Fashion Design (One-Year Certificate)

The Fashion Design Certificate Program is designed to develop students’ ability to perform in today’s evolving fashion industry. It offers a rich experience and an opportunity to acquire industry skills in the areas of design, illustration, textiles, pattern development and digital technology. Thanks to a wide selection of topics, students learn to incorporate a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach to designing within a global context.

The Program gives students the foundation to enter the field of professional fashion design while exploring its different aspects from research and design to the finished products, gaining a complete overview of the development process. Students learn specific industry terms and become familiar with all phases of apparel production, acquiring both the theoretical fundamentals and the practical skills needed to work within the multifaceted world of the fashion industry. The first year provides students with foundational skills in illustration, pattern development, print design and CAD technology, all with an underpinning of textiles and costume history.  

The Fashion Lab Center provides design studios and a production laboratory with industry equipment and specialty machinery. Additional facilities provide students with a fashion CAD lab equipped with industry software and technologies.  The fashion library offers dedicated space for research and development including resources for textiles, color and trend forecasting materials.

The completion of the Program offers a broad range of career opportunities including assistant fashion designer, stylist, product developer, patternmaker, textile design assistant, and more. Students who have successfully completed the One-Year Certificate in Fashion Design, may move onto the Professional Year, thereby completing a two-year program in Fashion Design.

ONE YEAR CERTIFICATE (Year 1)

1ST SEMESTER // FALL ONLY

• Introduction to the Fashion Industry3 credits/45 hours
• Construction Techniques3 credits/90 hours
• Fashion Illustration I3 credits/90 hours
• Textile Science 3 credits/45 hours
• CAD for Fashion Design I3 credits/60 hours
• History of Costume – 3 credits/45 hours

2ND SEMESTER // SPRING ONLY

•Patternmaking – 3 credits/90 hours
•Fabric Styling – 3 credits/60 hours
•Fashion Illustration II – 3 credits/90 hours
•Draping I – 3 credits/90 hours
•Knitwear I – 3 credit/45 hours

Course descriptions are available in the Academic Catalog.

FACILITIES

– Lab equipped with mannequins and sewing machines
– Computer lab equipped with the latest industry software and technologies
– Classrooms equipped with design tools and instruments
– Material samples
– Library specifically focused on fashion