Accademia Costume e Moda

Accademia Costume & Moda (ACM) boasts a significant history in the Italian and international fashion and entertainment education landscape . The Academy was founded in 1964 by Rosana Pistolese , a stylist, costume designer, journalist, and academic. Her vision was to shape and support the cultural heritage of the Italian fashion and costume industries with a unique and innovative approach: creating constant interaction between these two fields. This DNA has been carefully preserved and constantly regenerated by the generations that have run ACM with passion and constant attention to the changing face of the industry. A consistent balance between research, culture, design, and product, along with close collaboration with the most important players in the sector, has made ACM an international benchmark for education.

Founded on the initiative of the Fashion Board, by issuance of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (Ministerial Decree no. 26645/CF/1964) and with the patronage of the Municipality of Rome and the National Chamber of Italian Fashion, of ENALC (National Agency for the Training of Commercial Workers), it subsequently became independent in 1969 with the establishment of the Accademia di Costume e di Moda Ente Morale , a non-profit association, which was formally recognized in 1970 ( Presidential Decree no. 620/1970) . Since 2023, the association has adapted its statute in compliance with the Third Sector reform, thus transforming itself into the Accademia di Costume e di Moda Ente Terzo Settore (ETS) and registering in the National Third Sector Register (RUNTS).

The Academy is ISO 9001:2015 certified by SGS , a quality certification that the Academy has renewed annually since February 2007.

After a training period spent in Naples, in contact with illustrious and enlightened families such as that of  Benedetto Croce  and  Francesco Saverio Nitti , Rosana Pistolese took her first steps by writing articles (signed Rosana or Rosana Pistolese) published in the “ Corriere di Napoli ”, “ Mezzanotte ”, “ Voce di Napoli ”, “ Roma ”, “I l Mattino ”. At the beginning of the 1950s she moved to Capri and, with  Emilio Pucci and  Livio De Simone , created some models for a small collection, called “ Il giro dell'isola ” to be presented at the Hotel Quisisana: it was the springboard for Pistolese into the world of fashion and cinema. Thus began her career as a costume designer and designer. In 1953 she designed the costumes for the film “ Lulù ”, directed by  Fernando Cerchio  and starring  Paola Borboni ,  Valentina Cortese ,  Marcello Mastroianni ; for the  Teatro La Cometa in Rome he created costumes for entire theatrical seasons: the costumes for the Karamazov Trial  or  Legend of the Grand Inquisitor , by Diego Fabbri and directed by Ottavio Spadaro, which was staged in the 1960/61 season,  are by Pistolese .

He designed patterns for the greatest fashion houses of the time, such as  Giovanna Caracciolo  (Carosa) ,  Lola Giovannelli ,  Elsa Volpe de Smaele ,  Sorelle Fontana ,  Antonelli, Schubert ,  Fernanda Gattinoni ,  Fabiani ,  Annamode  and others. He created fabric designs for the  Sorelle Fontana , such as the “ placed ” design, created by the Como textile house Seterie Fraccaroli, created for the 1960-61 season and presented in 1962 at the University of Davis  (San Francisco, California) as part of an exhibition dedicated to the new fabrics of the new Italian fashion.

In 1962 she inaugurated the  Chair of History of Costume and Fashion Design and Art Textiles,  of which she was awarded the position of professor by the University of California ,  Davis Campus , where she remained for five years.

After returning to Italy for a few months, in October 1964 she decided to found a school. Pistolese's idea was enthusiastically welcomed by a worldly and cultural Rome, attentive to the needs of the moment; an Academy of Costume and Fashion  was the perfect complement for a city celebrating Italian haute couture. Together with  Ottavio Spadaro  (theater and television director),  Dario Cecchi  (painter, set designer, and writer), and  Nello Ponente  (art historian), the Academy of Costume and Fashion was founded , thanks to the efforts of the Fashion Authority , by issuance of the  Ministry of Labor and Social Security  (Ministerial Decree no. 26645/CF/1964) and with the patronage of the  Municipality of Rome and the National Chamber of Italian Fashion.

Towards the end of the 1970s he held some lectures at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York , opening a collaboration between the Academy and the FIT with seminars held in Rome by Lilian Kushel (Director of the FIT).