Developed by Paris-based fashion consultant, trend specialist and professor Agus Cattaneo, Learn While Exploring (LWE) was founded on the principle that experiential learning is the best way to reinforce classroom-based pedagogy.

 

The aha moment

Inspired by the look of “wow” on her students’ faces during excursions while teaching fashion courses at international universities, Agus had an aha moment: Field trips could form the foundation of an entire fashion program, one that was open to anyone eager to learn more about the industry!

 

Although Agus had been working in fashion as an academic and an executive for more than 15 years, it wasn’t until she relocated to Paris that she realized she had found the perfect place to establish such a program—and so LWE was born! Now that she was living full-time in France, the birthplace of luxury fashion, LWE would become the vehicle through which she would share her own love for the city and appreciation for French culture and heritage.

 

Learning from experts

Drawing from her vast network of industry insiders, Agus personally curates the program. Topics Agus presents theoretically in the classroom are matched with private visits to the workspaces of speakers who illustrate those topics practically. Selected for their ability to serve as ambassadors of French savoir faire, these speakers demonstrate what they do, share their personal experiences and insights, and answer questions.

 

Awakening the senses

What’s more, as participants traverse Paris, from the classroom to an atelier, from a factory to a magazine office, from a PR agency to a textile studio, they’ll soak in all that the city has to offer, including the historic landmarks, boulevards, cafés and style for which Paris is famous.

 

The takeaway

The program’s limited enrollment guarantees that participants will be rewarded with a fulfilling, eye-opening learning experience marked by plenty of interaction with one another. They will see Paris through the eyes of fashion and gain new ideas and form new connections along the way. At the end of the program, participants will leave Paris with a certificate and, because LWE is more than a course and more than a trip, memories that will last a lifetime.