Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD):
–526 fashion design students
–Tuition (not including room and board): $27,765/year
Famous grads: None yet, but we’re watching closely.
What they have going for them:
–Lots of resources are being put into the fashion program. It was recently split off from the larger school of design and is now called the School of Fashion. Michael Fink, former Saks Fifth Avenue’s women’s fashion director, was hired as the dean.
–They have a variety of fashion career options in which to major: design, accessories design, and marketing/management.
–They are making connections with the fashion world at-large: André Leon Talley is on the Board of Trustees. The André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award is presented every year, and brings a well-known designer to the school. This year’s recipient was Diane von Furstenberg.
–Faculty: Lots of industry professionals and marquee designers are brought in to mentor and do workshops (Simon Doonan, Badgley Mischka, Yigal Azrouël, Zac Posen, Catherine Malandrino).
–Besides Savannah, they have campuses in Atlanta, Hong Kong, and Lacoste, France.
What they need to work on:
–The college has only been around since the 1970s, so they don’t have a huge endowment yet (which translates to money and resources).
–It’s off the beaten path. Right now the top fashion schools are in London and New York, which are obviously two fashion hubs. It’s much more difficult to get industry people to drop by. However, it seems they’ve committed the resources to get this done from afar.
Tags: Pratt Institute, RISD, SCAD
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As a student of the fashion program at Pratt. I enjoy the fact that it is a small fashion program. Many kids are turned down in the application process, allowing for a cream of the crop level of students in the classes. Also the small program allows for small class sizes, so there is constant one on one work with your professors. And lastly, with a smaller program we become a family. We develop great relationship with each other and the faculty that allow for a transcending of shared ideas and thoughts, and negative competitive attitude is eliminated.
another school that you should look into is Marist College. It has a huge fashion design and merchandising school, and girls get jobs at some of the top houses upon graduating. Its located in Poughkeepsie, New York which is only an hour and a half train ride from the city. As a student, i think it should be honored as well. Take a look!
University of Cincinnati, School of Design- has been ranked most innovative design school in the country.
I find it hilarious that my own school which considers itself one of the top ten schools in the world, is not on this list. We regularly get famous designers such as the girls from Rodarte, Zac Posen, Alexander McQueen, Oscar de la Renta etc. to come for our annual show. The school is “directed” by what we're told is a famous fashion illustrator but who I'd never heard of before enrolling. The reality is she's a doddering old fool that no one pays any attention to and the actual work of directing the school is done by someone else. It's a good school for people who are extremely serious about a career in fashion but you have to be willing to endure extreme sleep deprivation, extreme stress levels as you work against excessive workloads in absurd timeframes and endure what seems like the completely psychotic behavior of some instructors.
SCAD also has a strong (in terms of what has been produced there, I'm not exactly sure about its strength in the industry) metals and jewelry program and emphasizes a fine arts and general education foundation before delving into Major coursework. It may not necessarily feel like a big deal, but you seemed to put a large emphasis on the fact that RISD has these things, so I just thought people would want to know that SCAD has these things, too.
Oops, accidental like. Not that it wasn't a good comment. But still. Anyway, what school do you go to? You never said the name.
Otis? I thought about going there an I remember at a tour they made a huge deal about a fashion illustration teacher.
Can anyone give me feedback on The International Academy of Merchandising and Design, Tampa, Florida? I was thinking about going there. Appreciate any comments, etc.
Hey anyone know anything about the apparel design program at Cornell?
As a graduate of the fashion merchandising program at Marist College I have to give it a shoutout! Marist's program has grown rapidly in the past few years and the internships for both merch and design as well as the quality of the design students is really remarkable.
Pratt accepts EVERYONE…especially rejects from FIT and PARSON
LIM College (Laboratory Institute of Merchandising) in New York is a highly underrated school. It is NOT a design school, it is a fashion business school. You guys should look it up. I recently made a visit to FIT, Parsons, and LIM, and to my surpeise I ended liking LIM the most, which was my 3rd choice before. Its a very small school of about 1,300 students. About 18 to a class which means great one-on-one with teachers. Its located in the heart of Midtown right near all the shops of Park Ave! What I like most about it is the internship program. Unlike other schools, internships are started freshman year, and are a requirement! Which means by the time of graduation, a student will have 8 internship experiences on their resumes! (2 internships a year). I am so looking forward to going to this school :)
A relative of mine who died a couple of years ago studied fashion design at Pratt in the 50s, so I wonder how “up-and-coming” this program is.
The school is my school. The Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
Remember, ALL FASHION is PR!!!!!!! There is a PR machine behind these schools getting the press.