School of Fashion

In the fashion industry, construction refers to taking your vision for a garment and turning it into a tangible, 3D form. This is primarily achieved via draping (the practice of pinning fabric to a torso mannequin). Many fashion schools include this skill in their curriculum, but not all dedicate an entire class to refining this particularly significant skill. We work with our students for several months to ensure they understand how to drape various types of fabrics, how to use a wide selection of draping tools, and trim and pin fabrics for optimal structure.

Being able to create a garment drawing that is accurate, true to the human figure, and reflective of your overall artistic vision is a critical skill, which is why it’s so important to seek out colleges for fashion design that extensively cover this topic. Our course delves deep into the various drawing skills designers will need to produce exquisite illustrations, including how to draw clothing folds, how to add details and ornamentation, and how to ensure the proper body proportions.

Costume design differs significantly from ready-to-wear fashion design or even haute couture fashion design. It’s all about creating garments that bring a character or storyline to life in an authentic and consistent way with a greater creative vision. In this course, students learn how to conduct fashion research, choose textiles that are both relevant and functional, and design according to costume parameters provided by a film or theater production team. If you’re seeking fashion designing colleges that will catapult you into a career on Hollywood movie sets or the stages of London’s West End, our costume designing course is for you.

3D printing, virtual reality fittings, AI-assisted fashion design, and product lifecycle management platforms are just a few technological advancements that are revolutionizing the fashion industry. If new and emerging fashion designers want to thrive in a continuously evolving landscape, they must be familiar with the latest industry tools, software programs, and innovations. This course introduces several high-tech fashion solutions and allows students to experiment with them firsthand.

Schools for fashion design should prepare students for all aspects of the fashion industry, including the need to analyze and predict style trends in the marketplace. The fashion industry is a highly competitive battleground, and to emerge victorious, designers must have a keen eye for cultural shifts or changes in taste. This course gives students the skills they’ll need to gather data from various sources and make educated predictions based on verifiable information.

Many of our alums say our specialized course offerings are why they chose to enroll with us over other fashion design schools — and our introduction to knitwear class is a perfect example of this. Our students spend hours learning how to design, create, and manufacture knitted apparel over the course of a semester. Upon completing the class, they can competently and confidently select wool and other materials, knit common stitches and structures, and design knitted clothing for various shapes and

We highly encourage keeping merchandising top of mind when researching fashion designing colleges. The ability to create aesthetically pleasing and forward-thinking retail displays is essential to any successful career in fashion. Our visual merchandising course teaches students how to create eye-catching focus points in their displays, edit down displays and strategically utilize white space, and appeal to all five senses when conceptualizing an arrangement. You’ll walk away from this class with the knowledge required to increase sales and attract new customers via dazzling fashion displays that leave onlookers thinking, “I need that in my wardrobe!”

Many fashion designers ultimately aspire to have their own brick-and-mortar boutique, but running a physical retail store requires an entirely separate skillset. This course prepares students for the day-to-day responsibilities of operating a retail fashion business, from implementing quality control measures to overseeing supply chain operations and keeping accurate and up-to-date records for inventory, sales invoicing, tax returns, etc. This is an invaluable class for any student, but particularly for those who see themselves taking their career beyond the decision phase of fashion into entrepreneurship.

Menswear is often overlooked in fashion education, but understanding how to style clothing for the male form is a necessary skill for any fashion designer seeking well-rounded training. Students in this class will learn how to layer men’s clothing, choose fabrics and materials when creating a look, and style outfits for a broad range of purposes, including editorial photoshoots, runway shows, and everyday wear. If you want the expertise, experience, and confidence to coordinate outfits for men, provide image consulting, and put together flattering, trendsetting ensembles, you can’t miss this course.