Fashion Design Undergraduate Overview

As a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) student, you can concentrate your studies in Fashion Design after you have completed your Contemporary Practices requirements through taking sequenced classes in one of two pathways below.

Fashion Design and Construction Pathway

The undergraduate Fashion pathway curriculum consists of a scaffolded sequence of co-taught design and construction courses over the course of the sophomore, junior, and senior levels, providing a firm foundation in drawing, draping, pattern-making, and garment construction. In courses that combine historical research with contemporary explorations, students transcend the traditional boundaries of fashion to examine clothing as it relates to lifestyle, performance, display, costume, and art. 

Recommended electives:

  • FASH 2005 Shape and Theory in Garments
  • FASH 2007 Beginning Fashion Illustration
  • FASH 2016 Footwear Design
  • FASH 2017 Knitwear Design: Manipulated Stitch
  • FASH 2008 Hand Knitwear Design

We encourage intermediate and advanced students to enroll in Art History courses such as ARTHI 2560 Survey of the History of Dress and ARTHI 3560 The Shape of Fashion in the 20th and 21st Centuries. Students focusing on the garment as metaphor—dealing with issues of the body, material, and identity—will examine the areas between body/space and material/virtual in classes like FASH 2005 Shape and Theory in Garments and FASH 2012 Objects/Artifacts and No Nonsense.

Hands-on Experience

When you complete your junior year, we encourage you to start applying for internships with designers throughout the world. Faculty conduct study trips to fashion capitals such as Paris, London, Antwerp, and New York.

Body-Builder Pathway

Body-builder as a pathway through the elective course offerings on their own gives students the opportunity to specialize in their self-selected area of interest such as illustration, accessories, knitwear, embellishment, performance-oriented design, or foundation studies as part of the academic spine.

Course Listing

Title Catalog Instructor Schedule

Description

This is an introductory look into fashion. Students will explore basic design skills and processes, and work with various materials used in constructing garments. Both traditional and non-traditional materials will be explored through techniques and exercises related to the body. Students will learn how the tools and equipment for hand and machine sewing functions, and its role in constructing garments. A critical overview of fashion introduces students to various practical and theoretical approaches to understand and explore fashion within an art context.

Class Number

1491

Credits

3

Department

Fashion Design

Area of Study

Costume Design

Location

Sullivan Center 702

Description

This is an introductory look into fashion. Students will explore basic design skills and processes, and work with various materials used in constructing garments. Both traditional and non-traditional materials will be explored through techniques and exercises related to the body. Students will learn how the tools and equipment for hand and machine sewing functions, and its role in constructing garments. A critical overview of fashion introduces students to various practical and theoretical approaches to understand and explore fashion within an art context.

Class Number

1492

Credits

3

Department

Fashion Design

Area of Study

Costume Design

Location

Sullivan Center 727

Description

This is an introductory look into fashion. Students will explore basic design skills and processes, and work with various materials used in constructing garments. Both traditional and non-traditional materials will be explored through techniques and exercises related to the body. Students will learn how the tools and equipment for hand and machine sewing functions, and its role in constructing garments. A critical overview of fashion introduces students to various practical and theoretical approaches to understand and explore fashion within an art context.

Class Number

1493

Credits

3

Department

Fashion Design

Area of Study

Costume Design

Location

Sullivan Center 706

Description

This is an introductory look into fashion. Students will explore basic design skills and processes, and work with various materials used in constructing garments. Both traditional and non-traditional materials will be explored through techniques and exercises related to the body. Students will learn how the tools and equipment for hand and machine sewing functions, and its role in constructing garments. A critical overview of fashion introduces students to various practical and theoretical approaches to understand and explore fashion within an art context.

Class Number

1494

Credits

3

Department

Fashion Design

Area of Study

Costume Design

Location

Sullivan Center 727

Description

This is an introductory look into fashion. Students will explore basic design skills and processes, and work with various materials used in constructing garments. Both traditional and non-traditional materials will be explored through techniques and exercises related to the body. Students will learn how the tools and equipment for hand and machine sewing functions, and its role in constructing garments. A critical overview of fashion introduces students to various practical and theoretical approaches to understand and explore fashion within an art context.

