Accademia nazionale dei Sartori

A development from the Università dei Sartori (Italian word for ‘tailors’) founded in Rome by Pope Gregorius XIII in 1575. It had its first premises in Via della Consolazione, at the foot of the Capitol, where the church in which the Guild of Tailors traditionally worshipped (the Church of St. Omobono) still stands. The university building was destroyed and rebuilt many times and went through several restorations. In 1574 the Church of St. Omobono became the social and religious center of the guild. The University of Sartori began its activity right there in 1575 thanks to a yearly sum of 20 scudi and 20 libras of manufactured wax granted by the Papal State. In 1801 all the guilds, the tailors included, were abolished by Pope Pius VII and consequently the university was closed. In 1938, during Fascism, the church was returned to the tailors and in 1940-42 it underwent restoration financed by the municipality of Rome. In 1947 the master tailor Amilcare Minnucci decided to continue the tradition and founded the present Accademia Nazionale dei Sartori. In 1948, 373 years after the foundation of the ancient university, the building of St. Omobono no longer hosted the academy, which moved to premises in Piazza San Silvestro where the first fashion show was presented. In 1960 the academy moved again, this time to Via Due Macelli, and in 1967 to Largo dei Lombardi, where it still exists. The current President is Sebastiano Di Rienzo, who succeeded Mario Napolitano.
At the start of the new century, 250 fashion-houses depend on the Accademia dei Sartori.