Accademia Costume e Moda Opens Second Campus in Rome

NEW (R)HOME: Roman fashion school Accademia Costume e Moda, whose famous alumni include Alessandro Michele and Frida Giannini, is concluding its 60th anniversary year by opening a new campus in the Italian capital. 

On Tuesday, ACM presented its new premises located in the Ex Magazzini allo Statuto, a late 19th-century Umbertine building, in the city’s Esquilino district.

The site has undergone extensive redevelopment thanks to the conservation and restoration project that began in late 2022 sponsored by the IPC Fund (Infrastructure Growth Fund – ESG) of Azimut Libera Impresa SGR, owner of the building. The project was entrusted to the Kami architecture and engineering studio with the support of the Rome-based architectural Studio DDArch. 

Accademia Costume & Moda is managed by Furio Francini and was founded in 1964 by Rosana Pistolese, Ottavio Spadaro, Dario Cecchi and Nello Ponente. “The new campus is not only an international center of education but also a laboratory of innovation and a driver of local growth,” said Francini. “Through this elective affinity, ACM seeks not only to train the professionals of tomorrow but also to add value to the city of Rome, fostering dialogue and inclusivity.”

The 64,583-square-foot campus spans six floors including a basement and comprises fully equipped classrooms for fashion, accessory, costume, tailoring, prototyping, photography and styling laboratories, as well as new spaces for the library and fabrics archives, terraces and a rooftop.

Operations at the campus began with the 2024-25 academic year. 

It was designed to accommodate over 600 students of the bachelor of arts degree programs such as costume and fashion; fashion editor; styling, and communication, among others, and of the master’s in accessories design.

Meanwhile, the historic campus in Rome’s Via della Rondinella will continue to host educational activities, offering master’s programs in haute couture, fashion design, fabrics innovation design, and the art and craft of the costume designer. A campus in Milan was inaugurated in 2020.