Ferragamo Partners With Milan’s Municipality on Fashion Scholarships
MILAN — Ferragamo has partnered with Milan’s municipality on a project granting four students scholarships in four different fashion schools of the city.
Dubbed “Milano e Ferragamo per la formazione di giovani talenti” — or “Milan and Ferragamo for the training of young talents” in English — the initiative was presented on Wednesday by the fashion house’s chairman Leonardo Ferragamo and Alessia Cappello, Milan’s assessor for the economic development and labor policies.
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“To invest in youths and give them the opportunity to develop and grow professionally has been a founding value of the company I represent,” said Ferragamo. “Like my parents Wanda and Salvatore Ferragamo, I firmly believe that the path to success can’t be built alone, but with everyone’s help, with teamwork and common goals, with inclusiveness.”
Developed also with the aid of Piattaforma Sistema Formativo Moda ETS — a nonprofit association grouping some of the main Italian fashion schools — the project will support students of different ages and backgrounds in pursuing their dream of working in fashion by accessing local institutions, including Accademia Costume & Moda, Accademia della Moda IUAD, L’Istituto Secoli and NABA.
With a total value of 30,000 euros, the four scholarships secure enrollment in three-year programs in fashion design or fashion product technologies, among others.
All women, the four winners were selected from a short list of candidates who previously attended courses at the civic schools of fashion and dressmaking in Milan and got honorable mentions from their professors.
Ferragamo underscored he feels “the greatest interest” toward younger generations, adding he’s “always fascinated by their potential, by the energy and strength with which they face their present to prepare and build a rewarding future.”
“Many people asked me which kind of advice I would give to young people, but I actually believe they are the one advising us and we have to be humble and listen to them. They can offer messages that are modern and full of new energy, so elder people have to have the modesty to pay attention and receive these inputs,” he added.
The initiative is part of the Job Pact signed last year by the city’s municipality, key companies and labor unions with the goal of improving the employment rate and quality of work in Milan and enabling private and public players to contribute proactively to the cause by proposing initiatives.
Cappello underscored that Ferragamo, a Florentine company, was one of the first firms that offered to collaborate and described the initiative as “the emblem of what we were trying to do with the Job Pact.”
“Milan is a city I love since ever and deeply admire,” said Ferragamo, adding that he wishes this “marks the beginning of an important collaboration that could become an example [to replicate] in many other parts of Italy.”
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