How Fashion Design Schools Can Help Your Career

Some people get the wrong idea about the fashion design industry, many thinking that there is no education needed to be a strong professional within the industry. The fact is that you can definitely enter the industry without an education, but there will be road blocks that prevent you from getting any further than a lower level position due to the lack of knowledge in the most essential aspects, which surprisingly may have little to do with the actual fashion world such as business and marketing. You will also need to be up to date with the many techniques that are utilized within the field, ensuring that you are able to prosper with accurate practices that are within the guidelines of the field.

Attending Fashion Design College

There are many aspects of attending fashion design programs, from the basic levels of pattern drafting to the various techniques utilized within the industry in design, marketing, production, and manufacturing. Fashion design colleges provide the latest resources by which to instruct you on the most appropriate processes and techniques in the field, ensuring that you are able to prosper in the field following the most used and most successful practices and strategies in the many levels of your career. Finding the right college for fashion design isn’t difficult, as there are many that offer high quality programs and several different degrees.

Programs for Fashion Design

There are many different fashion design and merchandising degree programs offered to provide you with the strongest skill base with which to enter the fashion design industry. You will have the option of choosing that which follows you career path the closest from a list of many programs including:

• Accessory Design
• Sewing and Dressmaking
• Apparel/Fashion Design
• Fashion Design, Merchandising, and Foundation for Design
• Fashion and Retail Management
• Fashion Marketing

Each program is designed to provide the fullest curriculum to ensure you understand every element of the profession you wish to enter, giving you the best advantages over your career.

Choosing the Best Fashion Design and Merchandising Schools

There are several top schools to choose from, many of which are located within New York, California, and other high profile states in the U.S. There are also several programs abroad through many U.S. colleges and universities, which enable you to learn and understand foreign fashion and many of the influences of U.S. fashion today. Finding the best college should be within your price range, and a school that is accredited and participates in financial aid programs to ensure you are able to afford your education.

There are many colleges with fashion design majors that you may choose from, allowing you to learn the basic and most essential practices utilized within many different levels of the industry. Whether you are after a small scale or large scale position in the field of fashion design, or even within the many different sectors such as marketing and management, you can get a great deal of knowledge and learn the most important skills utilized in the industry from the colleges that offer fashion design.

Choosing a Fashion Design School

Getting a degree in fashion is one of the best choices you can make if you plan to work in the fashion industry. Not only will your education give you a chance to hone your skills, you’ll also get the chance to make connections and receive critiques from real people working in the field. However, not all fashion programs are created equal. Choosing the right fashion design school for you depends on many factors, including your individual career goals, your budget and your unique skill set.

Parsons School of Design and the Fashion Institute of Technology – both based in New York City – are considered to be two of the most prestigious fashion design programs in the country. Admission to these programs is highly competitive, so you’ll need to have a well-developed portfolio of designs to even be considered.

If you’re lucky enough to be admitted to one of these programs, you’ll not only be able to take advantage of top-notch instruction, you’ll also make great connections within the industry that can lead to coveted internship spots and potential post-graduate job offers.
But don’t worry if you don’t get into one of these programs – spots are extremely limited, so you may need to consider other options.

Fortunately, many community colleges, technical schools, and four-year universities offer degrees in fashion design and management. When deciding which programs to apply to, keep in mind that a four-year fine arts degree in fashion offers you the best spring-board for starting your career, since you’ll have four years to develop the basic skills you’ll need when you enter the working world.

Budget matters

However, four year programs aren’t for everyone. Typically, these programs are conducted during the day-time hours, which can be difficult for students who work full-time or have families to support. In addition, the cost of attending a four-year program tends to be much higher than the tuition at a two-year community college or technical school program. If you need to take out student loans to attend a four-year program, be sure to balance the loan’s repayment plan with what you can reasonably expect to make in your first few years out of college. Fashion is a competitive industry, so you may have to spend several years as a starving artist before you start to earn a good salary.
Consider your career goals

Even if finances are a concern, if you’re serious about becoming a fashion designer, you really should do everything possible to enroll in a four-year program. For example, look into student grants, scholarships or work-study programs that will enable you to attend a bachelor’s degree program. A four-year fine arts degree has become something of a baseline standard in a fashion industry, and the field is so competitive that it can be extremely difficult to find work with anything less than a bachelors.

However, if you’re interested in fashion design, but aren’t totally committed to the idea of becoming a full-fledged fashion designer, you may want to consider a more affordable two-year program. Graduates of these programs often find work as design assistants, pattern makers and seamstresses – all of which are great ways to be involved in the industry without the pressure and stress that comes along with a career as a fashion designer.

