FASHION DESIGN CERTIFICATE PROGRAM: REQUIREMENTS & ELECTIVES
All Fashion Design Certificate students take six required Foundation courses that cover fashion fundamentals. The
Elective courses offer options for either a Specialty or Technical Track in FDC. All students must complete a
Professional Portfolio course before receiving a certificate.
Each course is offered on a rotating schedule, allowing students to complete the FDC in two years and one
summer.
By Semester
Spring
EDFD260 Fashion Industry Production (Pattern Drafting II – Gerber software)
EDFD206X Digital Tools for Fashion Design
EDFD2X7 Fashion Trend Forecasting
EDFD214X Millinery Design
EDFD26X Fashion & Art in the 20th Century
EDFD315X Couture Design
EDFD207 Fashion History II --undergrad course open to FDC students
EDFD210 Creative Textiles (Textile Design II)
EDFD313X Professional Portfolio
Summer
EDFD215X Fashion Illustration 1
EDFD202X Handbag Design (TBA)
EDFD215 Sustainable Fashion
EDFD206X Digital Tools for Fashion Design
EDFD2X3 Introduction to Costume Design
Fall
EDFD202 Textile History
EDFD217 The Celluloid Runway: Fashion in Film
EDFD216 Digital Tools for Textile Design
EDFD209X Tailoring
EDFD209 Textile Design
EDFD207X Introduction to Pattern Drafting
EDFD260 Fashion Industry Production (Pattern Drafting II – Gerber software)
Foundation Courses (all six are required)
Introduction to Pattern Drafting
Introduction to Creative Fashion
Fashion Illustration
Tailoring
Couture Design
Fashion and Art
Technical/Specialty Courses (Choose three)
Celluloid Runway
Costume Design
Digital Tools for Textile Design
Digital Tools for Fashion Design
Fashion Industry Production (Pattern Drafting II – Gerber software)
Handbag Design
Millinery Design
Sustainable Fashion
Textile Design I
Creative Textile Design (Textile Design II)
Textile History
Trend Forecasting
Professional Portfolio (required)
REQUIREMENTS
Couture Design (3 credits)
Spring
Develop advanced techniques in construction and custom draping of original designs. Specialized details such as
boning for shaping, soft and structured draping, and seam finishes will be explored. Final projects will
incorporate grand luxe appeal, custom fit and original concepts in detailing for design motif and embellishment.
Prerequisite: Intro to Creative Fashion Design and Intro to Pattern Drafting
Fashion and Art in the 20th Century (3 credits)
Spring
Introduces students to the connection between fashion and art in the 20th century. Students learn how fashion
and fabric design reflect the century’s major art trends - cubism, surrealism, abstract expressionism, pop,
minimalism, and postmodernism.
Fashion Illustration (3 credits)
Summer
Basic anatomy and analysis of the idealized fashion female and male figure will be emphasized through
demonstrations and in-class exercises illustrating Color Fashion Plates with apparel details, fashion silhouettes,
and textile rendering using magic marker, watercolor, acrylic, and gouache.. Flat sketch and technical drawing
skills will be taught.
Intro to Creative Fashion Design (3 credits)
Spring
Learn to communicate original ideas using geometric principals in design as well as a master block pattern
structure and fundamental draping. Understand basic garment construction and how to translate creative
designs into three-dimensional forms in both fabric and non-textiles.
Intro to Pattern Drafting (3 credits)
Fall
Study an overview of pattern drafting and an introduction to construction. Explore the different methods to
pattern making from using the dart for fit to adding shape for fullness. Taking body measurements for fit will be
taught. Pattern drafting and construction techniques will be applied to an original design
Tailoring (3 credits)
Fall
Explore advanced construction and drafting methods for custom tailoring. Design and construction of tailored
ensemble will utilize traditional tailoring that includes pad stitching, foundation shaping, special label and collar
treatments and finishes.
Prerequisite: Intro to Creative Fashion Design and Intro to Pattern Drafting
Professional Portfolio (2 credits)
Spring
The Portfolio course will assist students in creating a resume, combining design and skill stories, and how to
present work in a designer portfolio format. The course will enable students to mix previous work with the new
projects that have been completed throughout the Fashion Design Certificate Program.
