Chairs

Kering and Institut Français de la Mode joined forces on 14 November 2019 to launch the IFM-Kering Sustainability Chair. The two fashion and luxury industry players share the common ambition of creating a high-level research and teaching center in the fashion industry, which integrates all aspects of sustainable development, including Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

The chair is under the direction of Mrs. Andrée-Anne Lemieux, PhD in industrial engineering and professor in charge of all initiatives related to sustainable development at Institut Français de la Mode.

The chair has two main objectives:

1. To promote research and teaching on sustainable fashion (ready-to-wear, shoes, leather goods and other accessories) for environmental, social and societal aspects, which implies :

• understanding the major ecological issues of our century, such as climate change and biodiversity loss, and acting to reduce the impact generated by the fashion sector
• studying and developing economic models for sustainable, circular fashion that respect the environment and people
• to study and propose ways of controlling the supply chain processes and the adequacy of the global value and production chain, at all its levels, to the ecological and social challenges;
• identify innovations concerning materials, manufacturing processes, traceability, logistics, transport and the end-of-life of a (fashion) product;

• to propose appropriate modes of communication at physical and digital points of sale in order to inform consumers so that they can exercise their own responsibility.

2. Take into account the "ecology of creation" from the beginning of the creation process. Given the central place that the designer - and his creative teams - occupy within a company, it is crucial to take into account the issues of sustainable development from the beginning of the creation process - this is what we call "the ecology of creation". This covers :

• identifying ways for creative teams to develop an ecological culture
• proposing models (criteria, operating methods, etc.) for new sustainable creative offers with strong appeal and analyzing examples of sustainable designs (new materials, slow fashion, etc.);
• the construction of a language (and a storytelling for designers) that facilitates communication between the designers and the other stakeholders of the Houses;
• measuring the environmental impact of creative projects: sourcing, transparency and traceability of materials, production processes, packaging, reuse and recycling of waste, etc;
• the development of tools and dashboards to help creative teams take ownership of environmental and social issues.

The work of the Chair will enable the development of teaching in various formats on the themes listed above in initial and higher education, from vocational to doctoral level. The research work will include the supervision of doctoral students on university theses, contributions to scientific publications and participation in conferences related to the Chair's programme and issues.

MANE—the first French group and one of the worldwide leaders of the Fragrance and Flavor industry—and Institut Français de la Mode (IFM) joined forces to create a research and teaching chair on Diversity & Inclusion in Beauty, headed by research professor Alice Audrezet, PhD. This partnership contributes to a reflection on the impact of beliefs and practices on the representation of beauty worldwide.

The Diversity & Inclusion in Beauty Chair pursues 2 major objectives:

• The first is to document the diversity of beliefs and practices related to beauty (perfumery, make-up, skincare and related products) by seeking to offer a global vision of beauty practices around the world, from clothing to tattoos, cosmetic surgery, and the relationship with hair, natural or magical products.

• The second is to understand the impact of the industry (beauty economic ecosystem, brands, suppliers, distributors, media) and society at large (normative frameworks, perception biases) on the construction and deconstruction of beauty standards worldwide.

The Chair's projects aim to bring together students from various backgrounds and involve academics and industry professionals.

The Chair's activities include:

• a Mane x IFM challenge that brings together 20 students from IFM and the NYU Stern Business School on various themes such as Chinese pride, non-gendered beauty, natural and ancestral gestures, the relationship with innovation and technology (AI)

• a Mane certificate programme to deepen knowledge of beauty and diversity

• a collective publication compiling the Chair's findings

• an annual symposium

Access to the Chair's page

Creation is the production of something new, unpredictable, of great value, and perceived as irreplaceable. The “Science and Creation” Chair aims to unravel the mysteries of creation—that human faculty often considered mysterious, even inexplicable—through a pluralistic and contemporary scientific approach.

Through the “Science and Creation” Chair, LVMH and IFM are undertaking a reflection on scientific advances that enable a better understanding of the nature of creation, with an emphasis on artistic and scientific creation.

At the intersection of several disciplines—philosophy, cognitive psychology, aesthetics, anthropology, and artificial intelligence—the Chair aims first and foremost to establish a rigorous literature review within the field and to develop new knowledge specific to fashion and luxury through three fundamental research areas:

• Creation and Cognition. Long considered resistant to analysis, creation is now being addressed by cognitive psychology and the neurosciences. This area examines the processes involved in the act of creation, from conceptual inspiration to physical execution.

• Computational Models of Creation. Generative AI systems excel at combining familiar concepts and exploring conceptual spaces. This area explores forms of collaboration between creators and algorithms, the forefront of innovation, as well as the question of authenticity.

• Social Sciences and Anthropology of Creation. No work of art is the product of a single person but rather involves workshops, techniques, critics, institutions, and the transmission of knowledge. This research track examines the conditions that foster the emergence of talent, the criteria (material, historical, and semantic) that determine whether an object is considered creative, and the social function that a culture attributes to creation by assigning it such value.

The chair has initiated several courses and educational projects at the Institut Français de la Mode.

• Creative Extensions, a cross-disciplinary elective open to all Master’s students, invites students to engage with a brand universe as a conceptual space that they must explore and then expand.

• Design with New Tools, a one-week workshop in the first year of the Master’s program (Fashion Design, Accessory Design, Knitwear Design pathways) followed by individualized support for second-year students wishing to incorporate these tools into their graduate collections.

• Creative Process, a course in the Specialized Master’s program dedicated to the creative ecosystem within fashion houses, featuring meetings with industry professionals.

Research conducted within the Chair results in publications and presentations in international journals and conferences, collaborations with external research teams and laboratories, and summary reports on the Chair’s thematic areas; it also involves organizing seminars and conferences for both the academic community and professional audiences.

The CHANEL and le19M Chair in Fashion Savoir-Faire pursues three objectives:

• carry out research to provide a documented and multidimensional approach to the relationships between industry, society and the Fashion Métiers d’art
• establish an analysis of the links between savoir-faire, creation and innovation
• set up a pedagogical component to give a new dimension to the transmission of Métiers d’art knowledge to IFM students and other audiences.

All this work helps develop academic content, in particular the creation of a specific course, along with the integration of new content from the research work into existing courses.

The CHANEL and le19M Chair in Fashion Savoir-Faire is directed by Professor Émilie Hammen, who has a PhD in Art History (Université Paris 1 Panthéon - Sorbonne) and a background in design, both in applied arts at the ESAA Duperré and in fashion design at IFM. A teacher and exhibition curator, her publications focus on the history of fashion, its historiography and the links between fashion and the avant-garde.

Access to the Chair's page