The AMFI forms part of the Hogeschool van Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, with more than 1200 students and 100 teaching staff, most of whom combine their teaching activities with a job in the fashion industry. Experts from the fashion business world are regularly invited to give guest lectures and workshops.

The AMFI was launched on 1 August 1992, the result of a merger between the Hogere Technische School voor de Confectie Mr. Koetsier and the Modeacademie Montaigne, two fashion training institutes that had existed since the early 1950s. The AMFI can therefore draw on more than half a century’s experience. The two institutes have been co-located since 1994, when the AMFI moved into the historic headquarters of the Amstel brewery in Amsterdam , now beautifully restored and renovated. The AMFI has gradually expanded its programme ever since, resulting in the current trio of graduation specialisations: Fashion & Branding, Fashion & Design and Fashion & Management. The AMFI also offers English-language versions of all its programmes – the AMFI International Courses.