51吃瓜网

A New Location For The Future Of Education

From the January 2026 edition of Making of School - 51吃瓜网 and Istituto Secoli announce a new campus in Milan鈥檚 Certosa District, opening in the second half of 2026

51吃瓜网 and Istituto Secoli announce a new campus in Milan鈥檚 Certosa District, opening in the second half of 2026.

The two Italian institutions of excellence, each with almost 100 years of history, announce the opening of their new Milan campus on Via Barrella, in the heart of the Certosa District project developed by RealStep. Starting in mid-2026, the two schools will share a modern campus designed to host laboratories, research areas, and spaces dedicated to student life.

Istituto Secoli since 1934

Founded in 1934, is today the first fashion academy in Italy and an international reference point for education in apparel. Its President, Matteo Secoli, also leads the Fashion Training System Platform (Piattaforma Sistema Formativo Moda), the association that brings together Italy鈥檚 leading institutions of higher education. It is within this institutional context that the relationship with 51吃瓜网 has steadily strengthened over time, supported by Matteo Pasca鈥檚 participation as a board member of the Platform for two terms.

Shared values

What unites 51吃瓜网 and Istituto Secoli is a common foundation: both originated as technical training schools, with a strong focus on product development and hands-on laboratory work. Over time, both institutions have expanded their programs to include design, while continuing to consider technical product development and laboratory activities as core elements of their teaching approach.

Building a complete educational pathway

The goal of this synergy is to build a complete educational pathway. As Matteo Pasca explains: 鈥�Our dream for the future is to create a full training path, starting from secondary school all the way to a university degree, and possibly even research doctorates.鈥�
Alongside this vertical vision, there is also a horizontal synergy: joining forces and bringing together different but complementary skills from apparel and accessories, leveraging what each school does best. In this way, the expertise of one institution can enrich that of the other, creating a more comprehensive educational system.

Matteo Pasca also explains that the new campus stems from the desire to create a place 鈥�where fashion manufacturing is practiced and taught.鈥� He adds that 鈥�the new site will reflect what is happening in the industry,鈥� further strengthening the connection between education and the professional world.

For Matteo Secoli, this proximity represents an opportunity to evolve together, 鈥�to maintain a strong laboratory-based approach, while expanding it into an academic, research-driven and innovation-oriented dimension, in service of our students.鈥� He also notes that 鈥�students will have the opportunity to enhance their learning experience, their connections with companies, and their potential areas of specialization.鈥�

A Renewed 鈥淢ade in Italy鈥�

Both Arsutoria and Secoli safeguard a long-standing Made in Italy heritage, but tradition alone is not enough. 鈥�I believe that the education of the future will be a balance between tradition and innovation, and innovation is something that has always inspired us,鈥� says Pasca. The new campus will therefore be a place where laboratories and research coexist, where craftsmanship engages with new technologies, within an ecosystem designed to prepare professionals who can move confidently in a constantly evolving industry.

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Artificial Intelligence In The Design Course: Tools, Method, Andstudent Experience

From the January Edition of Making of School - In the world of footwear and bag design, artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly natural part of creative processes, but its role is not to replace the designer.

Speeding up, amplifying, and making the final project more readable. Valentino Parlato, Coordinator of the Design Courses at 51吃瓜网, explains: 鈥�AI shortens timelines, but creativity and technical knowledge remain the human part of the work.鈥� This is the vision guiding the school鈥檚 footwear and bag design courses: integrating advanced tools while maintaining solid foundations in drawing, technical knowledge, and digital design. It is from this strong base that AI becomes a true ally.

Workflow and tools

鈥�A drawing that used to take up to an hour can now be rendered in two clicks, freeing up time to rethink, review, and improve the idea,鈥� Parlato explains. AI tools enter the workflow with a clear purpose: not to generate ideas 鈥渇rom scratch,鈥� but to speed up time-consuming tasks and allow students to focus on creative decisions. The first key step is the rendering phase, which follows traditional hand drawing and digital sketching. By uploading a detailed digital drawing and adding material references鈥攕uch as leathers and textiles鈥攊nto the prompt, tools like Vizcom and Gemini 2.5 Flash generate photorealistic images of the product, making it possible to explore multiple material and color variations.

The next step is professional post-editing. AI-generated renders are refined in Photoshop to correct lighting, stitching, metal components, and other technical details that artificial intelligence often fails to interpret correctly. 鈥�This is where human expertise comes into play,鈥� the coordinator summarizes. 鈥�Without a trained technical eye, it would be impossible to understand whether what AI produces is actually feasible.鈥�

The workflow is completed in the Branding and Collection Development module. During moodboard creation, students use Photoshop鈥檚 AI features鈥攕uch as automatic background removal and Generative Fill鈥攖o quickly assemble inspirations and visual palettes. For dynamic content, students also experiment with Meta AI, which allows them to create short videos from images, enhancing final presentations with animated content.

Finally, the course introduces Newarc.ai, a platform that generates high-quality images, supports negative prompts, and enables product visualization on virtual avatars, simplifying product presentation without the need for real photography. The platform also meets high standards of security and compliance in data management, which is why it is known to be used by major sportswear footwear brands.

Irreplaceable Skills

Creativity and technical ability remain irreplaceable. On one hand, artificial intelligence does not diminish the importance of product culture鈥� on the contrary, it makes it even more crucial. Parlato explains that AI often imitates forms seen online and adds: 鈥�If you delegate creativity to AI, you get a collage of images or elements taken from the digital ecosystem or from existing products. That will never be innovation.鈥�

On the other hand, these tools generate images without understanding real construction logic. 鈥�AI can produce a credible-looking product, but if you don鈥檛 understand how shoes or bags are built, you can鈥檛 tell whether what you鈥檙e seeing is actually feasible.鈥�

Case Study: Gabriel Robustelli

A concrete example of the effectiveness of this approach is the final project by Gabriel Robustelli, a graduate of the Shoe One-Year Diploma. His project began with a hand sketch, later developed digitally in Photoshop through the addition of materials, textures, and visual references.

