Istituto Marangoni Riyadh Celebrates One Year of Growth and Success

Istituto Marangoni, the Italian fashion and design school with nearly a century of history, has marked the first anniversary of its Riyadh campus, and school and education director Anna Zinola says she hopes it becomes known as a place where fashion is genuinely happening on the ground, not just being taught.

Founded in Milan in 1935, Istituto Marangoni has educated more than 45,000 students over the decades and currently teaches around 5,000 students from 108 countries across its international campuses. Zinola said Riyadh’s students immediately become part of that broader creative network, and that welcoming both male and female designers from the start was a deliberate part of the school’s approach, reflecting a belief that fashion thrives when different cultures, identities and perspectives come together.

One of the biggest lessons from the campus’s first year, according to Zinola, is that a creative school needs to stay porous to its surroundings. Being based in the King Abdullah Financial District puts students in one of Riyadh’s most dynamic areas, surrounded by business, architecture and a constantly shifting urban landscape. At the same time, she said, creativity needs space to develop, with students given room to experiment and find their own point of view while still building real professional discipline.

Drawing on years spent studying market psychology, Zinola said Saudi Arabia has proven to be a striking case study, describing consumers there as highly sophisticated and internationally aware, but not simply interested in imported versions of runway looks from Milan, Paris or London. Instead, she said, people are looking for things that feel culturally relevant and personal, in a market shaped by an unusually young population, with more than 70 percent of Saudis under the age of 35.

Her advice to incoming students is to arrive curious rather than with a fully mapped-out career plan, and to bring their own references rather than trying to fit a single mold, since the school isn’t looking to produce designers who all think alike. Beyond its Riyadh campus, the institute has extended its reach with activities like a recent masterclass in Jeddah, alongside open monthly talks called Tuesdays at IM. Zinola said never underestimate how much fashion conversations can happen over coffee, noting that some of the most interesting connections happen unplanned.

Reflecting on the Kingdom’s fashion scene, Zinola pointed to homegrown brands like Abadia, which she praised for blending Saudi heritage with international sensibility, and 1886, which she credited with building a distinctive streetwear identity that resonates both locally and abroad. Looking ahead, she said Saudi fashion is already moving away from any single defining visual language, and expects the coming year to bring stronger independent brands, more specialized creative careers, a more sophisticated retail culture, and further experimentation in areas like menswear, modest fashion and digital communication, along with developments she suspects no one can predict just yet.

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