Simon Porte Jacquemus: A Fashion Business Professor?

As lovers of fashion, I’m sure you’ve heard of the novel French designer Simon Porte Jacquemus and his tasteful collections that make everyone feel like they’re starring in a French summer film from the ’70s. He is a complete inspiration from his aesthetically pleasing Instagram posts to his ear to ear contagious smile. Not only has he been a trailblazer in high fashion for the past few years, he has decided to step into education. Jacquemus and other leaders in the fashion business community teamed up with the French fashion school Institut Français de la MODE to develop a three week online fashion business course titled “Understanding Fashion: From Business to Culture.” 

Source: PAPER

Now many would think any access to a course like that would be expensive; however, it’s free. Anyone with internet access can simply find the course on Futurelearn.com and sign up. Additionally, one can have access to the course for six weeks after making an account. I’m sure you’re also wondering whether or not the course is in French; the speakers do in fact speak French, but the program provides captions in other languages so virtually anyone can use it. 

Under the supervision of Benjamin Simmenauer, with exclusive input from designers such as Simon Porte Jacquemus, Christelle Kocher, Paul Smith, and the CEOs of Chanel

The program launched on March 28, which was perfect timing since everyone became stuck at home with barely anything to do. Unfortunately, I have yet to start the course as I have my own fashion business school work to complete. The course, though, has been a huge success used by thousands of fashion lovers including the online community of High Fashion Twitter. If you love fashion and follow fashion accounts on Twitter then you know about HF Twitter. Thanks to a circulation of tweets from said accounts back in March, I was able to find out about this course. HF Twitter is always up to date on what’s current in the fashion world, especially when it comes to anything Simon Porte Jacquemus related.  

Shocking to those who got ready for Jacquemus to be their professor for four weeks, he was only in the first session as there are many other speakers. While Jacquemus graced our ears with his words of wisdom for only 20 minutes, he made some notable points and set the bar for the following speakers. Members of HF twitter who are truly into fashion stuck with the course and watched other speakers such as Christelle Kocher, Paul Smith, and the CEOs at Chanel, YSL, and Hermes.

Source: Twitter

Many HF accounts tweeted that taking the course would be like them all going to fashion school together and while that’s adorable, it is definitely true. Many group chats and Twitter conversations discussed ideas, notes, and comments about the course, connecting fashion lovers from all different continents. Since this is the final week for some of the online students, I reached out to some HF accounts and friends who took the course. 

Some of the gals speak French and found that the course was easier to understand that way. However, those who do not speak French still were able to navigate the course just fine! All of them took notes as they found the course was inspiring and full of information. Elena (@versacesbish) from Spain says her favorite part of the course was “when they talked about the different perspectives of fashion from different people and modern brands; it is interesting learning new points of view.” Valentine (@vaillantvalentine) from NYC says her favorite was “learning how art translates in the world of fashion and the different perspectives designers have.” Speakers other than Jacquemus were favorites to the students. Karina (@Soykarinaconk) says her favorite was Paul Smith, a noted British designer.

The main takeaway from all of the girls I talked to was when becoming a successful designer one must stay true to themselves, and the world of fashion includes many different perspectives that must be respected. This course was loved by so many and is definitely on my todo list after finals. Can’t wait to learn from Simon Porte Jacquemus, even if it’s just for 20 minutes.