Accademia Costume & Moda

Rome, Italy

Editor’s pick

Accademia Costume & Moda (ACM) is a private fashion and costume school founded in Rome in 1964, with a second campus in Milan. ACM says its academic courses are recognised by the Italian ministry of education and research.

About the school

ACM was founded by Rosana Pistolese, a costume and fashion historian who also designed costumes for theatre, television and film. It became an independent non-profit association in 1969, formally recognised in 1970.

The Rome headquarters has been at Via della Rondinella 2 since 1991 and houses a library and archive open to the public. The Milan campus is at Via Antonio Fogazzaro 23.

Fashion programmes

The flagship programme is the three-year BA (Hons) in Costume and Fashion, offered in Rome only, which combines costume, fashion and accessories design. The school also lists a BA in Fashion Editor, Styling and Communication (Rome and Milan) and a Fashion Design Management course (Milan).

At postgraduate level it lists two-year diplomas in Costume and Alta Moda Design and in Accessories and Jewellery Design. Undergraduate applicants need a secondary school diploma and must pass an admission test.

Notable fashion alumni

Alessandro Michele
Frida Giannini

Recognition

ACM students have won the LVMH Graduate Prize three times, in 2016, 2018 and 2019. In 2025, ACM students Morgan Boyce and Simone Rizzato won the ninth Loro Piana Knit Design Award with their project “Paracadute”. Its students also won the absolute award at Milano Moda Graduate, promoted by the Italian Chamber of Fashion, in 2021 and 2022.

In 2019 Business of Fashion replaced its numbered rankings with Badges of Excellence. ACM says it received all four badges for both undergraduate and graduate fashion design.

At a glance

Founded
1964

Location
Rome and Milan

Type
Private, non-profit academy

Local name
Accademia di Costume e di Moda

Visit official site ↗

Sources: ACM history page (accademiacostumeemoda.it); Graduate Fashion Week (graduatefashionweek.com); Roma Turismo (turismoroma.it); universita.it (universita.it); LVMH, Loro Piana Knit Design Award 2025 (lvmh.com); ACM, LVMH Graduate Prize 2019 (accademiacostumeemoda.it); ACM, Best Fashion Schools 2019 (accademiacostumeemoda.it); Times Higher Education, BoF 2019 (timeshighereducation.com); Wikipedia, Alessandro Michele (en.wikipedia.org). Details can change, so check with the school before applying.

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