The Etro Creative Director Will Advise Students at the Milan Branch of his Alma Mater
Marco De Vincenzo, the creative director of Etro, has been appointed as an academic mentor at the European Institution of Design in Milan. De Vincenzo, an alum of IED in Rome, graduated in 2000 and is set to share his wealth of experience with around 500 undergraduate students specializing in fashion design, shoes, and accessories design.
Expressing his excitement about the role, De Vincenzo shared, “I have never really left the school behind. Several years ago, it represented a magical, enlightening moment for me, one of great sharing of my passion with people. So going back to school renews this feeling.”
This return to his alma mater is seen as a cyclical journey for the Sicilian designer. “Only today I have the experience that I didn’t have back then and that I can now offer to people in the same way others did with me. It’s like a handover,” he added.
De Vincenzo will actively engage with students, conducting specific sessions that cover a range of themes aimed at inspiring and supporting emerging talents. These topics will span from enhancing cultural identities to environmental consciousness, resource management, and exploring the interplay between human touch and new technologies, including artificial intelligence.
On the topic of AI, which he recently incorporated into Etro’s advertising campaign, De Vincenzo remarked, “AI looks scary because we don’t really know everything about it but we’ll learn to use it. I was very fascinated by it.” He emphasized the significance of the human touch, stating, “As far as I know, the filter of the human person that guided me into this parallel world was fundamental.”
Head of IED Milano fashion school, Olivia Spinelli, commended De Vincenzo for bringing an “interesting and cultured vision of fashion” to the students. She highlighted not only his creative standpoint but also his exceptional human qualities, describing him as a person with the “right ability to listen and to interact empathically: great values, also in fashion.”
