Description
The Fashion Design degree curriculum synthesizes the individual esthetic of the designer with an understanding of the market, historical context of fashion and costume, consumer psychology, materials, and techniques of apparel construction.
The major's curriculum focus is primarily on studio work and other discipline-specific course work central to its mission of developing the student’s individual design voice and vision while developing their potential as practicing technical fashion design professionals.
Objectives
Upon completion of the Bachelor of Science in Fashion Design, graduates will be able to:
- Apply the skills, concepts, methodologies, and behavior to be practicing technical fashion design professionals.
- Execute sophisticated rendering, design, and computer skills to illustrate concepts, communicate design development ideas, create effective presentations, and translate into technical specifications.
- Demonstrate competence in visual expression of garment design from experience of the human form through life drawing and fashion drawing conventions to represent the clothed figure.
- Create a fashion portfolio of finished art, collections, and work and presentation boards expressing a personal voice and vision.
- Employ concepts of sustainability in global, environmental, social and economic contexts as fundamental characteristics of a comprehensive design strategies in the fashion industry.
- Articulate the history of fashion and costume design in a context of applied research and analysis.
- Integrate fashion design in the business context and use research to discern consumer psychology, markets, and trends to create strategically targeted product lines.
- Collaborate with design, merchandising, management, and specialty groups to make informed garment design decisions.
Policies
Students must earn a minimum GPA of 2.00 in the major, and the lowest acceptable grade is a "C" in all major and Stevenson Educational Experience (SEE) courses. No student, regardless of major, will be permitted to advance to the next course without earning a grade of "C" or better in the prerequisite course(s). When a grade below "C" is earned in a major course, the student must repeat that course.
Requirements
The courses listed below are required for the completion of the bachelor's degree in fashion design. Students must also complete the requirements for the Stevenson Educational Experience (SEE).
Specific pre- and co-requisites for each course are listed in the course descriptions.
Major Requirements:
| FYS 100 | First Year Seminar | 1 credit |
| ART 106 | Introduction to Art History | 3 credits |
| ART 110 | Fundamentals of Design I | 3 credits |
| ART 113 | Fundamentals of Design II | 3 credits |
| ART 116 | Drawing I | 3 credits |
| ART 117 | Drawing II | 3 credits |
| ART 217 | Figure Drawing | 3 credits |
| | OR | |
| PHOTO 242 | Fashion and Portrait Photography | 3 credits |
| ART 315 | Surface Design | 3 credits |
| FDES 101 | Garment Construction Techniques | 1 credit |
| FDES 200 | Introduction to Textiles | 3 credits |
| FDES 201 | Fashion Design I | 3 credits |
| FDES 202 | Fashion Design II | 3 credits |
| FDES 203 | Garment Construction Studio | 3 credits |
| FDES 205 | Computer-Aided Pattern Design I | 3 credits |
| FDES 210 | Fashion Illustration I | 3 credits |
| FDES 274 | History of Fashion | 3 credits |
| | OR | |
| FDES 280 | Fashion Design Study Abroad | 3 credits |
| FDES 290 | Internship Preparation | 1 credit |
| FDES 301 | Fashion Design III | 3 credits |
| FDES 302 | Fashion Illustration II | 3 credits |
| FDES 303 | Fashion Design IV | 3 credits |
| FDES 305 | Computer-Aided Pattern Design II | 3 credits |
| FDES 315/FMER 315 | Writing for Fashion | 3 credits |
| FDES 390 | Internship | 3 credits |
| FDES 401 | Fashion Design V: Senior Studio I | 3 credits |
| FDES 403 | Fashion Design VI: Senior Studio II | 3 credits |
| FDES 404 | Fashion Design VII: Product Development | 3 credits |
| MGT 210 | Business Writing | 3 credits |
| MKT 206 | Principles of Marketing | 3 credits |
| PHOTO 141 | Basic Digital Photography | 3 credits |
| VCD 125 | Fundamentals of Digital Media | 3 credits |
Suggested Course Sequence
Suggested Course Sequence Fashion Design
Minor in Fashion Design
The minor in fashion design requires successful completion of a minimum of six courses and 18 credits with a FD prefix. All course prerequisites must be met to be eligible to take the selected course for a minor. Please see an academic advisor for more information. General information regarding minor requirements may be found in the Minors section of the catalog.
Course Descriptions
See Fashion Design Course Descriptions