Fashion Merchandising (AA)

Develop foundational skills in design sketching through observation and replication. You will become familiar with body proportions, basic human anatomy, and figure balance.

You will be introduced to the concepts of fashion retail and wholesale merchandising, fashion materials, producers of fashion, and various fashion markets.

Focus on original and creative hands-on development for collections. Color, fabrics, proportion, silhouette, customer, and wearing occasion are explored through 2D and 3D development.

Color and fabric are concepts that drive creativity, novelty, and innovation. You will explore how fashion professionals apply color and design principles at all levels of the industry. You will study how textile fibers and other fabric characteristics affect garment performance.

Put fashion marketing theory to practice. You'll develop marketing research techniques to determine consumer wants and to create fashion marketing strategies. You will learn to conceive, produce, promote, and move new fashion goods and services to consumers.

Use professional software to communicate visual information. Learn to work fluidly between programs to create fashion line layout, concept boards, and detailed specification for reproduction.

Get the cutting and sewing skills for work in the apparel industry. You will learn both hand finishing and machine sewing techniques in wovens and create a notebook documenting your new skills.

Learn the techniques retail organizations use to sell product. You will learn about the visual tools available, including fixtures, mannequins, signage, lighting, and props.

Promotional strategies for fashion. You will create an integrated marketing plan including advertising, direct mail, publicity, public relations, personal selling, special events, and social networking.