Prerequisite: Completion of six courses in the Fashion Design Sequence
ELECTIVES
Celluloid Runway (3 credits)
Fall
Explore the transformative power of fashion in film, the history and evolution of costume design, the
powerhouse designers in the industry, and the most critical fashion moments in film history. The celluloid
runway not only reflects the "Devil Wears Prada" and "Sex and the City" catwalk sparkle of the current era, but it
can serve as a vital time machine for establishing historical context. It also has the power to thumb its figurative
nose at its surroundings and create trends of its own. Through a combination of movie clips, discussions,
readings, and research projects, students learn to look at how the clothes make the movie.
Creative Textile Design – see Textile Design II
Costume Design (3 credits)
Learn the techniques, procedures and tricks of how to work in the Costume Design field. Class covers: design
concepts, paperwork and resources for both Theatrical and Film Costume Design, Union politics, getting a job in
the entertainment world and “how to maintain your finances in a career that is strongly affected by the
changing times.”
Digital Tools for Textile Design (3 credits)
Fall
Computer-aided design is a powerful message and heavily used in fashion and interior design. The design
process will be covered from inspiration to presentation using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Covering many
of the techniques used in industry to develop and market textile designs such as developing repeats, creating
colorways, incorporating scanned artwork into designs, and texture mapping. Students will use these
techniques to create a collection of coordinating prints including repeats and tonals.
Digital Tools for Fashion Design (3 credits)
Spring & Summer
Learn the dominant software applications used in the fashion industry to create “fashion plate” driven projects
from inspiration to presentation. They will learn image collage and manipulation techniques creating inspiration
boards with Adobe Photoshop. They’ll take fashion sketches and create fashion flats from them using
Illustrator. They will also learn how to create basic repeats and fabric textures using a variety of
techniques. Layout and presentation techniques will also be covered.
Fashion Industry Production (Pattern Drafting II - Gerber Garment Technology (3 credits) Spring & Fall
Develop industry techniques for marker patterns on the computer. Learn how to digitize, create block patterns,
modify the pattern block, use X and Y grading, and set-up size range rule tables. Create size layouts for cutting.
Students will work on Gerber Garment Technology Accumark Silhouette System. Pattern drafting knowledge
required.
Handbag Design (3 credits)
Summer
Accessories are a major part of the fashion industry. Explore the handbag design accessory specialization that
includes a brief history of the handbag, researching present trends and creating your own handbag designs.
Students will design and construct using industry standards - a clutch, soft shoulder and constructed handbag
Millinery Design (3 credits)
Spring
Students will create hat designs for modern dress using old world techniques of shaping buckram on a head
block and felting wool. Students will learn the basic techniques of millinery design and incorporate those skills
into their own original designs. Structure, shaping and support will be covered along with the materials needed
to create a variety of hat styles.
Sustainable Fashion (3 credits)
Summer
Students will explore current practices being used by sustainable fashion designers/companies, organic and ecofriendly textiles, innovations in design/ production, textiles, waste minimization and upcycling in design and
manufacturing. While working through their own process, students will use sustainable methods to design and
create projects addressing social responsibility in the fashion industry. The course will examine ecological
impacts, ethics and fair-trade policies associated with sustainability along with cultural techniques and
traditions.
Textile History (3 credits)
Fall
Survey the global development of textiles from the earliest forms to the hi-tech fabrics of today. It will start with
an introduction to the various fibers used in textiles - flax, cotton, silk, wool, and synthetics - and how they
interlace to form simple and complex weave structures. The course will examine the early textile developments
of the Ancient World (Egypt, Greece and Rome) and China, followed by the westward dissemination of weaving
knowledge to the Near East, Southeast Asia and Africa, Europe and the New World, ending finally with a look at
the international "techno" textiles of today.
Textile Design I (3 credits)
Fall
This course aims to further students’ understanding of continuous patterns and expand their visual vocabulary
through different mediums. With a strong concentration on exploring their individual artwork, students will
focus on creating collections that address applying traditional and fine art principles to industrial standards
while exploring new techniques and working directly on fabric.
Textile Design II (Creative Textile Design) (3 credits)
Spring
Students develop an understanding of continuous patterns and expand their visual vocabulary through different
mediums. With a strong concentration on drawing and exploring their individual artwork, students will focus on
creating imaginative motifs and layering them into continuously patterned surfaces. Students will address
applying traditional and fine art principles to industrial standards while exploring modern techniques like digitally
printing directly onto fabric.
Trend Forecasting (3 credits)
Spring
Fashion trends don’t appear out of thin air. This course will teach students how trends originate and where the
top designers look each season for their creative inspiration. Topics will include an examination of how to track
lifestyle, demographic, and economic changes that affect fashion trends, as well as spotting style-setters from
major cultural events and the entertainment industry.