Today was our last day in Milan. We spent the morning at Linea Pelle, a major player in Italy’s leather industry. Linea Pelle is built around a similar model to the consortium. Leather tanneries pay membership fees to join Linea Pelle, in turn Linea Pelle connects their leather products to producers. However, that is not…

This morning we attended a lecture at Cattolica University, our host university in Milan. The lecture was taught by Professor Francesca Ronaldinho, a faculty member who also teaches at Bocconi University. Both Cattolica and Bocconi are member universities of the Milan Fashion Institute. Our lecture today centered around both fashion business models and sustainability in…

We settled back into City of Milan today. We began the day with a presentation from the company Velasca on their operations and marketing strategy. Afterwards we took a trip outside the city to visit Fiege Logistics, the logistics company they contract. We finished off the day by returning to Milan to visit Velasca’s flagship…

This morning we filed into a charter bus and began our return trip to Milan. On our way back to Milan we were able to visit two companies associated with the Consorzio Della Moda. These companies were the Sartoria Cavour Tailoring Company and Mario Faroni Knitwear, otherwise known as MF1. Both of these companies serve…

We had a free morning in Verona today. A few of us decided to use this time to explore some of the beautiful sights around the city. We ended up exploring a castle in Verona as well as visiting the ruins of an arena in the outskirts of town. In the afternoon we embarked on…

Today we had the amazing privilege to take a day trip to the City of Venice. The City of Venice is amazing in its rich history and unique geography. The city is actually composed of about 120 different small islands connected by canals and bridges. There are over 400 bridges in the City of Venice…

This morning was our last in Florence. A few of us woke up early to make the climb to the top of the dome of the Duomo in Florence. 463 steps later we were at the top of the dome with a gorgeous view of Florence. Afterwards we piled onto the bus to make the…

Today we visited the Scuola del Cuoio, otherwise known as the Florentine Leather School. The Florentine Leather School has a rich history in Italy. It was founded after the second world war by the Franciscan Friars who lived in the Monastery of Santa Croce. They Friars housed many of the war orphans in the monastery…

Today we checked into our hotel in Florence, Italy. We enjoyed a wonderful tour of the center of the City of Florence. We ended up receiving a tour of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The Uffizi Gallery is housed in a former residence of the Medici family. Much of the art contained there was commissioned…

Today we headed out from Milan to spend the day in the beautiful City of Como. Historically known for its silk production, Como is still home to large textile company that operates today. We had the privilege of touring this business, the Mantero Seta Spa. Mantero is a fourth generation family owned business that originally…

Leonardo Da Vinci left a legacy impacting art, architecture, engineering and countless other topics. Highly varied in his skillsets, Leonardo’s name is one that is well known today, despite being born in the fifteenth century. Today we had to chance to explore the Leonardo Da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology. Housed in a…

Today we toured both the area of the Duomo and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping mall as well as the Ticinese area. Both places had shops with windows filled with enticing products. However, the wares and clientele were not the same. We also had the privilege of receiving tours of two shops in the…

From the first step into the airport it was evident that there are many ways Milan is different from home. The cars are of different makes, the road signs in metric and yet, it isn’t completely different in this sense either. It is Milan’s unique feel that truly sets it apart. Milan is a vibrant…