The course

The Intensive Shoe Design & Making course blends footwear design principles, traditional Italian shoemaking techniques and contemporary making practice. Students develop an original pair of shoes concept through moodboard research, sketching and material selection, while also experiencing all the stages of shoemaking, from taping the last and drafting patterns, to cutting leather, cementing, stitching, lasting and finishing. The program includes a study trip to a last factory and a heel manufacturer, offering direct insight into the craft’s supply chain and production culture. 

The program covers the complete construction sequence of a shoe, from inner sole and reinforcements to outsole assembly and final finishing.

Set within Florence’s living tradition of leather and artisanal craft, the program offers a rigorous yet experimental approach to footwear as both design practice and embodied knowledge.

Final project

Throughout the program, participants develop a final project, translating their design research, material exploration, and shoemaking process into a fully realized pair of handmade shoes.

From the first sketches and pattern development to leather selection, construction, and finishing, each student engages directly with materials and workshop techniques to create footwear that reflects their creative vision, technical growth, and personal relationship with the culture of making.

The Course

The module is open to students with prior experience in pattern making, draping or garment construction, acquired either through SCHOLA’s modules or other fashion, design or tailoring programs, who want to develop and realise their own fashion project.

Students are supported throughout with dedicated tutoring in both collection development and portfolio building.

This module can be attended independently or combined with other modules to build a longer learning experience – 20, 30 or 40 weeks. 

It is also the final phase of the Fashion Making Master Program 1Y.

Final Collection

The module concludes with the presentation of a personal fashion collection, developed and constructed over the ten weeks, together with the documentation of the design and research process.

The Course

The module provides specialised knowledge applicable to independent creative projects, small production contexts and professional practice. 

The program includes an introductory sewing skills component and is open to students from any background, with or without prior fashion training experience.

This module can be attended independently or combined with other modules to build a longer learning experience – 20, 30 or 40 weeks.

Final Collection

The module concludes with the completion of a menswear garment project, developed and constructed entirely by each student across the ten weeks.

The Course

The module includes an introductory sewing skills component and is open to students from any background, with or without prior fashion training experience.

Alongside draping practice, the course introduces textile experimentation and surface research, including natural dyeing and material exploration, fostering a process-driven sensibility where experimentation is not a detour but a central part of the design method.

This module can be attended independently or combined with other modules to build a longer learning experience – 20, 30 or 40 weeks.

Final Collection

The module concludes with an experimental draped garment and textile research project, developed through the student’s own material and process exploration.

The Course

The course offers a solid and rigorous foundation in contemporary womenswear making, with a consistent focus on technical precision, textile awareness and responsible production. Design is not treated as a separate phase, it emerges from the process itself, through pattern lines, construction decisions and material behaviour.

The program includes an introductory sewing skills component for students with no prior experience.

This module can be attended independently or combined with other modules to build a longer learning experience – 20, 30 or 40 weeks.

Final Collection

The module concludes with the completion of a womenswear garment project, developed and constructed entirely by each student across the ten weeks.

The Course

The Italian Cooking Class blends culinary practice, cultural awareness, and sensory education. Students explore the core ingredients of Mediterranean cuisine such as olive oil, grains, vegetables, legumes, cheese, fish, fruit, and herbs, approaching each one as the result of agricultural knowledge, climate, and tradition.

Through daily hands-on sessions, they learn essential cooking techniques such as knife skills, basic preparations, fermentation, roasting, grilling, preserving, and simple cooking methods, gradually building confidence in the kitchen while understanding how technique shapes flavor, texture, and balance.

Parallel to practice, students develop ingredient awareness and sensory sensitivity, learning to recognize quality, seasonality, and nutritional properties. Food is explored as culture and storytelling: a way to understand place, memory, and conviviality.

The program we offer isn’t just a food experience, but it extends beyond the kitchen through field trips to local producers, where students encounter the people and environments behind Italian ingredients.

Set within Florence and opening toward the wider Tuscan landscape, the course offers a contemporary yet deeply rooted introduction to Italian food culture, understood as both a daily practice and a shared cultural heritage.

Final Project

This culinary journey concludes with a collective and experiential final moment centered on cooking, sharing, and reflection.
Drawing on the techniques and principles developed throughout the course, students collaboratively prepare a final convivial meal that brings together ingredient knowledge, seasonality, and balanced menu construction.

This concluding experience is more than just a cooking class in italy: it synthesizes practice, cultural understanding, and sensory awareness, emphasizing food as a social and cultural act.
The final outcome reflects the course’s core philosophy: cooking as an expression of care, simplicity, and connection between ingredients, territory, and people.