Kering Academy For Excellence: Launch of a network of academic partnerships. Leading figures from culture and luxury to head the Think Tank

• The first Memorandum of Understanding with eight local educational institutions were signed at the Campus Valore Italia – MIND Milano Innovation District to create a widespread network capable of projecting excellence crafts into the future.

• The Think Tank, the advisory body that will steer the Academy’s strategic development, has been established: an elite network led by Sabina Belli and composed of Andrea Batilla, Alba Cappellieri, Angelo Crespi, Stefania Lazzaroni, Carlo Mazzoni, Andrea Raselli, Tommaso Sacchi and Arduino Salatin.

A few months after its presentation at the Gucci Archive in Florence, Kering Academy for Excellence inaugurates a new phase in its development, continuing to build a program dedicated to training the talents of the future who will preserve and renew Italy’s artisanal heritage.

The initiative, led by Sabina Belli, Head of Kering Academy for Excellence and CEO of Pomellato, is structured as a nationwide educational ecosystem designed to bring together and strengthen the training centers already operating within the Group’s historic maisons, such as Bottega Veneta, Brioni, Gucci and Pomellato itself. The Academy’s curriculum redefines the training approach by combining the sector’s four traditional pillars — apparel, men’s tailoring, leather goods and jewelry — with the development of cutting-edge skills related to technology, artificial intelligence and new materials, with the aim of transforming classic crafts into dynamic professions strongly oriented toward the future.

The signing of the first Memorandum of Understanding, held at the Campus Valore Italia – MIND Milano Innovation District, marks the start of a collaboration based on the sharing of expertise and educational pathways. The network involves eight important local organizations: ACOF; AFOL; CAPAC; Galdus; HModa; ITS Cosmo; Istituto Modartech; and SCHOLA. Together with the Group’s Maison schools, these institutions will help enhance the specific strengths of their respective production chains, also thanks to the Kering Lounge, the new space within MIND dedicated to knowledge exchange and to building a community focused on the transmission of know-how. This approach is already being applied in practice in the workshops of the Pomellato Virtuosi project and the Botticino Restoration School, active within the Campus and visited by delegations during the day as a testament to the Academy’s vision.

Complementing this network of collaborations is the Think Tank, which opened its work today in the prestigious setting of Palazzo Citterio in the heart of the Brera district. Under Sabina Belli’s leadership, the Committee brings together a network of the highest institutional, cultural and entrepreneurial profile: Andrea Batilla (brand strategist and consultant); Alba Cappellieri (Head of Jewellery & Accessory Design at Politecnico di Milano); Angelo Crespi (General Director of the Pinacoteca di Brera, the Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense, Palazzo Citterio and the Cenacolo Vinciano); Stefania Lazzaroni (General Director of Altagamma); Carlo Mazzoni (Editor in Chief of Lampoon Magazine); Andrea Raselli (Kering Jewelry Division Production and Supply Chain COO); Tommaso Sacchi (Councillor for Culture of the City of Milan); and Arduino Salatin (Full Professor at the Istituto Universitario Salesiano di Venezia).

Conceived as an advisory body, the Committee will support the Academy as a strategic guide, fostering ongoing dialogue between the worlds of fashion, culture, institutions and business, with the aim of sustaining a continuous reflection on the transformations that will affect luxury in the coming years — from manufacturing evolution to the development of skills and technologies.

“Luxury is undergoing a profound metamorphosis: the traditional concepts of rarity and ‘handmade’ are opening up today to new, broader and more complex meanings. With Kering Academy for Excellence we do not simply want to pass on techniques inherited from the past, but to transform traditional crafts into dynamic, contemporary professions that are strongly future-oriented. To respond to this change, we must combine the precious ‘intelligence of the hands’ with critical thinking, creativity and technological innovation. The eight local partnerships and the establishment of the Think Tank are the concrete pillars of this vision: a distributed ecosystem capable of engaging with the future and training a new generation of professionals able to interpret their time and lead the evolution of our Maisons,” said Sabina Belli.

“The signing of the Memoranda of Understanding represents the first step in building a stable collaboration with the world of education,” added Diego Montrone, Academic Director of Kering Academy for Excellence and CEO of Galdus. “We wanted to involve institutions and organizations that are widely distributed across the territory and cover different academic profiles: from vocational education and training to ITS and higher artistic, musical and choreutic education, integrating the purely artisanal dimension with the more artistic one. Connecting different skills and pathways will allow us to develop an increasingly attractive offering capable of captivating new generations for these crafts, so as not to let opportunities slip away and to bring them closer to the real needs of the sector, creating continuous dialogue between students, teachers and Maisons.”

Through a model that brings Maisons, educational institutions, businesses, culture and innovation into dialogue, Kering Academy for Excellence reaffirms its ambition to contribute to the growth of a new generation of professionals called upon to interpret the future of luxury.

Kering

Kering is a global, family-led luxury group, home to people whose passion and expertise nurture creative Houses across couture and ready-to-wear, leather goods, jewelry, eyewear and beauty: Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, McQueen, Brioni, Boucheron, Pomellato, Dodo, Qeelin, Ginori 1735, as well as Kering Eyewear. Inspired by their creative heritage, Kering Houses design and craft exceptional products and experiences that reflect the Group’s commitment to excellence, sustainability and culture. This vision is expressed in our signature: Creativity is our Legacy. In 2025, Kering employed 44,000 people and generated revenue of €14.7 billion.