The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Design program trains students to develop a design practice with a strong focus on design context - emphasizing an understanding of the culture, history, and theory of fashion as well as the crucial business savviness needed to make their work market-ready. Building on the strong foundations of the Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Studies, Product Development concentration, the BFA further explores the processes of conceptualizing, creating, and delivering a thesis collection that sits at the intersection of craft and innovation. Students cultivate their creative voice while honing the digital expertise, research acumen, and critical thinking skills required to be innovative leaders in a rapidly evolving global industry, bringing change-making thinking to the problems it faces.
Through the program’s emphasis on issues of inclusivity, body positivity, sustainability, and the emergence of smart textiles and wearable technology, BFA students gain a broader perspective to inform their design practice. The program encourages students to broaden their experience in other ways as well. For example, students may choose to study in fashion capitals like London, Milan, Berlin, New York, and Los Angeles. Though personal studio space is provided as part of the senior thesis experience, critical dialogue and collaborative opportunities remain vital components of the program, and students are strongly encouraged to collaborate across disciplines to fuel creative exploration.
Students may join the BFA program either through direct enrollment or by application during the sophomore year.
As a result of successfully completing program requirements, students should be able to:
- use discipline-appropriate technology in order to navigate the multi-channel global business environment;
- evaluate consumer, fashion and design theories in order to propose solutions to existing and potential industry-related problems
- use best practice primary and secondary research to communicate fashion industry-related concepts and solutions;
- effectively apply advanced craft techniques, technology, and vocabulary/terminology relative to their end product;
- translate fashion historical and theoretical concepts into their design practice;
- understand the importance of alternative sizing, gender performativity, and adaptive fashions, among other things, in order to create more inclusive fashion future;
- execute all stages of the design process from creative problem solving to concept development to design and fabrication;
- describe, analyze, interpret, and contextualize their work and the work of others in relation to the broader canon of creative fashion production; and
- develop and present a cohesive and competitive professional body of work.
