Fashion Design B.A.

Fashion design for the creative + multidisciplinary thinker

The Fashion Design B.A. offers two pathways through the major: Fashion Studio and Fashion Studies. If you’re interested in becoming a well-rounded commercial fashion designer or wearable artist, the Fashion Studio concentration is for you! Over the course of four core semesters, you’ll learn to research, illustrate design, pattern make and construct clothing, all culminating in a capstone collection and fashion show.

If you’re more interested in a fashion-adjacent career like fashion media, fashion curation, sustainability, fashion entrepreneurship or fashion law—or just enjoy learning about history and culture through the lens of fashion—the Fashion Studies concentration is for you.

All students in the program get a foundation of knowledge in how textiles and clothing are made. Fashion Studio majors must go through a portfolio review and complete a rigorous two-year sequence of studio courses. Fashion Studies majors might combine the B.A. with another major or minor such as History, Media Studies, Sustainability Studies, or one of the many languages taught at IU. It can also serve as a path into the M.A. in Curatorship program or to a graduate degree in law, business, or the arts and humanities.

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B.A. in Fashion Design curriculum

Students must complete the CASE Requirements.

See the College Undergraduate Bulletin for a full list of requirements for your major. Choose your requirement term or Bulletin year in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

View a full list of courses and descriptions in the College Bulletin

Enhance your major

Find internships

Study overseas

Collaborate + volunteer

Is it for you?

The Fashion Design B.A. degree attracts students with a wide variety of backgrounds and interests. Students who are likely to succeed in the Fashion Studio concentration are:

Skilled at artistic pursuits like sewing, drawing, painting, knitting, or making jewelry (although it’s OK if you haven’t sewn before)
Creative, curious, adaptable, and good with time management
Able to work both independently and collaboratively
Detail oriented, patient and precise
Interested in new technologies and quick to learn new skills

Students who might prefer the Fashion Studies concentration are likely to:

Be interested in fashion, but not necessarily constructing garments
Enjoy a lot of different subjects like the arts (including music and theater), history, business, popular culture, languages—even science
Be skilled at communicating through writing, drawing, and/or speaking
Want (or need) time to explore career options, including graduate school

All new students will be required to choose one concentration or the other. However, one of the signatures of our program is that everyone will develop a basic understanding of how textiles and clothing are made and how fashion goes from design to reality.

Learn how to create as a fashion designer

If you choose the Fashion Studio concentration, you will dive into learning about materials used to make garments and accessories, tools for illustrating your designs, how to develop your own patterns and collections, and how to collaborate with other artists and designers to push the boundaries of the fashion industry. You will also learn about fashion histories and other sources of inspiration.

As a student in the Eskenazi School and the College of Arts + Sciences at IU, you will grow as a well-rounded designer who is prepared for the fashion industry of the future.

A student and models wearing pink and cream clothing she designed.

A group of people stand in front of a rack with hangers.

Learn to navigate the fashion industry and push it forward

If you choose the Fashion Studies concentration, you will get some of the same basic knowledge about materials, illustration, and construction. But then, you will learn to think critically about fashion and the fashion industry. Why do we dress the way we do? How is fashion impacted by cultures, economics, and legal systems? Can we make it more inclusive and sustainable?

Those who truly understand the fashion industry will be in the best position to nudge it in new directions.

Fashion design internships and study abroad

Many Fashion Design Studio majors move directly into full-time entry-level positions after graduation. Opportunities are available at corporate offices, with independent designers, and with internet-based companies and design firms.

Internships are invaluable for gaining experience and becoming familiar with companies that might become employers. Organizations where previous students have accepted internships or full-time entry-level roles include:

Abercrombie & Fitch
Adidas
American Eagle
Anna Sui
Bass Pro Shops
Betsey Johnson
Burlen
Club Monaco
DOPE
Express
Forever 21
Guess
James Coviello
Kohl’s
Limited
Lucky Brand
Macy’s
Manor (Zurich)
Motionwear Dance

Mudpie (baby/toddler)
OJG One Jeanswear
Perry Ellis
Ports 1961
Ralph Lauren
Ralph Rucci
Saks Fifth Avenue
Seis Marjan
Soffe
twelveNYC
Vaquera
Varyform
Venus
Vera Bradley
Vivienne Tam
Weissman’s
WGSN
White House Black Market/Chicos
Zac Posen

While we encourage all of our students to study abroad, students in the Fashion Studio concentration must plan carefully with an academic advisor. We rarely accept transfer credits for studio courses since our intensive two-year sequence is quite unique.

The Fashion Studies concentration is very new but can open doors to many kinds of internships and study abroad opportunities. Students may find support by joining RSO (the Retail Studies Organization), working with advisors in the Eskenazi School and Walter Career Center, and by speaking individually with faculty. In the past, some students from the Fashion Design B.A. have transitioned into other careers in costume design, fashion journalism, public relations, HR (dress codes), and fashion retail. There are wonderful opportunities to study abroad, such as programs in the UK (London College of Fashion), Paris (American University of Paris), and Italy (Accademia Italiana, Milano Fashion School, Santa Reparata International School of Art). Majors with advanced language skills have even more options and many IU-sponsored programs to choose from.

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