AZ Academy: AZ Factory to become training centre for fashion school alumni

Fashion brand AZ Factory, founded by the late designer Alber Elbaz, is ceasing all commercial activities as a fashion brand and will instead continue as an academy for fashion alumni. The brand reported the news exclusively to US industry news platform WWD.

AZ Factory started several years ago as a new brand for designer Alber Elbaz. After Elbaz passed away in 2021, the brand was changed to a format with several guest designers at its helm. Now the company is undergoing another change: it will stop functioning as a fashion brand and continue as an academy to support fashion talent.

The programme is aimed at fashion alumni who graduated from international fashion schools, as well as independent designers that are already active in the industry.

Fashion brand AZ Factory to start training fashion alumni as AZ Academy

Designers will be invited to apply in May this year. In September, ten to twenty designers will be selected. AZ Academy’s programme is due to start in January 2025.

Creators who are selected will pay 2,500 euros to participate in the programme.The remaining costs will be covered by AZ Factory parent company Richemont.

“At AZ Academy, we will bridge the gap between designers and investors, transforming creative visions into viable business plans that attract investors. There is no better way to honour Alber Elbaz’s legacy,” Mauro Grimaldi, advisor to the CEO of Richemont’s fashion division, told WWD.

This article was originally published on FashionUnited.NL. Translation and edit from Dutch into English by Veerle Versteeg.