Class Number

1495

Credits

3

Department

Fashion Design

Area of Study

Costume Design

Location

Sullivan Center 706

Description

This is an introductory look into fashion. Students will explore basic design skills and processes, and work with various materials used in constructing garments. Both traditional and non-traditional materials will be explored through techniques and exercises related to the body. Students will learn how the tools and equipment for hand and machine sewing functions, and its role in constructing garments. A critical overview of fashion introduces students to various practical and theoretical approaches to understand and explore fashion within an art context.

Class Number

1527

Credits

3

Department

Fashion Design

Area of Study

Costume Design

Location

Sullivan Center 703

Description

This is an introductory look into fashion. Students will explore basic design skills and processes, and work with various materials used in constructing garments. Both traditional and non-traditional materials will be explored through techniques and exercises related to the body. Students will learn how the tools and equipment for hand and machine sewing functions, and its role in constructing garments. A critical overview of fashion introduces students to various practical and theoretical approaches to understand and explore fashion within an art context.

Class Number

1538

Credits

3

Department

Fashion Design

Area of Study

Costume Design

Location

Sullivan Center 704

Description

This course offers foundational methods of draping, pattern drafting, and construction techniques to build garments. The students learn how to develop a set of slopers, consisting of bodice, sleeve and skirt, combining and integrating draping and pattern drafting methods. Through these methods, the students develop and construct design concepts, first in muslin, then in fabric; stressing the importance of proper fit and craftsmanship. No pre-req.

Prerequisites

Students must be a sophomore grade level or permission by instructor

Class Number

1528

Credits

3

Department

Fashion Design

Location

Sullivan Center 702

Description

This course offers foundational methods of draping, pattern drafting, and construction techniques to build garments. The students learn how to develop a set of slopers, consisting of bodice, sleeve and skirt, combining and integrating draping and pattern drafting methods. Through these methods, the students develop and construct design concepts, first in muslin, then in fabric; stressing the importance of proper fit and craftsmanship. No pre-req.

Prerequisites

Students must be a sophomore grade level or permission by instructor

Class Number

1529

Credits

3

Department

Fashion Design

Location

Sullivan Center 703

Description

This course offers foundational methods of draping, pattern drafting, and construction techniques to build garments. The students learn how to develop a set of slopers, consisting of bodice, sleeve and skirt, combining and integrating draping and pattern drafting methods. Through these methods, the students develop and construct design concepts, first in muslin, then in fabric; stressing the importance of proper fit and craftsmanship. No pre-req.

Prerequisites

Students must be a sophomore grade level or permission by instructor

Class Number

1530

Credits

3

Department

Fashion Design

Location

Sullivan Center 706

Description

This course offers foundational methods of draping, pattern drafting, and construction techniques to build garments. The students learn how to develop a set of slopers, consisting of bodice, sleeve and skirt, combining and integrating draping and pattern drafting methods. Through these methods, the students develop and construct design concepts, first in muslin, then in fabric; stressing the importance of proper fit and craftsmanship. No pre-req.

Prerequisites

Students must be a sophomore grade level or permission by instructor

Class Number

1531

Credits

3

Department

Fashion Design

Location

Sullivan Center 704

Description

This course offers foundational methods of draping, pattern drafting, and construction techniques to build garments. The students learn how to develop a set of slopers, consisting of bodice, sleeve and skirt, combining and integrating draping and pattern drafting methods. Through these methods, the students develop and construct design concepts, first in muslin, then in fabric; stressing the importance of proper fit and craftsmanship. No pre-req.

Prerequisites

Students must be a sophomore grade level or permission by instructor

Class Number

1537

Credits

3

Department

Fashion Design

Location

Sullivan Center 702

Description

This course offers foundational methods of draping, pattern drafting, and construction techniques to build garments. The students learn how to develop a set of slopers, consisting of bodice, sleeve and skirt, combining and integrating draping and pattern drafting methods. Through these methods, the students develop and construct design concepts, first in muslin, then in fabric; stressing the importance of proper fit and craftsmanship. No pre-req.

