The Fashion Design program at Drexel University's Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design educates and trains visionary designers to use an integrated approach toward the creation of contemporary fashion within the context of an expanding, yet converging, global economy and society. Through a series of courses offered freshman year, students will explore the challenges facing our industry and learn how to implement inclusive, responsible, and sustainable solutions in their design process. The fusion of art, design, science, and technology serves as a springboard for the production of unique apparel for the 21st century, and represents a transdisciplinary approach that requires flexibility and focus. Over the past two decades, Drexel's Fashion Design program has developed a stellar, international reputation and is ranked in the top four nationally and 14th worldwide. That is due, in part, to a passionate and experienced faculty, novel approaches to pedagogy, and participation in national and international competitions. Faculty and alumni connections to industry leaders strongly augment and catalyze the program, the strength of which is closely linked to the philosophy that each student has a distinct vision and a unique aesthetic that must be cultivated on an individual basis.
Students have 24-hour access to state-of-the-art studios including CLO-3D virtual garment simulation, CLO-3D pattern making, Shima Seiki Apex design technology, and automated knitwear machines. The Shima Seiki Fashion Knitting Lab, located on third floor of the URBN Center, features the latest equipment for the design, simulation, and production of fully fashioned knitwear. Students can engage in collaborative University-wide research through the use of the Drexel University Center for Functional Fabrics and the Hybrid Making Lab located on the URBN Center's first floor. They acquire detailed knowledge about industrial productions, advanced technologies in design, collaborative design, materials and processes, and the marketing and merchandising of clothing in this maker focused program.
Accordingly, our future fashion designers, both undergraduates and graduates alike, develop an intuitive and practical understanding of design through a fine arts foundation, while studying the psychological, social, and historical contexts of fashion through the world-renowned Robert and Penny Fox Historic Costume Collection (FHCC). Importantly, the students are provided with commercial studio/atelier training that goes hand in hand with classroom instruction through the University's cooperative education program. Cooperative education offers invaluable opportunities for students to observe and participate in the fashion industry at the ground level. Critiques by visiting professionals are included in all upper level courses and provide valuable "real world" input as well as future career connections. A large percentage of students spend a term studying abroad in the world's great fashion capitals, including London, England and Florence, Italy. Students can also choose from a range of intensive courses abroad (ICA) such as Drexel's Fashion Break in South Korea: Korean Fashion Industry. Upon graduation, students show their capstone senior thesis collections in the annual professional juried fashion show.
For more information about this major, visit the College's Fashion Design page.