It sounds like a scene out of some weird dream: you’re sitting in class and the teacher is Walter Van Beirendonck. But no, it’s really happening at Polimoda in Florence this semester. Van Beirendonck is joining the faculty as a mentor of the Master in Fashion Design for the 24/25 academic year.

The renowned fashion school’s director Massimiliano Giornetti said, “Walter Van Beirendonck represents the quintessence of the purest creativity, the synthesis of an absolute, uncompromising aesthetic. For Polimoda it is a real honor to have Walter as Mentor of the Master in Fashion Design, his vision and methodology in teaching will bring to the school the possibility to explore new horizons.” Today’s lesson: crazy clowns with cut-out polka-dot suits and Stephen Jones headwear.