The Institut Français de la Mode is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a party in Paris on Wednesday, and its leadership is using the milestone to explain what they see as the school's distinctive formula: teaching creativity, craftsmanship and management in the same place, with the brand as the guiding point above them.
Chairman Sidney Toledano sketched that idea as a tetrahedron during an interview, writing "creativity," "craftsmanship" and "management" in the three corners and "brand" at the top. The veteran luxury executive, who has chaired the IFM since 2022 and sat on its board for nearly 30 years, argued that training students across business, design and artisanal know-how makes the Paris school unique. Recalling his early days as chief executive of Christian Dior, when John Galliano was generating attention with his creativity, Toledano said he created a product committee and told management, marketing and production staff to "listen to the vision first."
Dean Xavier Romatet, who has led the IFM since 2019 and previously headed Condé Nast France from 2006 to 2018, described the same principle as a question of alignment. Designers learn the codes and language of craft, craftspeople learn those of designers, and managers understand the process so the groups can work together, he said. The school brings together students from vocational training through bachelor's and master's degrees and the MBA, spanning craftsmanship, fashion design, management and entrepreneurship.
Demand for its flagship master of arts in fashion design is steep: 350 candidates compete for every 20 places in garment design, according to Romatet, while the school averages six applicants per spot overall. He said that placing fashion design at the heart of the school has also made it more attractive to management and craftsmanship students, and that having the graduate show on the official Paris Fashion Week calendar matters for both reputation and activity.
Both men stressed that the Paris location is central. Romatet argued the same school would not work in Berlin, citing the city's legacy of craftsmanship and savoir-faire and its concentration of major players including LVMH, Kering, Chanel, Hermès and L'Oréal. Executives and designers from Paris-based houses regularly lecture at the campus inside the Cité de la Mode et du Design on the banks of the Seine, and this year Celine artistic director Michael Rider served as patron of the Bachelor of Arts Graduate Show. Brands also fund scholarships, research and teaching chairs through the IFM Foundation, and hire many graduates.
On employment, Romatet said 83 percent of IFM students are in work within a year of finishing, rising to nearly 100 percent for graduates of the École de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, which was folded into the IFM in 2019. About 60 percent join major groups such as Chanel, Hermès, Kering, L'Oréal, LVMH or Richemont; 20 percent go to smaller companies; 10 percent to industry service providers such as agencies and event production firms; 5 percent become entrepreneurs or freelancers; and 5 percent pursue careers outside fashion and luxury.
Around 55 percent of the school's 1,400 students come from outside France, representing 70 nationalities, with French, American, Italian, German, Chinese, Swiss, British, South Korean, Spanish and Russian students making up the top 10. For the 2026 school year, 620 students are enrolled in fashion management, the IFM's original raison d'être, alongside 344 in savoir-faire and 436 in design.
The IFM was founded in 1986 at the urging of Pierre Bergé, then head of Yves Saint Laurent couture, to bridge fashion design and business management. Toledano said Bergé had the vision that the industry needed managers better prepared to deal with creativity. Romatet noted that at the time only 2 percent of fashion industry employees had a higher education background, against 14.5 percent across French industry, and that competitors joined forces around a shared ambition to develop talent.
Its alumni include Hermès womenswear designer Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski, Charles de Vilmorin and Rabih Kayrouz, while management graduates have reached senior roles at Isabel Marant, Alaïa, Victoria Beckham, Clarins, Maybelline, Pandora and Bureau Betak. Former ECSCP students include Karl Lagerfeld, Valentino Garavani, Yves Saint Laurent, André Courrèges and Issey Miyake, some of whom did not complete their studies. Romatet noted the IFM has had only three deans in its history, succeeding Dominique Jacomet, who took over in 2007 from Pascal Morand, now executive president of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode.
The school has occupied the Cité de la Mode et du Design since 2008, has more than quadrupled in size and now uses about 70 percent of the building, roughly 97,000 square feet. Romatet said further programs and activities will require additional space and that the school is exploring how to accommodate its next phase of growth. He also said the IFM launched a new specialization within its specialized master's in fashion management in September 2025 after luxury players warned that product development and manufacturing skills were becoming harder to find. The school is integrating new technologies including artificial intelligence, he added, while insisting students keep the creative independence and critical thinking that make fashion distinctive. Toledano, meanwhile, said he is working with LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault, whom he advises, on a project that may have an impact in 10 years, and stressed training people to be resilient amid turbulence: "Luxury is a long-term investment."
Sources: WWD.