Fashion Startup Incubator in Milan
Launch your fashion business in Milan with our fashion startup incubator Milan program designed for entrepreneurs with big ambition. Join us on a 12-month journey of intense startup navigation through our Milan fashion incubator, where no two paths will be the same.
In partnership with
Launch your fashion business in Milan. Develop your entrepreneurial and professional skills.
Partner
Next cohorts
October 2026
February 2027
Location
Milan, Italy
Fees
EUR 7500, 12 months
Incubator overview
Fashion Startup Incubator by BF x FFS is a 12‑month fashion incubation program in Milan designed for ambitious founders ready to launch bold new fashion businesses. Rooted in one of the world’s most influential fashion capitals, it blends strategic business guidance, creative experimentation, and entrepreneurial mindset into an immersive journey that takes you from idea to market‑ready brand.
Hosted at the FFS Fashion Lab, the Fashion Startup Incubator is created and delivered by Beyond Form, Europe’s leading fashion innovation platform, in partnership with Ferrari Fashion School. Across 12 intense months, you will sharpen your business model, refine your product, and build a powerful brand story supported by expert mentors, investors, and industry partners.
Milan offers direct access to global fashion weeks, leading luxury houses, pioneering fashion‑tech, and a vibrant ecosystem of manufacturers, showrooms, and buyers. Building your startup here means learning in the heart of Italy’s fashion and design scene, where creativity, craftsmanship, and commerce meet every day. This local network gives you the chance to test, showcase, and scale your concept in a real‑world, high‑impact environment.
There are two cohorts each year with full-time access to our fashion lab at Ferrari Fashion School based in the fashion district of Milan.
Who’s the Startup Program for
The fashion incubator is built for early‑stage founders in fashion tech, innovative services, sustainability‑driven concepts, and future craft (including 3D printing, smart materials, and new production models). If you are ready to launch during the 12‑month program or immediately after, you will be able to use the startup showcase events and Milan’s ecosystem as a live springboard into the market.
International applicants are welcomed – our English-language program supports those without prototypes yet, committed to market launch within 12 months, needing help with business bases, specialist facilities, proposition definition, team building, client acquisition, partnerships, and investor readiness.
Key information
Program delivery: workshops, mentors, and network
The program is split into four phases designed to take you through a rigorous process in our early stage fashion incubator in Paris:
Phase 1: Discovery & Definition
Months 1 – 3 focus on identifying industry issues, market gaps, real customer pain points and the potential solutions. There is a huge emphasis on completing user research as quickly and efficiently as possible to find the best potential business opportunity. It is broken down into 3 module groupings:
1. Creative & Concept
2. Business Opportunity Mapping
3. Business Model Definition
Phase 2: Develop & Deliver
Months 4 – 6 focus on the initial product release for initial customer feedback and concept validation to find the best product-market-fit. There is a huge emphasis on working in sprints, working through systematic iterations to eventually reach an MVP ready to deploy for gauge traction. By the end of month 6, startups are expected to have a full business concept fleshed out and potentially their first prototype(s). It is broken into 3 module groupings:
1. Minimum Viable Product
2. Go To Market Launch
3. Pitch and Demo
Phase 3: Industry Practice
Months 7 – 12 provides time for startup founders to undertake an internship at a Milanese fashion company. This can be up to a full-time basis whilst founders continue developing their startup business.
Ferrari Fashion School will provide support in connecting with companies, brands, labs located in Italy, mainly in Milan, and in providing support with the necessary documentation to activate curricular internships. FFS will also promote networking opportunities with companies and brands through guest talks or guest lectures held at the School.
Phase 4: Showcase events
Ignite your fashion startup’s launch at the Milan fashion startup incubator showcase events, where top founders from the startup program step into the spotlight of Italy’s fashion capital. Organised by FFS and Beyond Form, these high-energy celebrations showcase your market-ready prototypes to elite buyers, investors, and industry tastemakers during Milan’s world-renowned Fashion Week. Read here about previous events:
Application process
Each cohort has up to 15 startups and you may join us as a lone entrepreneur or apply as a team*.
Submission requirements: Completed online application form.
There is an application fee.
*For team applications there should be one lead applicant. Each team member will need to pay a fee to access the program & space.
International applicants must ensure that they are legally able to live and work in Milan. A one-off admin fee is charged to process international paperwork (visas, bank details etc.).
About us
Fashion Startup Incubator by BF x FFS is the premier startup program fuelling ambitious entrepreneurs. Transform your fashion vision into a market-ready prototype – it’s your launchpad to global success in the heart of a fashion capital. Get in touch and learn more!
About our partner: Ferrari Fashion School
Ferrari Fashion School brings deep, long‑standing relationships with Italian brands, manufacturers, and creative studios, giving you unique entry points into the country’s fashion industry. These connections help you validate your idea, secure collaborations, and navigate what it really takes to launch and grow a business in Italy. As a founder, you gain credibility and visibility through these industry‑embedded links from day one.
Past incubated startups
T-Fashion - Cohort 2, Turkey/Canada
T-Fashion is an AI trend forecasting and generative design platform.
Maison Shri - Cohort 6, Sri Lanka
Maison Shri is a fashion brand blending Sri Lankan craftsmanship with Parisian flair.
Krippit - Cohort 2, Canada
Krippit creates 3D printed high heel protectors and accessories for the shoes.
The fashion lab
All startups on the Fashion Startup Incubator program have exclusive access to a private office in the fashion district of Milan. Here you can hold business meetings, work at hot desks, and access machinery. You’ll also have access to the Ferrari Fashion School campus nearby, which houses Italian fashion brands.
Mentoring
Startups in the Fashion Startup Incubator benefit from private 1-2-1 mentoring sessions with experienced members of the Beyond Form and FFS teams. These tailored mentoring sessions are scheduled on an ad-hoc basis depending on each startup’s progress, providing focused and personalized guidance to help founders refine their business models, develop prototypes, and prepare effective market entry strategies.
Fashion Startup Incubator in Milan
October 2026 or February 2027
Fees
EUR 7,500 12 months
