Program Overview

Fashion Design B.F.A.

The fashion design program provides students with the skills to design, create, and develop products from concept to production.

About this Program

• Study fashion through multiple lenses, incorporating the historic and contemporary impact of fashion on society and emerging technologies within a global landscape.
• Enjoy professional studio facilities, including the Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection, at the Nancy Cantor Warehouse in downtown Syracuse.
• Network with professional designers and retail experts who frequently visit, maintaining strong connections between the program and industry.
• Go abroad via our World Partner program with the London College of Fashion, which offers you a professional semester in London, England.
• Consider taking the Fashion and Beauty Communications Milestone, which offers a rigorous, cross-disciplinary concentration of study in partnership with the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.
• Join the Design Living Learning Community.

Program Information

• Degree Type: B.F.A.
• Major: Fashion Design
• Modality: In-person
• College or School: College of Visual and Performing Arts
• Career Path: Art and Design

Curriculum

The curriculum of the B.F.A. degree program in fashion design includes the basic skills of construction, flat pattern, draping, and presentation, all with an emphasis on design. Important related topics include textiles, fashion drawing, fashion marketing, and computer-assisted design.

Student Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate appropriate and advanced apparel construction skills using industry-specific machinery.
• Apply skills to visually translate detailed apparel design concepts, materiality, color, and fit through two-dimensional fashion sketching and illustration.
• Develop well-proportioned, balanced, and competently fit industry-standard apparel patterns by using both two- and three-dimensional approaches.
• Demonstrate the use of appropriate material and color choices as it applies to the apparel design collection within its cyclical and seasonal relationship to consumer buying and use habits.
• Demonstrate a visual and theoretical understanding of fashion, art, and design history and their relationships to the cultural context and social implications within their periods.
• Research, gather, analyze, and develop apparel collection concepts from a variety of base source materials and translate these findings two-dimensionally in the form of unique apparel collections.

Extracurricular Opportunities

• Fashion and Design Society (FADS): An open environment for the discussion of new ideas that brings important concerns of the global fashion industry to the forefront at Syracuse University. The society creates opportunities for students to gain real-time experience in fields that might be career avenues for them in the future.

Related Programs

• Illustration B.F.A.
• Retail Management B.S.
• Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises B.S.

College of Visual and Performing Arts

Home to the visual and performing arts at Syracuse University, VPA supports the creative process and professional development of its students. VPA is divided into seven areas: the School of Art; the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies; the School of Design; the Department of Drama; the Rose, Jules R. and Stanford S. Setnor School of Music; the Department of Film and Media Arts; and the Department of Creative Arts Therapy.