Istituto Marangoni is the first fashion school to join the Metaverse, thanks to several years of intense innovation and experimentation.
The school has focused its strategic efforts on Generation Z, which represents the bulk of its student population, and on new virtual scenarios in terms of communication and use of technology to future professionals. The goal is to give visibility to student projects while hosting conferences and events, such as fashion shows and projects in partnership with companies, to speak to a young audience in an engaging and familiar language. The project is called « The Talent District – Istituto Marangoni’s Metaverse Revolution ».

The Istituto Marangoni in the Metaverse universe is divided into an evolving series of futuristic districts, each featuring a building that visitors can explore with customizable avatars. The spaces they can visit include an Infopoint, providing all the information about Istituto
Marangoni’s programs in the fields of fashion, design and art. There is also an exhibition pavilion, with the projects of the school’s best students, explained by their avatars. A theater, hosting conferences and round-table discussions, to add value to the school’s academic experience. The Partners’ House, shows the projects created by students for partner companies as part of the IM Corporate Lab. Finally, the archives provide a historical record of the Institute’s projects and activities. Each area contains multimedia material and links to external links to external resources to enhance the visitor experience. To carry out the Metaverse project, Istituto Marangoni partnered with Igoodi, the first Italian company specialized in photorealistic avatars of real people. Igoodi uses a new type of digital human, designed to preserve the uniqueness of each individual and be useful in people’s lives. Each Igoodi avatar is integrated with Smart Body, a dataset including anthropometric measurements of the individual. Unique in the current panorama of the metaverse, these avatars are perfect for creating innovative digital fashion models. The other important partner of The Talent District project is Monogrid, a digital interactive agency based in Florence that develops platforms of the highest technological level. As proof of this innovative dynamic, a new Master’s degree in Digital Design for Immersive Experiences is expected to be launched in September 2022. The program will enrich the school’s offer by responding to the need to create a professional figure with the technical and conceptual skills to design immersive experiences that rethink spaces and the relationship with consumers, through sensors and interactive technologies, boosting our perception and interaction with reality. Theoretical and practical fashion courses starting in September 2022 will address the Metaverse themes to train fashion professionals capable of meeting the challenges of a profoundly changing market.