Antonio Maurizio, Head – School of Fashion, Pearl Academy, joined Pearl in March 2016. Maurizio has been in the education sector since 2005 and have worked across Europe and Asia. He still works as free-lance designer.
Coming from a gymnasium background with good knowledge in Philosophy Greek and Latin together with history of art Maurizio continued his studies in England and is an alumnus of University of the west of England UWE in fashion and textile design.
In an interview with Baishali Mukherjee, Maurizio shares his insight about fashion as a career at Pearl Academy –
How has it been working with Pearl?
Working in India has been a great experience and working at Pearl is what has made the experience great.
3 things that make Pearl the institution it is today? 3 reasons why career in fashion is a great idea?
Student centric – Global exposure – Very contemporary approach to design. Fashion is one of the biggest industry in the world and that allows millions of students who graduate worldwide to easily get a job. Fashion allows you to communicate through people. The fashion industry allows you to explore the world and expose you to different cultures.
What does the institution look for in students while admitting them?
Primarily Passion and motivation of the student
What is the success rate of campus placement of the institution? How many got placed last year?
In the last 4 years we have got 97% placement record.
What is the highest salary bagged? By whom? In which company?
Study fashion to make money it is not what should motivate a student. Study with passion allows students to be successful and money comes hand in hand with success
What are the companies that came for recruitment last year?
Our students are hired by different typology of companies. Among the premium we have Anna Sui NYC
When is this year’s campus recruitment going to happen?
It is ongoing
How are the students being prepared for it?
We have a career service office that in collaboration with School head and course leader train the students on how to conduct an interview. During the time that a student is with us we help them to build a strong portfolio and during the study right from day one during induction we expose them to the industry.
Who are the mentors who prepare students for campus placement? What is the module followed?
When a student arrives to their final year it is our role to investigate on what the student wants to do next. There are cases where a student wants to progress studies and we support them in making a professional portfolio for the same, we have students who wants to start their own business and for that we have an incubation cell office who supports them with professionals and for those who wants to work for designer houses we help them to build a strong portfolio. During their level 2 and throughout the course students are taking parts of internships at designers houses and most of the time they get automatically absorbed by the same.
5 things that companies coming to Pearl look for while recruiting?
Smart thinking professionals industry ready – Smart thinking professionals industry ready -Smart thinking professionals industry ready -Smart thinking professionals industry ready -Smart thinking professionals industry ready