IIFM Milano and IUB sign Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen collaboration between Italy and Colombia
Milan – IIFM Milano – Italian Institute of Fashion Management and Institución Universitaria de Barranquilla (IUB) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at developing new opportunities for academic collaboration and strengthening the connection between the fashion, creative and professional ecosystems of Italy and Colombia.
The partnership brings together two complementary perspectives on the fashion and creative industries.
As a university institute specialized in Fashion and Luxury Management, IIFM Milano contributes its expertise in management, business development and luxury management, together with its strong connections with companies and professionals across the fashion, luxury and creative industries. Its position in Milan, one of the world’s leading capitals for fashion and luxury, provides an international platform for connecting academic education with the realities and evolving needs of the industry.
IUB, based in Barranquilla, Colombia, contributes a distinctive perspective rooted in fashion product, creativity and culture, as well as in the development of a dynamic creative ecosystem in the Caribbean region of Colombia. Barranquilla is increasingly emerging as a hub for cultural and creative activity, providing a fertile environment for new ideas, talent and forms of expression connected to fashion and the wider creative industries.
The collaboration will leverage these complementary strengths to promote knowledge exchange, academic activities, advisory, joint initiatives and students’ mobility, creating new opportunities for students, faculty and professionals in both countries.
The Memorandum was signed by Nicola Guerini, Founding Dean & Director-General of IIFM Milano, and Arcesio Julián Castro Agudelo, Rector of IUB.
“This partnership is built on a strong complementarity between two different but highly connected perspectives. IIFM brings its expertise in Fashion and Luxury Management, its international outlook and, above all, its close relationship with companies and professionals across the fashion, luxury and creative industries. IUB brings an important knowledge of fashion product, culture and creativity, rooted in the dynamic context of Barranquilla and the Colombian Caribbean. We see great potential in bringing these two ecosystems into dialogue and creating opportunities that combine education, creativity and the professional world.”
— Nicola Guerini, Dean & Director, IIFM Milano
For IUB, the partnership represents an opportunity to further strengthen its international dimension and connect its expertise in fashion, creativity and culture with the Italian and international ecosystem of fashion and luxury management.
The signing ceremony was also attended by H.E. Ambassador Juan José Páez Pinzón, Consul General of Colombia in Milan, whose presence highlighted the importance of the collaboration and the shared commitment to strengthening relations between Italy and Colombia.
Through this collaboration, Milan and Barranquilla become two complementary points of connection: one bringing together international fashion and luxury management and strong industry relationships, the other contributing creativity, fashion product, culture and the emerging potential of Colombia’s Caribbean creative ecosystem.
