The De Sole School of Business Innovation
Next-level innovation for next-gen careers
The De Sole School of Business Innovation at SCAD prepares the next generation of creative leaders to pioneer emerging markets and navigate the rapidly changing business landscape through in-depth industry knowledge, design thinking, research, and collaboration. With curriculum focused on the fundamentals of business design and economics, quantitative insights, global supply chain management, lifecycle marketing, brand acceleration, social analytics, and more, the school's premier degree programs empower students to become forward-thinking subject-matter experts who will thrive in their future creative careers.
The De Sole School of Business Innovation at SCAD was created thanks to a major gift from Eleanore and Domenico De Sole.
The De Sole School of Business Innovation programs
Advertising and branding
B.A. B.F.A. M.A. M.F.A.
Make the perfect pitch and master multiplatform storytelling and brand strategy.
Business of beauty and fragrance
B.F.A.
Build your brand in the multibillion-dollar beauty and fragrance industry.
Creative business leadership
M.A. M.B.I.
Unite entrepreneurship with design knowledge in a program that emphasizes strategic thinking, financial planning, and effective management.
Design management
M.A. M.B.I.
Bring innovation to the world's biggest brands as advocates of design innovation and creative problem-solving.
Luxury and brand management
M.A. M.F.A.
Land powerful roles in the highest echelons of a $350 billion global luxury industry through tech, travel, hospitality, beauty and fragrance, and fashion.
Service design
B.F.A. M.A. M.B.I.
Create the design solutions of tomorrow through a human-centered approach to health care, transportation, education, retail, and more.
Social strategy and management
B.F.A.
You're the creative director who orchestrates compelling videos, photography, graphics, and copywriting to launch authentic conversations and accelerate growth.
Domenico De Sole
Domenico De Sole is chairman of Tom Ford International, a role he has held since the company was founded in April 2005. De Sole and Ford met while at Gucci, where the pair’s shared vision for the Gucci brand would become one of fashion’s greatest suc-cess stories. De Sole, as Gucci’s president, guided the brand from near-bankruptcy, and played an instrumental role in building the Gucci Group, a luxury conglomerate that would eventually include Yves Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Boucheron, Sergio Rossi, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga. De Sole’s presidency would also see him successfully defend an alleged hostile take-over bid by Bernard Arnault’s LVMH.
De Sole exited Gucci, with Ford, in April 2004. Although he had intentions to retire, he soon agreed to enter into business along with Ford once again in 2005, claiming he “wouldn’t know what else to do if he didn’t work.” De Sole and Ford founded Tom Ford International through two licensing deals, one with Estée Lauder for beauty and a second to create eyewear with the Marcolin Group. The brand’s steady expansion, which includes womenswear, menswear, and accessories is a testament to De Sole’s thorough awareness of the challenges of today’s market and the opportunities within it.
The seasoned executive has served on the boards of Gap, Procter & Gamble, Bausch & Lomb, Conde Nast, Newell Brands, Telecom Italia, and on the advisory board of Harvard Law School, his alma mater. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Sotheby’s. Currently he is on the Boards of Pirelli S.p.A and Zegna as well as the Aspen Art Museum.
De Sole and his wife Eleanore are keen art collectors and have two daughters together.