On 22 September, almost 400 students began a new academic year at Ésad Saint-Étienne. As a major player in the world of creation and research in art and design, the School is reasserting its priorities: learning through practice and experimentation, an international outlook and a focus on the transition into the professional world. The School is bolstering its position in industrial design and its sandwich training and workshop offer. This dynamic approach is accompanied by a brand new master’s art course and a host of international projects, in Europe and Brazil. At the heart of the Cité du design quarter, it trains designers and artists connected to the major issues facing the contemporary world.
This new academic year confirms Ésad Saint-Étienne’s dynamism and appeal, as it welcomes 371 students on art and design courses ranging from preparatory class to post-master’s. With a growing international contingent (51 international students) and numerous innovative educational projects, the School is asserting its commitment to training creatives capable of navigating a world on the move, thanks to an open, interdisciplinary learning environment in tune with current developments in the world. To help its students prepare to embark on their professional career, Ésad Saint-Étienne has strengthened its partnerships with numerous key operators in the professional world.
The 2025-2026 academic year marks an important milestone with the arrival of five sandwich students on the Design-Objects master’s course. They are joining prestigious firms like Chanel, Schneider and Papiers de Paris, confirming the growing interest of industrial and cultural operators in the profiles trained at Ésad Saint-Étienne. The increasing popularity of work-study training reflects the School’s desire to give its courses a more vocational focus and anchor its design training in contemporary industrial and economic realities.
In addition, this year the young professionals on the Local Tools post-master’s course launched in September 2024 will be unveiling, for the first time, the results of the applied research work done during their time in companies, with an exhibition and a publication.
Master’s in Art, option XP
Among the new courses offered this year is a new addition to the options open to art students, the Art-XP master’s. Designed around the notion of the exhibition as form, format and workspace, the course invites the student to position themself as the author and designer of artistic projects anchored in the contemporary world. This Art-XP master’s - XP for Xposition (exhibition), XPerimentation, Xperience - questions the ways in which art is disseminated whilst also including critical, curatorial and anthropological dimensions.
An even more international outlook
The start of this academic year tied in with the 2025 France-Brazil Cross-cultural Season sponsored by the Institut français, which enabled four students (selected from a list of 24 candidates) to take part in September’s Kuya Design Festival in Fortaleza, combining a workshop and an exhibition.
Research-creation driving innovation
Research plays a central role at Ésad Saint-Étienne. Grouped within the Art and Design Research Group (GRAD), it is structured in three main areas: Creation & Artificial Intelligence, Creation & Production Methods and Creation & Fiction. It involves students, teachers and researchers working in an interdisciplinary, experimental approach in touch with technological and societal changes. The School is also developing post-master’s courses and doctorates in partnership with, among others, Jean Monnet University, to confirm its pioneering role in the field of research-creation.
In 2025-2026 Ésad Saint-Étienne and Jean Monnet University are consolidating their links by preparing to sign a cooperation agreement with a view to eventually forming an Experimental Public Institution (EPE). This project aims to enhance agility and multi-disciplinarity in the training offered, combining art, design, science and technology. It paves the way for new educational and scientific synergies that will make for a School more connected to contemporary issues. Ésad Saint-Étienne is also taking an active part in the national dynamics shaping the future of design training and careers, by participating in a call for expressions of interest on Skills and Careers of the Future (Compétences et métiers d’avenir) launched as part of the France 2030 Plan. Ésad Saint-Étienne is one of the partners in a consortium led by ENSCI-Les Ateliers.
Anchored in the local territory:a design quarter in a class of its own in France
Located in the heart of the only French city that is a member of the UNESCO Creative Design Cities networks, Ésad Saint-Étienne benefits from an exceptional environment. As one of the key players in the Cité du design quarter, it is playing an active role in its ongoing transformation. The urban transformation project driven by Saint-Étienne Métropole’s that is currently being implemented on this site aims to make the Cité du design France’s leading design quarter. From 2026 it will be home to the Galerie Nationale du Design. A joint initiative of the EPCC Cité du design-Ésad Saint-Étienne and the Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Saint-Étienne Métropole (MAMC+), this brand new cultural venue will put on a major exhibition of works from the great national design collections every year.
