NABA Launches New Master in Fashion and Costume Design in Rome

NABA, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, has introduced a new two-year Master's program in Fashion and Costume Design at its Rome campus in the Ostiense district. The program, part of the Department of Design and Applied Arts, focuses on three main themes: costume, one-of-a-kind fashion pieces, and archives. It combines theoretical, project-based, and laboratory courses with intensive workshops tied to specific projects like exhibitions and performances. Students engage in practical techniques including tailoring, draping, dyeing, printing, textile manipulation, and costume accessory production. The curriculum emphasizes experimentation, rethinking fashion codes through practices borrowed from theater and cinema costume design, and using archives as creative tools. Notable collaborations include workshops with Olivier Saillard, a leading fashion historian and curator, who worked with students on exhibition setups such as the Pasolini exhibition "Tutto è Santo" at Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome and at the Fondation Azzedine Alaïa in Paris. The program also aims to develop students' ability to manage complex, multidisciplinary projects and promote independent professional models. Future plans include continued collaboration with Saillard on performance and narrative themes, as well as applied tailoring techniques and styling as new fashion approaches.