The Paris American Academy provides a world-class education to international students in the domains of fashion, interior design, fine arts, and creative writing. The philosophy of the school centers on stimulating creativity and imagination, guiding the student towards their own personal creative visions while teaching them the practical knowledge and skills needed in the professional world.

Centered in the famous Paris Latin Quarter, less than a mile from Notre-Dame cathedral and a few blocks from the Luxembourg Gardens, PAA draws upon Paris’s vibrant cultural and artistic heritage, stretching its campus across the city’s museums, exhibits, cafes and fashion houses. Guided visits to fashion, interior design, and art exhibitions are included in the curriculum. Students in the fashion program also benefit from the Paris professional fair calendar, and they live the Paris backstage experience with Paris Fashion Week, Pret-a-Porter, Who’s next, Premiere Vision, and Maison et Objets.

Classes are mainly held in the Pavillon du Val de Grâce, a 17th century, historically classified building. Recently renovated, this six level edifice also serves as the Academy Art Gallery. Other studio space and administration offices are located in adjacent buildings.

The Paris American Academy is registered by the Académie de Paris, as a private institution of higher learning under the 12 July 1875 jurisdiction.

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The
Students

The Academy welcomes participants regardless of age, race, nationality, religion or political persuasion. Students benefit from a personalized learning environment, ensured by small class numbers and a student-instructor ratio of 1:5. This ensures a flexibility of instruction that often isn’t possible at large institutions.

PAA students and alumni represent a range of more than 35 nationalities, providing an international, culturally rich learning environment in the heart of one of the most international cities in Europe.

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Why study
with us?

Bilingual institution and instruction

All classes at PAA are taught in English, preparing students to work internationally and to engage with the English vocabulary used in their different fields.

International environment

The range of nationalities of our students allows for a diverse range of perspectives and experiences, enriching the classroom environment and preparing students to work creatively in an international setting.

Location: Center of Paris, Heart of the famous Latin Quarter

The Paris American Academy is situated in the famous Latin Quarter, the historic home of many painters, designers, writers, and other artists over the years. The school is situated less than a mile from the Notre Dame cathedral, and only a few blocks from the Luxembourg Gardens.

World-class instruction in each discipline, with an international focus

The faculty at PAA are working professionals with years of experience in their respective fields, able to provide hands-on instruction in the fashion, interior design, fine arts, and writing industries.

Small classes, with a small teacher / student ratio

Students benefit from a personalized learning environment, ensured by small class numbers and a student-instructor ratio of 1:5. This ensures a flexibility of instruction that often isn’t possible at large institutions.

Access to the museums, exhibitions, fashion shows, and literary scene of Paris – the city becomes the classroom

Guided visits to fashion, interior design, and art exhibitions are included in the curriculum. Students draw their inspiration from the city streets – its architecture and its people.

View Programs

The Faculty

The Paris American Academy has formed a unique teaching staff comprised of academics, skilled professionals, and invited guest artists, thus providing students with a solid practical approach to professional requirements.

Anna
Barr

A former fashion student at PAA, Anna Barr is the founder of Pairs Project, editor at FY! Magazine and a trend forecaster. She moved to Europe from the States for her studies and has lived in Tokyo, London, Greece and India. Anna continues to travel frequently to major fashion capitals.

Brigitte
Lenoir

Brigitte Lenoir is an Haute Couture specialist, première main qualifiée Flou. She teaches haute couture tailoring technique, and has over 30 years of experience at Yves Saint Laurent.

Calum
Fraser

Calum Fraser was educated at University College London Slade School of Fine Art, at the Ecole National Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, and at the Institute of Education, University of London (Art Teacher’s Certificate). He has lived and worked in France since 1984. He teaches classes in History of Art, 18th and 19th century French and English literature, philosophy, history, and aesthetic theory.

Christophe
Salade

Christophe Salade was awarded First Prize at the “Salon du Bois” for the concept and design of wooden lamps in 1985. M.A. in Product Design from UCLA. Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Interior Design with specialization in Product Design. Trained at the Atelier Charpentier and Atelier Saint Merri, Paris. Professor of Construction & Theory, Technical Drawing, Product Design, Perspective, Color, Drawing & Composition.

Colette
Picco

Colette Picco is an Haute Couture specialist. She worked as a Draper for Madame Grès for 22 years until the closing of the company. She then worked with Pierre Balmain and with Nina Ricci. Madame Picco explores some of the famous Madame Grès signature techniques.

Dinah
Lenney

Dinah Lenney is the author of The Object Parade and Bigger than Life: A Murder, a Memoir and, with Judith Kitchen, edited Brief Encounters: A Collection of Contemporary Nonfiction (W.W. Norton, 2015). Her essays and reviews have been published in a wide range of publications and anthologies including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, AGNI, Creative Nonfiction, Ploughshares, TriQuarterly, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, where is the senior editor of creative nonfiction.

Dr
Agnès
Rannou

Dr Agnès Rannou is an art historian with a Ph.D in Aesthetics (Edward Hopper and American Realism). Professor of Art History, Fashion History, Interior Design History, and French as a Foreign Language.

