Can a City Become Part of Your Education?
By Marcia Fernandes
Creative Director, FAD Connection
I always thought fashion schools were about classrooms.
Then I spent a week realizing the city was the actual campus.
When people imagine studying fashion abroad, they usually picture studios, sewing machines, mood boards and lectures. Those are certainly part of it. But after spending a few days between Paris and London with Istituto Marangoni, I left convinced that some of the most valuable lessons happen long before you sit down in class.
They happen while walking.
I arrived in Paris on a warm Monday afternoon and checked my hotel in the 16th arrondissement, just a few blocks from the Paris campus. With a couple of free hours before the evening’s fashion show, I did what I almost always do when I arrive somewhere new: I walked without much of a plan.
The Seine was only a few minutes away. So was Palais de Tokyo, one of my favorite places in the city. I wandered through the exhibitions, spent far too long in the bookshop, and found something I look for in almost every city I visit: an analogue photo booth. I have a small collection of those black-and-white strips from different places around the world. They probably don’t mean much to anyone else, but to me they capture something a phone camera never quite does. They’re imperfect, unexpected, and somehow always become part of the memory.
Later that evening, we arrived at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura for Crafting Futures, Istituto Marangoni Paris’ annual fashion show. Seeing months of students’ work materialize on the runway is always inspiring, but what stayed with me wasn’t only the collection. It was seeing how the city itself seemed woven into the students’ creative language.
After the show, I met a close friend. We stopped by a supermarket, bought a bottle of wine, some cheese, cured ham, crisps and crackers, and ended up having dinner sitting by the Seine while the sun slowly disappeared. Summer in Paris stretches the evenings so generously that you almost forget what time it is. Afterwards we wandered through Le Marais, before I took the Metro back to the hotel.
No reservation could have been better than that picnic.
The following morning was dedicated to Istituto Marangoni Paris. We met the local team, toured the campus, shared ideas over lunch and talked about the projects that connect students from all over the world.
In the afternoon, we visited the Gianni Versace Retrospective exhibition with a guided tour. Looking at those garments up close reminded me that fashion history is never just about clothes. It’s about culture, music, celebrity, craftsmanship and society all intersecting at once.
Instead of taking transport back, I decided to walk the hour back to the hotel. It was hot. Very hot. But Paris has a way of making long walks feel shorter than they are.
That evening we had dinner at Kong, overlooking the Seine. I couldn’t ignore one small detail: a scene from Sex and the City was filmed there. As someone who has probably watched the series more times than I’d admit, it felt impossible not to think about Carrie Bradshaw while looking over the rooftops of Paris.
On my walk back, I found myself passing through the Louvre almost by accident. And that’s perhaps my favorite thing about Paris. Beauty rarely asks for your attention. It’s simply there.
The next morning started once again in Le Marais before boarding the Eurostar to London. In just a few hours, the atmosphere changed completely.
Paris invites you to slow down. London encourages you to keep moving.
That same afternoon, we visited Istituto Marangoni London. The campus sits in Shoreditch, a neighborhood where fashion, music, independent cafés, vintage shops and creative studios all coexist. It felt impossible to separate the university from its surroundings. The streets outside seemed like an extension of the classrooms inside.
Dinner that evening took place at Aqua Shard, looking out over a city that somehow always feels in motion.
The following morning, with a few free hours before our meetings, I wandered through Marylebone, eventually making my way to Tate Modern. As always, I spent almost as much time in the museum shop as I did in the galleries. Then I walked to Borough Market for lunch, where I tried Sri Lankan food at Rambutan before heading back to campus.
Later that afternoon, we met again with the London team, before attending MAGMA, Istituto Marangoni London’s graduate fashion show.
Watching the collections one after another, I kept thinking about something that had become increasingly obvious throughout the week.
Fashion education doesn’t begin when the lecture starts. It begins when you become curious enough to pay attention.
It’s hidden inside museum bookshops, conversations over dinner, neighbourhoods you’ve never visited before, unexpected exhibitions, long walks home, crowded Tube stations, independent cafés and evenings spent sitting by a river with people you care about.
Of course, universities provide the knowledge, the mentors and the opportunities. But cities provide perspective. And perhaps that’s the lesson I brought home with me. Sometimes, the most memorable classroom doesn’t have four walls.
Paris & London, July 2026.
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