Fashion Design Schools and Fashion Design Colleges

If you've got an inner spark for style and fashion design and are driven to enter the fashion industry, then enrolling in a top fashion school or top fashion design college is the best place to start; people aren't simply born with innate ability in fashion and style, but learn techniques and skills necessary to express their styles and visions. Therefore, choosing the best fashion school for your needs is a very important step towards having a fulfilling career in fashion design.

One of the key characteristics found in most fashion designers or those in the fashion industry is that they are unique; it is also important to choose a fashion school or fasihon design college that fits your unique profile, be it that you want to study fashion design in a small setting close to home, in a big fashion design mecca, or even in a foreign language. It can be said that the only thing fashion designers fear is being boring!

The curricula at fashion design schools and top fashion design colleges integrate the constantly changing face of the fashion design industry and fashion community with necessary, conventional, and practical skills -- providing a well-rounded background to fashion design novices as well as those who are more experienced in the field. Students at top fashion design schools study a combination of traditional techniques and computer-based fashion design, fashion pattern drafting, manufacturing and more. Doing so allows them to stay current with the latest innovations in the field of fashion design and fashion merchandising.

Most top fashion design schools offer fashion design programs that balance the education of traditional design skills - such as sewing, schematics and computer-based design, fabric printing, pattern drafting and manufacturing, use of textiles - with the changing trends and standards of the fashion industry. To gain an entry-level position within the fashion industry, students will work to create a fashion design portfolio showcasing their best work. Additionally, some fashion students will select to take study tours to top design meccas such as New York, Milan,and Paris for a first-hand look at the fashion industry at its very best.

Fashion begins with the designer's vision which is brought to paper and worked through multiple drafts. Once a final sketch is made the designer must consider the different materials and textures available and anticipate how the piece will fall on a three-dimensional body. After the material has been selected, the pattern is cut from the cloth and sewn together. Finally, after many incarnations and considerations the designer's vision has been brought to life.

Fashion designers are people with a desire to create both innovative and interesting designs; they are the artists and creative individuals at the heart of the fashion industry. Designers combine practical knowledge with artistic ability to turn abstract ideas into formal fashion designs for the merchandise we buy, the publications we read, the clothes we wear, and the offices and living spaces we inhabit. Some high-fashion designers are self-employed and design for individual clients. They make news by establishing the silhouette, colors, and kinds of materials that will be worn each season. Other self-employed, high-fashion designers cater to specialty stores or high-fashion department stores. They design original garments as well as follow the established fashion trends. Designers who work for apparel manufacturers do less original work; they adapt fashions set by other fashion and apparel designers for the mass market.

Fashion Designers perform the following tasks:

• Sketch their ideas;
• Draw and cut patterns to create sample garments;
• Select fabric and trimmings;
• Combine basic dressmaking and tailoring principles with flat pattern work and draping techniques;
• Fit and modify the finished garment;
• Arrange showings for press and buyers when the sample garment line is ready;
• Compare merchandise with those of the competitors;
• Keep current on trends by reading trade magazines and attending fashion shows;
• Visit textile showrooms to keep up to date on latest fabrics.

According to statistics as of April 2007, the median expected salary for a typical fashion designer in the United States is $41,991, with the lower 25% salary at $34,967 and the upper 75% salary being $51,674.