How Fashion Designer Courses Can Propel Your Career

Attending fashion designer courses will bring you to a new world of art and science combined to build creations that are appeasing to the eye in various forms of apparel and accessories. The skills you learn in the course needed to become a fashion designer will be looked for by every employer or firm you take on, allowing you to join the industry with great opportunity ahead of you. Your career can go to many great levels within this high profile industry, with the average earned income of fashion designers reaching the $60,000, with the highest earners making ranges in the $100,000’s.

Types of Fashion Design to Study

There are several schools that offer online fashion design classes to teach various types of fashion design including:

• Haute Couture
• Ready-to-Wear
• Mass Market

Each of these represents the main industries in the field that offer fashion design careers, each requiring the appropriate education to maneuver within the field appropriately. There are different levels within these specialties, including the marketing, design, manufacturing, and mass production of several industries. Attending courses fashion designer programs offer will ensure that you are well capable of performing the many high level duties required in the position as you take on a team or individual work setting.

What Types of Courses?

A program in fashion design will consist of several fashion design classes that focus on a specific aspect of the position you plan to take on. Whether you are seeking an assistant position or the upper level director that delegates the production and design of various products, you will need to understand the curriculum offered in fashion design programs. Such classes will include:

• Design techniques
• Business management
• Marketing and communication
• Computer based design
• Manufacturing
• Pattern drafting

The online fashion design courses will provide various technical resources and tools by which to gain the fullest instruction in the classes you attend, ensuring the quality of the education is as great as with campus schools.

Why Fashion Design?

If you are interested in creating fashions and trends, being part of the production of mass market clothing or accessory lines, or just want to be part of the fast-paced and versatile world of fashion, fashion design is an excellent career to pursue. You will find that there is a bit more to it than creating fine clothing, such as the production of the pieces and the use of materials with others. The combination of styles and creation of trends is a main part of the industry and you must get the education that will enable you to take on the career with full comprehension and the most skills.

Stop spending your time dreaming of the future and begin pursuing a future in fashion design, allowing you to enter the upscale lifestyle that you read about in magazines. Even if you want a more modest career that allows you to take on various specialties in the industry, you can gain a great deal of opportunity from attending fashion design school online.

Choosing from the Top Fashion Design Colleges

There are several fashion design colleges out there offering high quality programs to begin a prosperous fashion design career. The top fashion design colleges are found throughout the United States and Canada, as well as various campuses that are also found abroad, with programs collaborating colleges between countries. So where do you go if you want to attend the best fashion design college? Follow the trends, the money, and the spot light, while keeping your eyes open for those small schools that can also offer great opportunities.

Parsons, New York

Located in New York City, Parsons the New School for Design offers a BFA, Bachelor of Fine Arts, in design, which provides you with the skills you need to enter the field with the highest abilities. You will be given several chances that aren’t offered to other graduates with a degree backed by Parsons, as employers recognize the high quality of the school. There are many notable alumni of this college, including:

• Zang Toi
• Derek Lam
• Behnaz Sarafpour
• Claire McCardell

With just over 500 students enrolled and over 100 years of experience in providing top quality curriculum to students that flock from all around the world, Parsons provides the most elaborate and precise education possible in fashion design.

Pratt, New York

Another one of the U.S. top 10 fashion design schools, also located on the East Coast, is Pratt Institute, found in Brooklyn and offering a variety of degrees in various programs, including fashion design. The bright point of Pratt is the rare offer of fashion editorial and magazine publishing, broadening your choices when it comes to the fashion design career you are seeking. The school even offers classes in jewelry repair and design, offering a wealth of coursework to ensure you are prepared for a full time, strong career in the industry.

FIDM, California

FIDM, or the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, is one of the most famous fashion design schools due to the curriculum and success of the school, as well as notable alumni, one of which is a hot topic in many households today. Lauren Conrad from the MTV show “Laguna Beach” is currently a student, which gives you an idea of just how important furthering your education is, even when you may have reached great heights in the industry. FIDM offers a Bachelor of Science or an Associate of Arts degree in fashion design, with four different campuses located in California:

• Los Angeles
• Orange County
•  San Francisco
• San Diego

Getting your fashion design degree from one of the best fashion design schools will open up doors in your career where other colleges just won’t. You want the greatest advantages from your career, and that means choosing one of the top colleges offering a fashion design degree in order to ensure that you are able to take your career as high as you really want. Even if you need help financially, these schools offer financial aid options to help you afford the best education possible.