ACE Education (‘ACE’) continues its expansion in France with the acquisition of Ecole de Mode et Luxe (“EIDM”), one of France’s leading and fastest growing Fashion Business & Styling Schools.
ACE Education’s mission is to educate students in “passion-subject” vocational disciplines through its range of schools, including AMOS, ESBS and Sports Excellence Reconversion for Sports Business, CMH for International Luxury Hospitality & Tourism and ESDAC for Arts & Design. The acquisition of EIDM will enable ACE to further diversify its business and train students in the business of Fashion and Luxury, a major industry in Europe with strong, long-term growth prospects.
Based in Paris, the fashion capital of the world, EIDM has a dual academic structure and approach: it is both a Business and a Luxury Management schoolspecialized in the fashion industry, where the business of fashion is taught in a complete and daring way.
EIDM offers students a range of specialized programmes from Bachelor’s to Master’s, as well as recognized professional diplomas. The school combines “learning by doing” and “peer-learning” to help students develop their autonomy and creativity by carrying out ambitious collective projects. Each year, strong annual themes (e.g. freedom, no-gender, & feminism, etc.) are declined on concrete projects (e.g. fashion shows, magazines, pop-up stores, etc.) by the graduating classes.
Its unique network of partners and relationships across the fashion and luxury industries empowers students to pursue successful careers in France and internationally. Today, 85%1 of EIDM students go on to secure a job in industry after graduating, and many EIDM alumni have gone on to work at premier fashion houses including Jean Paul Gaultier, Versace and Dolce & Gabbana.
The support of the ACE Group will help sustain the growth of EIDM, which has increased its student population fourfold in the last three years, across France, targeting over 1,000 students by 2025. We expect many growth synergies, particularly with ESDAC. The combination will enable more deep, hands-on and international programmes, with full coverage of the fashion industry value-chain, from design & development to management, sales and marketing.
EIDM’s keys to success:
- ‘Learning by doing’ where students can work on real-life projects based on their respective interests (Communications, Marketing, PR, Art Styling, Art Direction, etc.)
- International reach with 14 partner universities globally (e.g. LIM College in New-York, the Fashion Design Institut in Düsseldorf, the ESNE School of Design, Technology and Innovation in Madrid, or the ESDi School of Design in Barcelona)
- High-profile partners and ambassadors including Baptiste Giabiconi (model, singer and Karl Lagerfeld muse / official EIDM “godfather” since 2019), Chantal Thomass(French fashion icon and lingerie designer/ “godmother” of the 2017 fashion show) or William Carnimolla (fashion designer, TV host, and Artistic Director of EIDM’s fashion shows in 2017 and 2018)
- And great collaborations with e.g. Uniqlo (upcycling project) and Baptiste Giabiconi (fashion show)
As a major player in the French higher education market, ACE Education is expanding through organic growth and M&A, opening new campuses in France and abroad and acquiring new schools to expand its offering. With this new acquisition, ACE Education now has more than 30 campuses in France and internationally, and over 5,000 students.
“ We are delighted to welcome EIDM to the ACE Education Group. EIDM sees strong fit with the other schools in the Group, particularly with our design school ESDAC. This is also a real opportunity to support the growth of EIDM, which has increased its student population fourfold since 2018. ” Sylvestre Louis, CEO of ACE Education