Graduate Overview

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Design | Daniela Mayorga / Photo by | James Prinz

Artist | Daniela Mayorga

Virtual Graduate Exhibition 2020

The Department of Fashion Design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) offers serious fashion design students an intensive, two-year Master of Design in Fashion, Body and Garment program devoted to a final, distilled collection or body of work that is exhibited as appropriate to the form.

The main component of the program, the Fashion Design Studio taken each semester, provides a place for an expansive investigation of fashion, body, and garment and for deeper individual investigation of fashion within the broader context of community, sustainability, technology, and the industry.

You will have the freedom to explore a breadth of possibilities, yet achieve an in-depth focus within your individual practice through a combination of:

  • Dedicated design studios
  • Topical seminars
  • Self-directed research
  • Technical labs
  • Design history and theory courses

You are also encouraged to explore a range of electives in other disciplines such as:

  • Performance
  • Film, Video, New Media, and Animation
  • Writing
  • Sculpture
  • Fiber and Material Studies

If you have a bachelor’s degree, but need additional foundation work to prepare a portfolio, or you are an international student in need of a year of intensive studio work typical to the U.S. education system before beginning a master’s program, take a look at our Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Fashion, Body and Garment program.

Fashion, Body, and Garment program inquiries
FashionGrad@saic.edu

First Year Fall  15  
  • FASH 5310 Design Studio 1: Dress, Un-Dress, Re-Dress (6)
  • FASH 5311 Advanced Fabrication Lab (3)
  • ARTHI 5002 Survey of Modern and Contemporary Art (3) or
    ARTHI 5120 Survey of Modern and Contemporary Architecture and Design (3)
  • FASH 5315 Seminar: Professional Practice (3) required
  
First Year Spring  15  
  • FASH 5330 Design Studio 2: Interfacing Fashion (6)
  • ARTHI 5560 Critical Perspectives in Fashion, Body and Garment I (3)
  • Electives (6)
  
Second Year Fall  15  
  • FASH 6310 Design Studio 3: Contextualizing Fashion (6)
  • ARTHI 5561 Critical Perspectives in Fashion, Body and Garment II (3)
  • Elective (6)
  
Second Year Spring  15  
  • FASH 6330 Design Studio 4: Fashion, Fusion, Vision (6)
  • FASH 6335 Seminar: Professional Practice 2 (3)
  • Elective (3)
  • Art history elective (3)
  
Participation in four Graduate Critiques  
Participation in Graduate Design Exhibition  
Total Credit Hours 60  

Degree requirements and specifications

  1. Completion schedule: Students have a maximum of four years to complete the degree. This includes time off for approved leaves of absence.
  2. Transfer credits: A minimum of 45 credit hours must be completed in residence at SAIC. Up to 15 transfer credits may be requested at the time of application for admission and are subject to approval at that time. No transfer credit will be permitted after a student is admitted.
  3. Design Studio: Each design studio must be successfully completed prior to participation in the consecutive design studio.
  4. Advanced Fabrication Lab: FASH 5311 Advanced Fabrication Lab must be taken in the first fall semester.
  5. Full-Time Status Minimum Requirement: 12 credit hours

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago's Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Fashion, Body and Garment is a 30-credit hour program that helps students who already have a bachelor's degree develop a portfolio for the fashion design field. Read on for the coursework required to complete this certificate.

Term Credit Hours
Summer Intensive  6  
  • FASH 5101 Design Studio I (6)
  
Fall Semester  12  
  • FASH 5110 Design Studio II (6)
  • FASH Elective (3)
  • ARTHI (3)
  
Spring Semester  12  
  • FASH 5130 Design Studio III (6)
  • FASH Elective (3) OR
      FASH 3021 Fashion Intensive Portfolio (3)
  •   ARTHI Elective, suggestion (3)
  
Participation in two Graduate Critiques   
Total Credit Hours 30  

Certificate requirements and specifications

  1. Curriculum: The Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Fashion, Body and Garment program is designed to be a full-time, three-semester program. Any exception to this requirement must be approved by the program/department chair and will only extend to one full calendar year.
  2. Full-time Status Minimum Requirement: 12 credit hours