ESMOD

About the school

ESMOD was founded in Paris in 1841 by the master tailor Alexis Lavigne as the Lavigne school, and took the name ESMOD in 1976. It describes itself as the oldest fashion school in the world, and since 1989 it has taught fashion business as well as fashion design. ESMOD International now has 18 schools in 12 countries; ESMOD Tokyo, founded in 1984 by the Paris alumnus Satoru Nino, was the first outside France.

ESMOD is certified by France’s Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Higher Education and Research. In 2022 its master’s-level diploma, Fashion and Creative Industries Creative Director, obtained academic accreditation from the ministry.

Fashion

The Paris campus is at 12 rue Catherine de La Rochefoucauld in the 9th arrondissement. ESMOD Fashion Design runs a three-year bachelor’s, Styliste Designer Mode, on its French campuses, which also include Pantin, Bordeaux, Lyon, Rennes and Roubaix. The first two years of the undergraduate programme and the full-time postgraduate programme are taught in English.

Notable fashion alumni

• Reem Acra
• Olivier Rousteing
• Jacquemus
• Alexandre Vauthier
• Koos van den Akker

Recognition

In Business of Fashion’s 2017 rankings, ESMOD International was tenth in the world for graduate fashion courses. In 2016 it was sixth.