry’s oft-complained-about dearth of luxury specialists, whether it be craftsmen with specific know-how or executives.

It will be interesting to see how this develops, especially since the ad hoc solution to the latter issue is to hire managers from consumer goods brands. The schooling could well change all that. Get ‘em young, after all, and you’ve got ‘em for life.

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About Vanessa Friedman

Vanessa has been the FT’s fashion editor since 2003, and is based in New York, though she lived in London for 12 years. Other colleagues also contribute posts here.