Fashion Design
Is fashion your passion? If so, this major is tailor made for you! You’ll study art and culture, develop technical skills at a professional level, and gain a deep understanding of fashion as both an industry and an art form.
Expand your skills, talents and knowledge
Fashion design majors work side-by-side with talented, expert and caring faculty. You’ll study textile science, visual literacy, life drawing, fashion trends, and the cultural, psychological and social aspects of dress. With the latest technologies, you’ll work hands-on to design, create and display your own themed collection of original work. Throughout your undergraduate career, you’ll create pages for an online professional portfolio that you’ll produce as a senior capstone project—just in time for the job market. In a curriculum deeply rooted in the liberal arts, you’ll expand your capacity for critical thinking, problem solving and visual communication. You’ll start your career ready for success in a fascinating industry.
Learn by doing—then do even more
Practical experience is built into our fashion design curriculum. Our internships draw on the huge retail, cultural and corporate resources of Chicago—a great job market for fashion graduates. We make our connections your connections, so you can test-drive your dream job in the real world. Many internships lead directly to job offers after graduation; in a recent survey, 87% of employers said they would hire their Dominican interns if a full-time position were available. Seniors work together to produce our Spring Fashion Show, which presents the best student designs to industry professionals. You’ll not only gain professional exposure but also sharpen your problem-solving, events-planning and leadership skills.
The fashion design program includes comprehensive study in design, pattern making, research, appropriate fit and fabric selection, fashion trending, and illustration that prepares students to work in the fashion industry or as entrepreneurs in the design field. Each year students construct original creations from concept to runway for our annual fashion show.
At Dominican, we pride ourselves on graduating well-rounded individuals. Our students are encouraged to tailor their studies to their interests. For many, that means choosing a minor that complements their major work. Following are some options to consider:
- Art
- Foreign Language
- Theatre Arts
- Business
- Communications: Journalism or Corporate Communication
Quinlan Milne Rojek
Fashion Design Graduate
“As a senior, I won the 2017 Distinguished Designer Award from Nieman Marcus. It was the best, most insane thing that could happen. I fell in love with fashion design after taking one course, more-or-less on a whim. I was a pitcher on the baseball team, and before long, my teammates were asking me to fix up their uniforms.”
Great resources. Amazing opportunities
On state-of-the-art computer technology, you’ll develop innovative designs and visualize them in three dimensions. In our fashion workroom, you’ll find a friendly, supportive environment that nurtures your innate creativity. To gain further inspiration, you can choose from study abroad programs—from China and Ghana to Spain and South Africa. Many students travel to Paris for our exceptional six-credit course on French fashion. Others study at the Instituto di Moda Burgo in Milan, the fashion capital of Italy. The institute draws gifted students from 150 countries.
While still an undergraduate, you can begin work toward an accelerated MBA through the Brennan School of Business. A fashion design degree and an MBA is a powerful combination in the job market. Fashion students design costumes for both the student and professional productions at Dominican’s outstanding Performing Arts Center. They also regularly enter (and win) fashion competitions throughout the Chicago area. Members of our Fashion Club gain valuable leadership, fund raising and events planning experience.
Our Community-Based Learning Program enables you to combine academic learning with effective, compassionate service to people in need—in the Chicago area and around the world. The program has been nationally recognized for excellence.
Through our Fashion Mentorship Program, you’ll meet accomplished industry professionals, including many graduates of our program. The board members make themselves available to review student portfolios and help to ensure that our curriculum evolves continually—like fashion itself.
Megan Strong
Fashion Design Graduate
“I completed my fashion internship in Bangladesh. We worked with clients from all over the world, and focused on function as well as fashion. The experience really paid off. After returning home, the design collection from my internship earned a scholarship from Fashion Group International.”