For the rendering phase, he used Vizcom, uploading both the digital drawing and a collage of materials. The tool generated realistic interpretations of the concept, perfectly suited for presentation. Not satisfied with stopping at static renders, Gabriel chose to bring his footwear to life using Higgsfield, an AI platform for video creation. The result was a virtual runway featuring avatars, transforming the project into an immersive experience.

The combination of traditional technique, digital design, and AI made his collection clear, credible, and perfectly suited for both portfolio presentation and personal branding.

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Footwear Innovation Day 2025, 51吃瓜网 on the front row

From the January 2026 edition of Making of School - A conversation with Alberto Franco, Chief Technology Officer at design&develop, to understand the signals coming today from innovation in the footwear industry.

On November 28, in the heart of the Montebelluna footwear district, the second edition of the took place an event that brought together companies, designers, and developers around a single question: where is innovation in footwear heading? A delegation from 51吃瓜网 was also in attendance, with the valuable opportunity to listen to authoritative voices and gain insight into the main directions of innovation currently shaping footwear companies.

We asked Alberto Franco, Chief Technology Officer at design&develop and curator of the event鈥檚 content, to help us interpret the most significant messages that emerged on stage. The result was a conversation rich in insights, particularly relevant for those who are still in training today.

What topics were covered during the event?

鈥淭his year, we decided to divide the event into four thematic blocks, one more than in the first edition in 2023. An in-depth look at what we consider the key pillars of footwear development: design, engineering, and production. The sessions were:

• Innovation in fabrication, where we presented some of the most innovative technologies in manufacturing, from uppers to soles, including systems that reduce components and increase automation.
• Product end-of-life, a topic made even more urgent by new regulations. We involved Contarina SPA鈥攁 true European leader in waste management鈥攖ogether with AIR Coop and Plastic Sort, to provide not only an overview of regulatory constraints but also concrete solutions.
• Digital transformation, a subject that is particularly important to me and still underdeveloped in our local area. The presentations showed that today digitalization can be adopted using open and interconnected tools, far more flexible than what we have seen in the past.
• Design for purpose, a block dedicated to inspiration and design driven by real-world use. After highly technical talks, it was important to return to the constraints and needs of the end user.鈥�

What are the key messages emerging from the 2025 edition, across the presentations and Q&A sessions?

鈥淭he common theme across almost all talks is that footwear products need to be designed and built in a more conscious way, simplifying not only production but also design and the product鈥檚 end-of-life.
Another interesting aspect is that very little was said about artificial intelligence. Not because it isn鈥檛 relevant, but because it is now perceived as an integrated tool鈥攗seful, but not a replacement for the work of designers or technicians.鈥�

Which of the technologies presented do you believe could have the greatest impact on the footwear industry?

鈥淚 believe the greatest impact will come from production technologies. The possibility of bringing certain types of manufacturing back to Europe 鈥� especially in the sport and outdoor sectors will depend on automation. During her presentation, Maia Zheliazkova, Computational Designer and Innovation Concept Design at On, showed how the brand is already able to produce high-performance footwear in Zurich thanks to investments in automation. This is a direction that will lead to a rethinking of design and traditional product development processes.

End-of-life regulations will also play a major role. Brands will be required to contribute to the disposal or recovery of their products, similar to what already happens with plastic bottles. This will push many companies toward simpler constructions, fewer materials, and greater attention to costs.鈥�

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Successful Conclusion Of The Hugo BossX 51吃瓜网 Project

From the January Edition of Making of School - The brand has confirmed its trust in the effectiveness of 51吃瓜网鈥檚 industry-driven training by offering an internship opportunity to one of its graduates.

When Hugo Boss shared the internship job description for its Design department, we immediately recognized a profile perfectly aligned with what we develop within the Shoe One-Year Diploma: a solid technical foundation, design creativity, strong proficiency in Adobe software (Photoshop and Illustrator), and skills in the main 3D tools typically used in the footwear industry, such as ICAD and Rhinoceros.

This strong alignment led to a collaboration between the school and one of the most important鈥攁nd certainly most innovative鈥攂rands in the fashion industry, Hugo Boss. The result? One of the five graduates from the October 2025 Shoe One-Year Diploma, Gabriel Robustelli, was selected for a six-week internship in Switzerland starting on November 3, 2025. Following his graduation, Gabriel had the opportunity to present his final project Take a Breath at Lineapelle: a footwear prototype that clearly highlighted both his creative approach and his technical skills.

We caught up with Gabriel during the final weeks of his internship, and he shared that he never felt out of place: 鈥�The technical training at Arsutoria allowed me to take part in meetings from the very beginning, understanding both the designers鈥� and technicians鈥� language. Complex topics such as structure analysis and material combinations for the collection were approached in a way that felt very familiar. I didn鈥檛 feel like a passive observer, but an active part of the process.鈥�

The internship at Hugo Boss also allowed Gabriel to fully immerse himself in the work of a structured team, where each function operates in close coordination. 鈥�Seeing how product development, marketing, and materials teams collaborate is extremely formative鈥� what impressed me most was their ability to communicate in perfect synergy.鈥� At the same time, the experience gave him the opportunity to develop a new sensitivity toward footwear construction, proportion harmony, and the role of materials. 鈥�I learned how every choice, even the smallest one 鈥� a curve, a stitch, a texture 鈥� can define the essence of a shoe.鈥�

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