SCHOLA – Partner of the Kering Academy for Excellence

In July 2026, SCHOLA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kering Academy for Excellence, becoming the only Florentine institution selected among the first eight partners of the Kering group’s national educational ecosystem – Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Brioni, Balenciaga, Pomellato, Ginori 1735 and the other Kering Maisons.

The Kering Academy for Excellence

On April 16, 2026 – Italy’s Made in Italy Day – Kering CEO Luca de Meo and Pomellato CEO Sabina Belli launched the Kering Accademia per le Eccellenze at the Gucci Archive in Florence, in the presence of the Italian Minister of Enterprises Adolfo Urso. The initiative is designed to train the next generation of luxury craftsmanship professionals, combining traditional Italian savoir-faire with critical thinking, creativity and innovation – in response to the industry’s growing need for qualified talent across all production sectors, from fashion and footwear to leather goods, jewellery and ceramics.

SCHOLA’s role: Florence’s only complete craft atelier

Among the eight institutions selected, SCHOLA is the only one based in Florence – in the heart of the Oltrarno district, the historic neighbourhood that has been the centre of Florentine craftsmanship for centuries.

But SCHOLA’s uniqueness goes beyond geography. SCHOLA is today the only complete craft atelier ecosystem in Italy that brings together, under one roof and through a shared methodology, all the manufacturing disciplines of the Florentine tradition that correspond to the Kering group’s core métiers: fashion and tailoring, leather goods, bespoke footwear, fine ceramics, and perfumery and botanical alchemy.

This is not a school that adds subjects. It is a contemporary bottega where these disciplines coexist and cross-pollinate every day – exactly as they did in the Renaissance workshops of Florence, and exactly as they do within the Maisons of contemporary luxury.

Two tracks of collaboration

The partnership with the Kering Academy for Excellence develops along two priority tracks:

Train the trainer – SCHOLA brings its contemporary bottega methodology into the Kering Maisons, contributing to the technical and cultural training of Kering’s artisan teams through programmes built on the Intelligence of Hands.

Talent pipeline – SCHOLA’s advanced programmes feed a qualified talent pool for the Kering Maisons and the broader Italian luxury supply chain. Graduates carry a depth of technical and cultural knowledge that conventional schools do not produce.

Press coverage

The partnership has been reported by: Il Sole 24 Ore, WWD, JCK, The Impression, FashionNetwork, FIRSTonline, The New Jeweller, ESG News, Youmark.

Get in touch

For institutional and B2B partnership enquiries: contact us at [email protected]
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