New life for former MAS building near Piazza Vittorio.

Once famed for its cut-price clothes, the former MAS store in Rome's Esquilino district is to be transformed into the headquarters of a prestigious fashion academy.

Magazzini Allo Statuto - more a warehouse than a shop - shut its doors for good in 2017 after more than a century in business.

The vast department store, which was spread out over six floors, stocked an array of budget clothes, shoes, jewellery, sports gear, linen and luggage.

The building was sold last year by asset management group Azimut and works are now underway to transform the premises into the headquarters of the Accademia Costume & Moda, founded in Rome in 1964.

Una giornata bellissima per l'#Esquilino e per tutta #Roma: avviato il cantiere degli ex Magazzini allo Statuto #MAS, un pezzo di storia per tutti noi romani.
Presto diventerà la sede dell'@AccaCostumeModa, riqualificando e rigenerando tutto il quadrantehttps://t.co/X0WXDRV0kR pic.twitter.com/HIK7t9YT0Z

— Roberto Gualtieri (@gualtierieurope) July 14, 2023

Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri, who visited the site on Friday, said the "extraordinary urban redevelopment and regeneration project fits exactly with our vision of a city that has culture, training and high quality work at its core."

The fashion academy will leave behind its base at Ponte S. Angelo to lease the roughly 5,000-sqm premises on Via dello Statuto and is set to welcome 700 students for the 2024/25 academic year, reports news agency ANSA.

Located between Piazza Vittorio and Via Merulana, the MAS clothing warehouse was beloved of Romans, students and people going camping or in search of offbeat fancy-dress costumes.

It was also known for its less-than tasteful clothing lines - satirised in a 1998 music video by Roman rapper Piotta - and over the years became noted for its frequent "closing down" sales, only to remain open.