Fashion Design Schools

If you want to become a fashion designer, do you have to go to a fashion design school? The answer today is probably yes. Sure, you can learn everything you need to know about the marketplace, about designs, about drawing and sewing and color schemes and patterns and fabrics and textures and everything else on your own, but unless you're very lucky it's hard to break into the professional world without a degree of some kind. It's theoretically possible to become a lawyer without attending law school, too, but neither career path is advisable.

Colleges and universities all over the world offer fashion design programs of study. You can get associate degrees and bachelor degrees in this field. Just make sure the program you enroll in is accredited by a reliable accreditation board. While you're in school studying to become a fashion designer, you should also take courses in business, so you'll know how to market the clothes you create, as well as computer science. Online sales will constitute a higher percentage of fashion commerce each year, and you won't be able to compete unless you have the technical prowess to sell your wares on the Internet.

And what's the best fashion design school in the country? Well, one answer to that question is that whatever school you feel gives you a good education and at which you are happy is the best fashion design school for you. Another answer is that many people in the fashion industry consider the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) on Seventh Avenue in New York City to be the best fashion school in the United States, and as you can imagine, it's very difficult to get accepted into one of their programs.

If you are planning on applying to a fashion design school, make sure you take plenty of art courses in high school. It's a good idea if you have some other fashion experience that you can cite as well. You could help organize a high school fashion show fundraiser, or work as a model, or maybe even write a fashion column for your high school newspaper. Be prepared to write an essay about why you want to pursue fashion design as well.

You'll probably also have to submit a portfolio for review. This is a sampling of drawings (or even photographs) of the fashion designs you've created over the years. Just make sure you follow the directions regarding portfolios very carefully. Don't submit any more or any fewer samples of your work than you're told to, and make sure those samples are the correct size and that they're organized in the correct manner.

Lastly, enjoy the time you spend in fashion design school. Work hard at all times, of course, but have fun getting to know your fellow designers, sharing your work with each another and inspiring one other to new heights of creativity. It'll go by faster than you can even imagine.