Elliott
Holt

Elliott Holt is the author of the novel You Are One of Them, which was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and a finalist for the NBCC’s John Leonard Award for a first book. Her essays and short fiction have appeared in the New York Times, Time, Slate, Virginia Quarterly Review, and elsewhere, and she is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, fellowships from Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony, and the 2015 Ellen Levine Award for her novel-in-progress. @elliottholt

Eugenia
Frias-Moreno

Eugenia Frias-Moreno has worked as an architect with Topmorphos and Pierre-Louis Faloci in Paris. Specializes in architecture, urbanism, landscape, and interior design. She was educated at HMONP Ecole National Supérieure d’Architecture in Versailles. Instructor of Product Design and AutoCAD.

Fabien
Guyon

Fabien Guyon works in Fashion Journalism. Experience includes “Attaché de Presse” for John Galliano (Christian Dior Couture group) and Sadig & Voltaire. Professor of Fashion Imaging and Public Relations.

Hervé
Richard

Hervé Richard has been the Manager of Richard Architectes LLC since 2006, which focuses on workspace design, hotel design, retail design, housing, and refurbishment. Projects include the ACCOR Headquarters (Paris), the Mercure Suffren (Paris), All Seasons Bercy (Paris), and Mercure Montmartre (Paris). Collaborations with Atelier de Midi, Tania Concko, Garner-Lamotte, Ateliers Lion, and Agency Brès + Mariolle. Winner of the EDF Scholarship for Young Architects, 2004-2006. Professor of Construction & Theory.

Hijiri
Shimamoto

Hijiri Shimamoto graduated from Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo and from Studio Berçot in Paris. She teaches Style and Fashion Design Conception for 20 years, at institutions such as Studio Berçot, HEAD Geneva, l’Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale and l’Institut Français de la Mode.

Jean-Pierre
Tritz

Jean-Pierre Tritz is a master hat maker / milliner for Jean Paul Gaultier for the Haute Couture collections. M. Tritz worked for many years with the company Michel, which was recently purchased by Chanel. Professor of Haute Couture Hatmaking.

Major
Jackson

Major Jackson is the author of four collections of poetry, most recently Roll Deep, hailed in the New York Times Book Review as “a remixed odyssey.” His other volumes include Holding Company, Hoops, and Leaving Saturn. Jackson has published poems, essays, and book reviews in American Poetry Review, Callaloo, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Ploughshares, Poetry, Tin House, and in several volumes of Best American Poetry. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Pushcart Prize, and the National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, among other honors. Major Jackson is the Richard A. Dennis Green & Gold Professor and University Distinguished Professor at the University of Vermont. He serves as the Poetry Editor of The Harvard Review.

Martine
Lenoir

Martine Lenoir is an Haute Couture specialist, working with evening gowns, day dress, and cocktail dress. She has over 24 years of experience at Madame Grès Haute Couture and 10 years at Prêt-à-Porter de luxe at Madame Grès.

Muriel
Ivagnes

Muriel Imagines is an Haute Couture specialist, première main qualifiée Flou. She works on evening gowns, day dresses, and cocktail dresses, and has over 27 years of experience at Nina Ricci Haute Couture.

Olivier
Roux

Olivier Roux is a fashion marketing and management specialist in fashion, luxury, and accessories. Previous experience: Director of Licensing and Development for Francesco Smalto, marketing assisting for Christian Dior, Assistant Director for Yves Saint Laurent Furs. Professor of Marketing and Luxury Industry.

Philip
Fimmano

Philip Fimmano is a trend forecaster. Fimmano manages Edelkoort Etc., the Paris-based consulting company of trend forecaster, Li Edelkoort, which provides seminars and brainstorming for international companies and conducts trend studies tailored to individual client needs. In collaboration with PAA, he gave a series of trend presentations to the NIFT schools in India in 2009.

Rolf
Potts

Rolf Potts’ essays and reportage have appeared in such venues as The New Yorker, The Atlantic, National Geographic Traveler, Sports Illustrated, the Travel Channel, and National Public Radio, as well as over 20 nonfiction anthologies, including the Best American Travel Writing series and the Best Creative Nonfiction series. He has won five Lowell Thomas Awards for his travel writing, and his first book, Vagabonding, has been translated into seven languages. His second book, Marco Polo Didn’t Go There, was the first American-authored travel book to win Italy’s prestigious Bruce Chatwin Award. Potts has taught nonfiction writing at Yale University, and he has served as the Paris American Academy writing workshop program director since 2005.

Sharon
Kilfoyle

Sharon Kilfoyle is a colorist, designer, and teacher of Shibori Dyeing, Nuno Felting, and Surface Design techniques. She has exhibited and taught in Mexico, Japan, Korea, France, and throughout the USA and Canada.

Shiva
Tolouie

Shiva Tolouie is the Co-Manager of Richard-Tolouie Architectes, which works on office, housing, restaurant, and sporting room projects. She was educated at the EAPLD School of Architecture. Professor of AutoCAD, Presentation Techniques, and Perspective.