Studio Berçot

Summary

Studio Berçot is a private training institute in fashion design, established in 1954, based in Paris and related to French fashion schools. The overall school has 200 students. It is run in french.

History

Suzanne Berçot, painter and fashion illustrator, created the Cours Berçot in 1954 on the advice of her colleagues at the magazine Jardin des Modes. Drawing was a rigorous and necessary discipline in the heyday of Haute couture, both for designing and for representing the garment. After several years of close collaboration, in 1971, Madame Berçot entrusted the management of the Establishment to Marie Rucki, a former student who was active in the fashion world. She renamed it Studio Berçot. The decline of Haute Couture and the rise of ready-to-wear during the 1970s developed a large number of new professional activities in the field of fashion. Marie Rucki was highly aware of the constant changes in trends, and organized the curriculum to match the expansion of fashion design. Studio Berçot has become a key pool of talent dedicated to the designers/creators of the 1980s, to the artistic directors in large luxury houses of the 1990s, and to the fashion accessory market in the 2000s when mass retailing internationalized the industry.

Curriculum

Reflecting the environment for which it prepares its students, Studio Berçot deliberately focuses its training on a three-year period to strengthen students’ involvement in the work they have to produce.

Year 1

By experimenting with the basics of artistic creation and a selection of techniques that are representative of the Fashion Industry, the first year tests students’ capacity to position themselves. At the end of the year a jury of professors assesses students’ aptitude to continue with the program.

Year 2

Students are individually mentored in their own fashion project. Over time, with collections developed in close collaboration with teachers and external instructors, a personal dossier is developed which will constitute a future professional canvassing tool.

Fashion show

The fashion show is considered to be the emblematic event in fashion, and therefore the definitive way of learning to carry a project through to the end. Consequently, a year-end fashion show can be organized, widely followed by the professional community.

Twinning

Two students are selected each year to further their studies at the Academy of Arts University in San Francisco.

Year 3

Depending on students’ skills evaluations at the end of the first 2 years, internships are programmed within the Studio Berçot network. During this last year, students receive personalized mentoring and support by their teachers while entering the professional arena.

Alumni

Martine Sitbon, Lolita Lempicka, Isabel Marant, Sophie Theallet, Nicole Farhi

Tuition Fees

€9000 ($11,440)–the third year is FREE (apprenticeship)