Men are also the future of AICP

The AICP is reviving its old love affair... The Académie Internationale de Coupe de Paris is set to open a new level 5 "International Menswear Patternmaker" course in September 2026.

Created in 1830 by an association of men's tailors, the AICP was historically intended to train their technicians.

Over the decades and in line with the evolution of the industry, the school has opened up to training, both initial and continuing, in the technical fashion design professions, essentially for both Men and Women.

New International Menswear Patternmaker class

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"After a hiatus between 2019 and 2023 of the Men's teaching, we resumed it slowly in 2023 and now wish to relaunch it more ambitiously, explains Christine Walter Bonini, President of AICP. We have in fact identified needs. As men today pay more attention to their appearance, take an interest in fashion and consume it, the masculine has indeed become a growth lever. Some designers and brands are developing men's collections to complement their Women's collections. Yet technical fashion design training programs are rare, while many in-house patternmakers are on the verge of retirement".

Like the school's previous programs, the new Modéliste International du Vêtement Homme course will provide a full-time, 35-hour-a-week apprenticeship at its premises in Paris's 15th arrondissement, focusing entirely on technical notions. The aim is to train pattern makers, product-finish technicians, pattern makers and graders, model mechanics and workshop managers.

"Other French schools offer training in technical fashion design for men, but few teach the technical aspects that are so fundamental. We're the only ones to focus on it, teaching flat cutting, Draping and prototyping at the same time", emphasizes the President.

Starting from a tailoring education, AICP has evolved its own patternmaking method, known as "Vauclair-Darroux", originally made-to-measure, to adapt it to men's and then women's industrialization. "When they leave the school, our students can work in the industrial sector as well as in the made-to-measure and half-measure sectors - which we are seeing making a comeback in France. This is because men want quality, well-crafted pieces with a technical edge."

18 to 22 students maximum

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The future class of 18 to 22 students (a maximum, like all those at AICP) will welcome mainly young fashion graduates (bac pro MMV, BTS MMV or fashion school) and experienced garment manufacturing professionals wishing to specialize in Men.

"It is only possible to follow this program, which is identical for both audiences, if you are already able to sew and assemble garments. For professional retraining or young graduates from a different background, who have never had access to sewing, students must first integrate our preparatory curriculum before entering our Technical fashion design courses", clarifies Christine Walter Bonini.

To obtain the diploma, you need to pass all the modules (Flat Cutting, Patternmaking, Transformation, Technical File, Prototyping, Draping, Alterations, Gradation and CAD) of the course and complete an internship lasting around three months, an AICP service helping to find it, usually in France.

But it's also possible not to aim for the diploma and take only some of these modules. "We offer a puzzle that leaves a great deal of freedom for professionals in particular", argues the President.

The students all have to deal with teachers who are both experts in AICP's Darroux-Vauclair method and connected to reality. In fact, all are former graduates of the school who worked in the industry before returning as teachers.

Private pre-admission appointments

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There are plenty of opportunities to discover the school and decide to apply. In fact, Open Days are organized every month.

For those interested, private appointments are then arranged with the team, either on site, or by telephone for internationals. "We're keen to get to know everyone who will be joining the school," Christine Walter Bonini stresses, before adding:"to join AICP, passing a test is also compulsory to assess the technical skills already acquired and whether applicants have the level to join our courses".

On completion of their training, they will have every chance of being recruited by companies in the men's sector: brands, designers, product development units, clothing manufacturers... Christine Walter-Bonini does not hesitate to refer brands she is in contact with, looking for manufacturers for their men's collections, to the Maison du Savoir-Faire et de la Création (MSFC). Indeed, it is the vocation of the MSFC and its Matchmaking Platform to direct principals to the French contract manufacturers who meet their garment making needs.

International focus

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Today dedicated to meeting the needs of the French fashion industry, the new International Technical fashion design course for men could be exported in the not-too-distant future. Starting with Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where AICP has opened a campus in 2019 in partnership with ITILT University. But it could also set up in a major country for textiles, China, where the Academy is working on a partnership project destined to start in late 2026, early 2027.

Other destinations could be added to the list: keen to develop further internationally via new collaborations, the AICP is exhibiting to this end at numerous Salons, with Campus France, the national agency responsible for promoting French higher education abroad...

Whatever the case, the new AICP Men program is part of an encouraging trend in France: that of the growing demand in the apparel industry and its customers for mastery of its savoir-faire. With a clear need for new curricula to train employees capable of meeting the needs of designers and fashion Homes today and tomorrow...