Educational Visits – Ferrari Fashion School – Milan

The Gian Paolo Barbieri Foundation and Ferrari Fashion School: a structured collaboration for education

As part of a well-established and structured collaboration with Ferrari Fashion School, the Gian Paolo Barbieri Foundation ETS welcomed a group of students enrolled in the Fashion Styling course for an educational visit, accompanied by their instructors. The initiative is part of a shared program designed to offer immersive learning experiences, aimed at deepening students’ understanding of visual language in fashion and its evolution.

The visit represented a valuable exchange between contemporary education and cultural heritage, in line with the Foundation’s mission to pass on Italian photographic culture to younger generations. Within this ongoing dialogue with the school, students were introduced to an approach to photography grounded in strong artistic authorship, analog practices, and a direct, intentional relationship with image-making.

Particular attention was devoted to the work of Gian Paolo Barbieri, a central figure in the history of fashion photography, whose work continues to serve as a key reference for those studying fashion image-making and styling today. Through the analysis of his method, students reflected on the role of art direction, the importance of aesthetic coherence, and the construction of a distinctive visual identity.

A key moment of the experience was access to the Foundation’s archive—an integral part of this structured educational path—where students had the opportunity to observe original materials and gain insight into the dynamics of the creative process, from conceptual development to final execution. For students specializing in Fashion Photography and Styling, this provided concrete tools to interpret images not only as aesthetic outcomes, but as the result of research, storytelling, and the coordination of multiple creative roles.

Overall, the visit stands as a meaningful milestone within an ongoing collaboration between the Foundation and the school: a strong bridge between theory and practice that fosters critical thinking and the development of a personal creative vision, preparing students to approach their future roles in the fashion industry with greater awareness.