MILAN — Fashion and design school Istituto Marangoni is expanding its scope and launching courses in cosmetics and fragrances.

The goal is to coach and train the longer term managers of the wonder industry, which is exponentially growing and “will increasingly demand for skilled figures within the upcoming years,” said the college’s managing director Stefania Valenti on Monday, when the initiative was unveiled on the Hotel Magna Pars & Suites here.

“Projections show that the cosmetics and fragrance industry will grow from generating $500 billion in sales to $700 billion by 2027,” continued Valenti. “Istituto Marangoni, which has at all times supported talents on this planet of fashion, design and luxury, couldn’t miss the chance to understand the potential of such a strategic market, that’s so near the DNA of its educational offer.”

“Our vision and angle is obvious: we would like to show our students the talents to create and develop a brand, whether [operating] in ready-to-wear or footwear, bags or fragrances, that are a natural extension of fashion houses,” said the manager.

Valenti noted that the important thing skilled skills required in beauty “follow the identical dynamics of those demanded in fashion, including learn how to position a brand on international markets and advertise with its unique features.” She moreover noted that educational programs targeting such skills in cosmetics are missing, saying “there’s an enormous need for training because the industry is rapidly changing” and is already trying to Generation Alpha to review recent customers’ demands, habits and values.

Debuting in September, different courses shall be offered at Istituto Marangoni’s campuses in Paris, Milan and Florence. These include bachelor’s degrees and one-year intensive programs in fragrances and cosmetics management, in addition to master’s degrees in marketing and communication management for fragrances and cosmetics, in brand management and licensing, or in olfactory experience management for the posh industry.

The syllabus will cover topics reminiscent of the history of fragrances, market evaluation and trend forecasting, along with deep-diving brand and financial management, in addition to legal topics including mental property, trademark registration and protection, distribution rights and management of royalties, amongst others.

Workshops on raw materials and perfumery creation at specialized laboratories will add to the programs to “create awareness in future managers also in regards to the technical complexities behind the fragrances,” said Valenti, who stressed that the campus in Florence will offer classes dedicated to home fragrances as well.

Along with the aforementioned locations, Istituto Marangoni has outposts in London; Mumbai; Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; Miami, and Dubai. Valenti said that the training centers in Shanghai and Mumbai will even be involved within the project, in addition to the college in Dubai opened last yr.

“China is taken into account the [next destination] of fragrances, expected to turn into the second biggest marketplace for the category after the U.S. by 2027,” noted Valenti, moreover highlighting the longtime tradition in beauty in India and the Middle East.

“We aim to have expert managers not only in Europe but the world over, so we would like to bring our experience on a worldwide scale,” she continued. The chief sees cross-pollination with Istituto Marangoni’s other divisions, reminiscent of the product design course that might explore special projects in cosmetics packaging, for one.

Overall, the college’s expansion in beauty was developed with the support of the Italian association of fragrance firms Accademia del Profumo in Milan, and partners including Symrise and Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella in Paris and Florence, respectively.

“It’s a strategic initiative for local firms because it enables us to have a pool of talents already trained in our industry,” said Accademia del Profumo’s president Ambra Martone, highlighting that the project is aligned with the organization’s mission of promoting the culture of perfume within the country.

Martone, the daughter of Italian leading perfume manufacturer ICR’s president Roberto Martone, stressed on the importance of the sector for Italy, where 600 recent fragrances are launched every yr and smells account for 40 percent out of total products sold in local perfumeries. She shared that perfumes’ market value locally reached 1.1 billion euros and reports a median annual growth of two percent.

Overall, in accordance with preliminary figures released by Cosmetica Italia earlier this yr, in 2022 total sales generated by Italian beauty firms grew 11.4 percent to 13.2 billion euros in comparison with 2021 and surpassed the industry’s performance in 2019, when revenues roughly reached 12 billion euros. In response to projections by the national association, sales are expected to further grow 7.7 percent to 14.2 billion euros in 2023.

“We are going to stress on the importance of Italy within the history of fragrances,” said Martone in regards to the partnership with Istituto Marangoni, citing the role of Caterina de’ Medici in launching modern perfumery and introducing it in France, in addition to the experiments in the sector by Leonardo da Vinci. One other focus shall be on raw materials, as Martone cited bergamot hailing from Italy’s region Calabria as one in all the most-used ingredients in fragrance-making, included in 86 percent of the highest notes of perfumes realized globally.

“But what we’ll attempt to pass all the way down to students is that the actual magic and strength of a fragrance is intangible and relies in its ability to elicit an emotion,” said Martone. “The olfactory memory is amazingly necessary. We remember 35 percent of the perfumes we smell, versus only 5 percent of the photographs we see daily. Today the sense of smell is undervalued because we are able to’t digitalize it and transfer it with modern media, hence the necessity of talents and managers that may leverage marketing tools to boost it.”

Students enrolled in Istituto Marangoni’s courses will even be involved in Accademia del Profumo’s initiatives, including in assigning the annual awards of the association, which this yr shall be revealed for the primary time with an open-to-public ceremony on Sept. 28, in the course of the second edition of Milan Beauty Week.  

Students could moreover apply for the scholarship program Accademia del Profumo established last yr in memory of Giorgia Martone, Ambra’s sister who retained creative roles within the family-run business and died suddenly in 2021.

Founded in 1935, Istituto Marangoni is controlled by Galileo Global Education Italia, the Italian branch of the international private higher education company GGE. Well-known alumni of the college include Franco Moschino, Alessandro Sartori, Domenico Dolce, Paula Cademartori and Andrea Pompilio, amongst others.

Private schools operating in the style, art and design fields under GGE Italia’s umbrella also include Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti — higher often called NABA — and Domus Academy.