Prerequisites

Students must be a sophomore grade level or permission by instructor

Class Number

1539

Credits

3

Department

Fashion Design

Location

Sullivan Center 702

Description

This course offers foundational methods of draping, pattern drafting, and construction techniques to build garments. The students learn how to develop a set of slopers, consisting of bodice, sleeve and skirt, combining and integrating draping and pattern drafting methods. Through these methods, the students develop and construct design concepts, first in muslin, then in fabric; stressing the importance of proper fit and craftsmanship. No pre-req.

Prerequisites

Students must be a sophomore grade level or permission by instructor

Class Number

1543

Credits

3

Department

Fashion Design

Location

Sullivan Center 702

Description

Fashion Design I builds the skills and talents required to achieve creative fashion. This class teaches the design fundamentals of the integrated core fashion design curriculum. Students will engage multiple skills to create individual, visionary, unconventional garments, and later, collections. Through a series of projects, students explore form, silhouette, volume, and research in design to arrive at a personal point-of-view in fashion. This course will specifically ask students to work conceptually and to develop research methodologies in their design work. Based on this inquiry, students generate sketches and surface treatments to refine their unique silhouettes and material manipulations. No prerequisite.

Prerequisites

Students must be a sophomore grade level or permission by instructor

Class Number

1532

Credits

3

Department

Fashion Design

Location

Sullivan Center 704

Description

Fashion Design I builds the skills and talents required to achieve creative fashion. This class teaches the design fundamentals of the integrated core fashion design curriculum. Students will engage multiple skills to create individual, visionary, unconventional garments, and later, collections. Through a series of projects, students explore form, silhouette, volume, and research in design to arrive at a personal point-of-view in fashion. This course will specifically ask students to work conceptually and to develop research methodologies in their design work. Based on this inquiry, students generate sketches and surface treatments to refine their unique silhouettes and material manipulations. No prerequisite.

Prerequisites

Students must be a sophomore grade level or permission by instructor

Class Number

1533

Credits

3

Department

Fashion Design

Location

Sullivan Center 705

Description

Fashion Design I builds the skills and talents required to achieve creative fashion. This class teaches the design fundamentals of the integrated core fashion design curriculum. Students will engage multiple skills to create individual, visionary, unconventional garments, and later, collections. Through a series of projects, students explore form, silhouette, volume, and research in design to arrive at a personal point-of-view in fashion. This course will specifically ask students to work conceptually and to develop research methodologies in their design work. Based on this inquiry, students generate sketches and surface treatments to refine their unique silhouettes and material manipulations. No prerequisite.

Prerequisites

Students must be a sophomore grade level or permission by instructor

Class Number

1534

Credits

3

Department

Fashion Design

Location

Sullivan Center 703

Description

Fashion Design I builds the skills and talents required to achieve creative fashion. This class teaches the design fundamentals of the integrated core fashion design curriculum. Students will engage multiple skills to create individual, visionary, unconventional garments, and later, collections. Through a series of projects, students explore form, silhouette, volume, and research in design to arrive at a personal point-of-view in fashion. This course will specifically ask students to work conceptually and to develop research methodologies in their design work. Based on this inquiry, students generate sketches and surface treatments to refine their unique silhouettes and material manipulations. No prerequisite.

Prerequisites

Students must be a sophomore grade level or permission by instructor

Class Number

1535

Credits

3

Department

Fashion Design

Location

Sullivan Center 705

Description

Explorations in the design of 'experimental' garments using the basic elements of mass, volume, form and motion. Rather than concerning themselves with current design trends or regular fashion problems, students emphasize bodies as forms in motion or as moving sculpture.

Class Number

1515

Credits

3

Department

Fashion Design

Area of Study

Costume Design, Community & Social Engagement

Location

Sullivan Center 723

Description

Explorations in the design of 'experimental' garments using the basic elements of mass, volume, form and motion. Rather than concerning themselves with current design trends or regular fashion problems, students emphasize bodies as forms in motion or as moving sculpture.

Class Number

1519

Credits

3

Department

Fashion Design

Area of Study

Costume Design, Community & Social Engagement

Location

Sullivan Center 723

Take the Next Step

Visit the undergraduate admissions website or contact the undergraduate admissions office at 800.232.7242 or ugadmiss@saic.edu.

Elnaz Javani, If I'd Known That Beforehand, Detail, 2015

Freshman and Transfer Deadline: June 1