AZ Academy Unveils Finalists for First Business for Designers Program

NEW AMIGOS: AZ Academy, the educational program established by Richemont Group’s Milan-based corporate school, Creative Academy, in partnership with Rome’s Accademia Costume & Moda fashion school, has revealed the 19 finalists of its Business for Designers initiative.

They were selected for their “distinctive visions and their potential to influence the future of the fashion industry,” AZ Academy said in a statement, singling out the international bent of the program, which includes talents hailing from Mexico, China, Finland, South Korea, Italy and France, among other countries.

The post-graduate educational initiative kicks off in January with the first yearlong academic courses across management, innovation, sustainability, production, finance and marketing held at Accademia Costume & Moda’s Milan campus.

As reported, finalists were selected by an 18-member jury headlined by, among others, designers Isabel Marant and Lutz Huelle, Richemont’s chief executive officer Nicolas Bos and Philippe Fortunato, CEO of fashion and accessories maisons at Compagnie Financière Richemont.

All finalists are recent graduate designers from international fashion schools or independent designers already working in fashion, leather goods and accessories.

The roster includes Spanish menswear designer Brais Albor Rodriguez; London-based Clementine Baldo, a womenswear designer who boasts stints at Jean-Paul Gaultier and was already among the winners of the 2024 edition of the ITS Contest in Trieste, Italy; German designer Merle Breuker, who showcased her collection at this year’s Berlin Fashion Week; British sustainable fashion designer Rose Brown; Filipino designer Sandra Jao, a graduate from Tokyo’s Bunka Fashion College; Lei Jiang, a London Royal College of Art graduate who creates body pieces in mixed media textiles; Mexican, but Milan-based designer Eduardo Juarez Camacho; Seoul-based Yeaji Lee, the founder of the It’s Yeah brand; Chinese fashion designer and ceramist Liwen Liang; Manon Marcelot, a French designer with stints at Chanel, Goyard and Louis Vuitton, among other brands; Milan-based shoe and accessories designer Adria Mirabelli; Rome-born Caterina Moro, a trained opera singer who switched to fashion; Mexican, but Paris-based designer Ricardo Sanher, who started his eponymous brand in 2022 after stints at Berluti and Sonia Rykiel; Andrey Savin, the designer and founder of House of Savin Limited, a luxury British bridal brand; Slovakian designer Viktoria Skrek, who developed her penchant for sustainable design after moving to Italy; Milan-based designer Yulia Voytenko, who moved to Italy in 2005 and has since launched a shoe line, high-end clothing label, and current project, Yulia; Helsinki-based jewelry designer Ildar Wafin; Taiwan-native Wei-Sheng Wang, a graduate from Parsons, and Indonesian designer Theo Weiren.

At the end of their academic year, designers will be offered a chance to pitch their business case proposal to potential investors.

Aimed at supporting independent fashion designers, AZ Academy germinated from the now shuttered AZ Factory fashion brand.

Initially a new vehicle for acclaimed fashion designer Alber Elbaz that evolved into a hub for serial collaborations following his death in April 2021 from COVID-19, the start-up morphed from fashion brand into the current educational platform last May, ceasing retail and design operations.