Polimoda presents top students in graduation show ‘昇華 (SHO-KA)’

Against the backdrop of menswear fair Pitti Uomo which kicked off on Tuesday in its home town of Florence, Italian fashion school Polimoda has presented the emerging fashion designers of its graduating class of 2024.

Entitled ‘昇華 (SHO-KA)’ and under the guidance of educator and school director Massimiliano Giornetti, this year’s fashion graduation show, which took place at Villa Palmiera in the Florentine hills, featured 18 collections that amounted to approximately 100 looks in total by students from thirteen different nationalities.

A selection of students from two fashion programmes taught at the Italian institute presented their collections on the Florence runway, namely the bachelor programmes in fashion design and fashion design management and the masters in collection design and fashion design.

The final looks are the result of ‘elaborating their identity through a process of research and experimentation’, the press release sent out by the school reads.

To create their collections, the young designers teamed up with the students of Polimoda’s fashion accessories design programme for shoes and accessories and the students from the ‘atelier design’ course helped out with the development of the garments.

Top Polimoda graduates present collections at school’s graduation show 2024

Polimoda’s faculty selected the 18 lucky students together with school director Massimiliano Giornetti and fashion editor Dan Thawley, mentor of the fashion design course.

The following designers participated in Polimoda’s graduation show 2024: Gabriela Marie Blake from Ecuador, Anna and Silvia Cristofolini from Italy, Olivia Petra Luciana Doose from Canada, Noè Falchi from Switzerland, Marianna Guerini from Italy, Jimena Guzman from the Dominican Republic.

In addition to: Utsav Killa from India, Irène Latoudis from Belgium, Erin Lewis from the UK, Verdino Jiquan Liu from China, Ian Morris McDonald from the US, Takuya Nishibori and Taiyo Okada from Japan, Luca Polonio from Brazil, Alberto Giovanni Repetti from Italy, Maiken Stella Roslund (Sweden/Spain), Soichi Takeda from Japan and Vinxi Xiaofan Tian from China.

The show took place on Wednesday evening, June 12 in the garden of Villa Palmiera in the Florentine hills. Over the next few days, a professional jury will evaluate the collections that were presented during the show and select the ‘Best Collection’ from the class of 2024.

This year’s judging panel consists of: Stefano Pilati, creative director and founder of Random Identities, David Koma, creative director of the eponymous brand, Gaia Repossi, creative director of Repossi, Marc Goehring, stylist and art director, and Giuseppe Angiolini, founder of Sugar.

Commenting on the show in a release, Massimiliano Giornetti, director at Polimoda, said: "Metamorphosis is one of nature's most fascinating processes, symbolising the transformation from one form or substance to another, giving rise to new life or expression.”

He continued: "This vital and universal cycle is evident in all human and natural processes. Transformation, an essential element of the creative journey, has always inspired designers, artists, philosophers and thinkers."

"Polimoda's Graduation Show 2024, through the students‘ collections and the title 昇華 (SHO-KA) - a Japanese term meaning 'transformation for the better' - embodies this creative evolution," the school director said.

View more of the graduates' looks below.