Virginia Commonwealth University
The over 300 students enrolled this year in the Department of Fashion Design and Merchandising all share the same goal; to earn their Bachelor of Arts in the tracks of Fashion Design, Fashion Merchandising and Home Fashion Merchandising. Providing students with the practical application of both knowledge and skills emphasizing analytic abilities, creative problem solving, and a global perspective is the educational philosophy of the Department of Fashion.
Our fashion students produce and develop our annual juried fashion show a VCU. Approximately 120 of the very best student-produced garments appear on the runway through the hard work of the students and faculty. This demonstration of student creations is just one example of the quality education received by the students and the dedication of the faculty to the success of those students. The showcase evidences a commitment to excellence and a partnership of mutual respect and support.
Part of the fashion design and merchandising program involves various trips developed by the faculty -but within a strict budget for the students - to worthy places to enhance the student's knowledge. New York City and the Men's Apparel Guild in California (MAGIC) trade show are popular field trip destinations and are offered yearly. Students, their family, graduates, and community members are all welcome to travel on these trips. The accomplishments of the alumni and the successful careers the graduates enjoy are something the Department of Fashion Design and Merchandising are proud of. Top companies like Armani Exchange, Polo Ralph Lauren, Eddie Bauer and Nautica employ alumni.
Different careers are offered to our fashion merchandisers, which includes jobs as fashion editors and market editors for major fashion publications like Harpers Bazaar and Vibe, retail buyers and product developers for the Gap, Banana Republic, Nordstrom, Crate and Barrel and William Sonoma, trend forecasters for Cotton Incorporated, and as national sales representatives for Perry Ellis and Creative Enterprises.
Bachelors of Fine Arts
Creating articles of clothing that allow individual expression is an important role of the students in the Fashion Design program. To create the clothes that will satisfy consumers' needs and desires, designers must be creative and practical. These desires range from the basic need of a body to be covered to conform to social convention through to the spiritual need to satisfy the psyche. Students learn skills required for a career in the apparel industry through the Fashion Design curriculum. Professional techniques in how to construct garments, making patterns, and drawing fashions will be demonstrated to students.
Once students have mastered the technical skills, additional courses help them deal with specific design challenges and satisfy the needs of market niches. At each stage, every student-made piece of clothing is reviewed; a jury of outside professionals studies them at the end of the school year. Each spring there is a fashion show, which presents the best 120 garment designs.
Graduates of the VCU Fashion Design program work as designers, product developers and patternmakers with such companies as Calvin Klein, Norton McNaughton, Perry Ellis, Nautica, A/X Armani Exchange, Eddie Bauer, and Nike.
Fashion Merchandising students begin classes in fashion immediately after entering the Department as freshmen. The students develop their skills in Photoshop and Illustrator after a beginning with an overview of the fashion industry. Fashion Forecasting, Merchandise Planning and Control, Retail Buying Simulation, Fashion Promotions, Importing and Exporting, Line Development and Advanced Store Development are some of the areas in which students further their studies. Courses available to students include accounting, marketing, business law, math, science, English, and art history.
The practical application of both knowledge and skills emphasizing analytic abilities, creative problem solving, and a global perspective emphasize the Fashion Merchandising curriculum. In much of the coursework students will experience simulations of real-world professional situations.
