IFM students drop the ball at Paris Fashion Week in front of Brigitte Macron and Rachida Duti

Cuts, glues, sews… In the two weeks before graduation, graduates of IFM’s Master of Arts in Fashion Design work with great concentration. There are 27 of them, coming from all over the world (France, Iraq, Italy, Korea, China, Belgium, Germany) and from all institutions, including La Cambre in Brussels and La Central Saint Martins in London. 27 of the 1,300 students at this new university, which, following the merger of IFM with Chambre syndicale de la couture in 2019, became the first school in the world 100% dedicated to fashion.

In this 9,000 m² building, which zigzags like an apple-green snake on the quays of Austerlitz on the banks of the Seine, 14 training programs at CAP, Bachelor’s, Master’s and Executive MBA levels prepare you for all fashion professions as well as management. as well as creation and know-how. At the top of the creative pyramid, MA students in fashion design or knitwear are invited, as every year, to showcase their “incredible talents” with a dedicated fashion show at the opening of Paris Fashion Week. That’s what happened on February 26, 2024, in front of Brigitte Macron and the new Minister of Culture Rachida Dati sitting in the front row.

Best choice

Take the first step to get the key to the parade. present your work to a panel of experts from diverse and diverse perspectives (from senior designers Balenciaga and Courrèges, as well as Artistic Director Olivier Teskens for artistic insight or Jacquemus Business and Development Director for pragmatic vision). Result? they were all selected for the big show (unlike last year when 8 students were not selected). “80% of our teaching revolves around design creation and 20% around theory,” explains MA program director Leila Neri. We’re here to give them a very advanced artistic and technical education, but our goal is also to train empathetic designers who will inject humanity into the studios. Hence our human resources and team management seminars that complement all our courses.” Summing up: there is no question of giving birth to egotistical robots locked in their ivory towers.

Passion for fashion

Furthermore, when we question them, many of these students, both preferred and reticent, do not necessarily express a desire to become the all-powerful “IT”. “They have a more distant and critical view of fashion than previous generations,” continues Leila Neri, “the most important thing for them is to live from the passion for clothes, beautiful materials and the construction of volumes.” They do much more than show up.” Their owners? Martin Margiela and Raf Simons. The homes they would dream of joining. Bottega Veneta, Loewe, Alaïa, Balenciaga, Gucci or Comme des Garçons.

This year, this class had the opportunity to develop their projects firstly under the guidance of Olivier Teskens and secondly under the guidance of the House of Dior. “It is the first time that this major house is undertaking a major project related to a fashion school,” enthuses Leila Neri. Maria Grazia Chiuri and the designers of the studio came to complete the lessons of our teachers, and the students had the opportunity, in addition to the haute couture and ready-to-wear studios, to visit the label’s top-secret archives.

Leather and silk from great houses

This is also the whole point of IFM – its ecosystem. Located in the City of Lights, in constant contact with luxury groups (LVMH, Kering, Chanel) and knowledge of France (19M and its artistic crafts, in particular), it offers students a remarkable address book (both for practice: great houses and one-off collaborations with exceptional artisans). So Cécile, 30, who for her clothes, which focused on the transformation of women over the centuries, developed several types of pleats with Karen Grigoryan, a master pleater, one of the last in France. Kiara, 25, whose impressive Sanctuary collection boasts Seventies prints and colours, praises the quality of material available to students. In addition to wonderful pieces of fabric donated by the biggest brands, such as Alaïa leather or Schiaparelli silk, they also have 3D printers or incredible computer-programmed knitting machines. Alice, 25, who specializes in knitwear, used it for her L’Empreinte du temps collection to reproduce the reliefs of vintage jewelry and metal watches on her clothes.

In front of Brigitte Macron and Rachida Duti

It’s finally the big day on Monday 26th February at 3pm. The IFM show opens Paris Fashion Week with around 400 guests. Among them is Brigitte Macron, who is arriving, alongside Culture Minister Rachida Dati and Business, Tourism and Consumer Affairs Minister Olivia Grégoire. They are accompanied by IFM President Sidney Toledano, Director General of the School Javier Romatet and Bruno Pawlowski, President of Fashion at Chanel and the IFM Foundation. In the front row, the artistic directors Guillaume Henry (Patou), Alexandre Matiusi (AMI), the chief executive of the major Parisian houses and the HR directors also set up shop just to see the great future creatives they are likely to gather in their studios. . The silhouettes on the catwalk follow each other, wildly inventive, each telling the story of today’s world in its own way.

Intellectual ladies and kawaii girls

Qianhan Liu is Chinese, and he gets the ball rolling with his oversized leaf-patterned coats laser-cut from leather and recycled leather pants that look like aged wood. Incredible knits throughout, sculptural volumes, unique tailoring, disruptive fluidity, strict or luxurious lines, artificial fabrics and high-tech fabrics… The jacket swells with matte fur, reminiscent of the monsters of our childhood, and the other is a veil. dripping black latex as if coming out of dark water. Winged creatures in their papier-mâché dresses covered in silver hail follow the neo-duchesses in crazy outfits. ladies somewhat harsh intellectuals in long black leather skirts and high-collared shirts precede pink-haired kawaii girls in baggy blazers and pleated skirts.

Tell a story and re-enchant the world

There are also real-life fairy princesses in Malabar pink lurex ball gowns, funky cowboys who go to the office in their cute, ultra-chic striped tennis suits, ballerinas who tie their bodysuits to pleated jersey capes with trains as long as they are. brides, guys who dress up as opera divas and girls who play businessmen in jeans, a white shirt, a turtleneck and a striped tie. Also attracting a lot of attention are these pregnant women in their long dresses with split knits and young men from all walks of life parading side by side in their outfits like Siamese twins. Strength and fragility, gothic and fantastic, radical and humorous and a lot of imagination. All emotions arise, all emotions collide as this generation tries to re-enchant a world they know to be complicated.

Brigitte Macron “bluffed”.

At the end, applause and delighted first lady. Brigitte Macron shares her impressions with us behind the scenes. “I am blown away by the quality of their collections, the creativity and the innovative work on materials, particularly knits and other fabrics, that I couldn’t decide what they were. I also found that there is a lot of style, outfit, originality and humor in their clothes. I really liked these twins, who paraded in the same assembled outfit,” sums up the wife of President Emmanuel Macron. And continue. “I have already come to attend the fashion show in 2022 and measure the level of excellence of this school, which welcomes all nationalities and aims to develop and promote French creativity, which already has an incredible resonance around the world. Being at IFM is a dream, especially for its ecosystem that gives you access to all the biggest houses. But I know we have to help these young talents, support them when they leave school. This is a very important topic for me. In both fashion and design, I understand how difficult it is for these young people to sometimes have to work two jobs for a living.

What does the first lady also think about this new generation of designers who are likely to be the future greats of tomorrow? “When I visited the IFM campus in October 2021,” continues Brigitte Macron, “I was struck by their energy, the effort they put into realizing their project, and I was very surprised by their great maturity. In my opinion, they are really creators, even artists, and I have great respect for their work,” he concludes with a smile.