The industry is evolving around fashion in Saudi Arabia, from business and branding to luxury, retail and the people building what comes next. Now, that shift is reaching the classroom.

Al Yamamah University and Paris-based Institut Français de la Mode (IFM) have signed a long-term academic partnership to develop fashion and luxury management education in Saudi Arabia. The agreement was signed in Paris at the French Ministry of Culture, with support from the Saudi Fashion Commission.

Starting in Q4 2026, the two institutions will jointly develop and deliver a Strategic Management in Fashion & Luxury track within Al Yamamah University’s MBA and EMBA programmes. It is a partnership that brings two very different perspectives into the same room: Riyadh’s rapidly expanding fashion scene and Paris’s long-established expertise in fashion and luxury education.

The partnership is designed to help build the business and leadership talent behind the Kingdom’s fashion industry, with the possibility of expanding into further academic programmes, executive education and professional training. The move also builds on the Saudi Fashion Commission’s existing collaboration with IFM, which has already helped bring IFM’s Executive MSc in Strategic Management of Fashion and Luxury to Riyadh.

For a sector moving this quickly, the timing feels right.

Because building a fashion industry takes more than designers. It takes people who know how to build brands, shape businesses and turn creative ideas into something that lasts. And Riyadh is now giving them a place to learn how.