IED Florence × Cuba Lab
A laboratory of ideas where creativity meets contemporary practice
IED, is the largest European network of Art and Design schools.
Since 1966, it has been training professionals capable of interpreting and guiding the evolution of the creative industries, combining vision, critical thinking, experimentation and connection with the professional world.
The Istituto Europeo di Design di Firenze is located in the heart of the city in a Historic Palace, a masterpiece of 20th-century architecture, easily reached on foot. The main campus, on Via Bufalini, is just steps from the Duomo. Other sites include Palazzo Pucci N6, historic home of the Pucci family and now the Fashion Department, and Via dell’Oriuolo in a former theatre, home to the Visual Arts and Applied Arts department.
The collaboration between IED Florence and Cuba Lab was born with the aim of creating a space for dialogue between education, industry, and new creative visions.
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The encounter with IED Florence, an international talent laboratory where design becomes a terrain for experimentation and the development of new visual languages, takes shape in a co-creation project involving second-year students of the Bachelor's Degree programs in Fashion Marketing and Communication and Fashion Styling and Art Direction, invited to interpret the brand's identity through a contemporary perspective, sensitive to the dynamics of contemporary communication.
The project involves the development of Cuba Lab's new Spring/Summer 2026 communications campaign, transforming the academic program into a true collaborative experience with the brand.
The students worked on a comprehensive design process integrating strategic analysis, creative research, and visual production, with the goal of translating the brand's values ​​into contemporary and relevant imagery.
The result is a communications campaign capable of interpreting Cuba Lab's identity through new creative perspectives, while maintaining the focus on product culture, process quality, social sustainability, and the aesthetic sensibility that define the brand.
This collaboration represents a concrete example of dialogue between education and industry, in which the educational process intertwines with the real dynamics of fashion communication.
Through this project, IED Florence strengthens its role as a platform for experimentation and creative development, while Cuba Lab opens its brand universe to new interpretations and emerging visions.
Credits IED Firenze
- Photographer and editor: Ana Paulina Navarro
- Voice over: Ana Paula Lopez Yañez
- Sound track: Erik Turner
- Makeup artists: Cecchi Sara
Giulia Forgione
- Models: Sara Beensi
Giada Bellante
Camilo Ocoró
- Fashion Marketing Third Year: Ivana Maluf Luna
- Fashion Styling Third Year: Sofia Stefani
- Fashion Marketing Second Year: Emma Mercanti
Vittoria Moine
Raffaele DiPirro
Kim Sidi
- Fashion Styling Second Year: Laci Mercord
Alessia Boldrini
Sarah Dimaggio
Giulia Ingrassia
