Ecole de la Chambre syndicale de la couture

Ecole de la Chambre syndicale de la couture parisienne (Fashion School) / Partner to the Foundation’s fashion scholarship programme sponsored by Jean Paul Gaultier (2010)

Prestigious alumni of the École de la Chambre syndicale de la couture parisienne include Yves Saint Laurent, Issey Miyake or more recently, Alexis Mabille. Founded in 1927, the school was founded to supply tailoring professionals with the qualified helpers they needed. The school does not only train designers. The 75 students in the first year, whose admission is based on portfolios) will complete four years before becoming designers (20%), patternmakers (20%) and communication professionals (8%) with the remaining half moving into coordinating collections.

The students, half of whom are from abroad, are recruited at baccalaureate level. Roughly speaking, the Masters course is divided into two: a first multidisciplinary two-year component in which students acquire technical knowledge as well as practical experience of trade tools; then following a four-month module, students are steered towards a specialised component or a professional project. They then choose between a collection module, based on the development of a product, or an image module, in which they work on a brand’s identity.