Initially, the partnership will focus on leathergoods. Backed by the Tuscan region — one of the most important manufacturing hubs in the sector — the training program will debut in October 2017 and will involve 12 participants interested in the leather trade.The selected candidates will benefit from Polimoda’s thirty-years experience in teaching fashion and the artisanal know-how of LVMH’s maisons including Dior, Céline, Fendi, Loro Piana and Louis Vuitton.

The courses will take place at the Florentine school, in Villa Favard, and in its “design lab” in Scandicci, the leathergoods district located on the outskirts of Florence, as well as in the maisons’ studios and at Palais Pucci, where the IME is located in Italy.With the Institut des Métiers d’Excellence, LVMH hopes “to ensure the transmission of its expertise while at the same time enhance the crafts and creative sector in the younger generations.”The program has contributed so far to the training of more than 200 young people across sectors such as jewellery, fashion, leathergoods, wine, culinary arts, watches, and luxury design.