Students in the Fashion, Dress and Merchandising (FDM) program explore a broad view of the fashion industry and all the career opportunities it has to offer. From textile production, product design, sourcing, and manufacturing, to retail merchandising and consumer behavior, students learn to appreciate and understand the complexity and dynamism of the modern fashion supply chain. Students may pursue a Fashion Merchandising or a Fashion Design Area of Emphasis (AOE); both curricula consist of a minimum of 120 credit hours. The Fashion Merchandising Area of Emphasis includes a minor (selected by the student with guidance from their advisor) in either Advertising, Journalism, Public Relations, Strategic Social Media, Event Planning, Entrepreneurship, General Business, Marketing, or Professional Sales.
FDM students are encouraged to seek summer employment in the fashion industry in order to gain experience and integrate coursework into business settings. Both AOEs require a 6-credit-hour internship - typically completed in the summer, between junior and senior year - in which students apply textile, apparel, and/or merchandising subject matter with mentorship in a professional setting.
Program Opportunities
FDM students may elect to participate in a faculty-led, study abroad summer program to observe the textile, apparel, and retail industries in Italy, preferably in the summer after freshman or sophomore year. This 6-credit-hour program, Disegno Italia, has established connections with fashion schools in Milan, the design capital of Italy. An elective fashion study tour to New York enables students to observe fashion industry and retail sites, view historic costume displays and collections, and network with graduates of the FDM program.
Students are encouraged to enter design and research competitions and exhibitions sponsored by industry, professional societies, and the University. A student organization, the Fashion Business Association, enriches the student experience by bringing working professionals to campus to share their experiences and providing students with opportunities to develop their leadership skills.
Career Opportunities
All FDM graduates are prepared for entry-level positions in the fashion industry. Positions in the field include buying, allocation/planning, store/brand/social-media/omni-channel management, e-commerce, visual merchandising, product development, fashion promotion, sales, sourcing/logistics, design, and creative direction. Several graduates have also successfully launched their own small business. Executive training programs and externship opportunities offered by fashion companies may offer additional training for advanced placement in a career.
Our students have been successful in gaining admission to graduate school in areas such as historic costume and textiles, social psychology of dress, apparel design, textile design, merchandising, and business. With additional study at the graduate level, students may secure positions with fiber and fabric producers, museums that exhibit and preserve textiles and apparel, colleges and universities, and in upper-level apparel business management. The opportunities are many and the employment possibilities varied.
Fashion, Dress and Merchandising
Fashion, Dress and Merchandising programs vision is to develop creative, knowledgeable, and effective professionals who are able to contribute to organizations in the global textile and apparel complex and to society, and who are able to continue to grow personally and professionally following graduation. Upon graduation from the FDM program at WVU, students will be able to demonstrate the following knowledge and skills:
1. INDUSTRY PROCESSES, including the ability to:
- Understand and apply knowledge about the roles and functions of various industry sectors in which products are developed, produced, marketed, sold, and consumed, including construction, sourcing, manufacturing, marketing, and merchandising processes.
- Identify and interpret needs and wants of consumers and how industry processes are applied to plan, develop, produce, communicate, and sell profitable product lines.
- Evaluate product quality, serviceability, and regulatory compliance standards.
- Use industry terminology in appropriate ways.
- Understand social, economic, and political boundaries as they relate to the diffusion of products, services, and ideas.
2. APPEARANCE AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR, including the ability to:
- Apply theories, concepts, and research regarding appearance and human behavior to industry and societal problems.
- Understand and apply knowledge about the role of dress as it reflects and shapes intra and inter-cultural interactions.
- Understand and apply knowledge about the interrelationships among historical, sociocultural, and psychological factors of dress and their impact on human behavior, including the effects of life stages, change across time, and culture.
3. AESTHETICS AND THE DESIGN PROCESS, including the ability to:
- Understand and apply knowledge about aesthetics and the design process in relation to dress and appearance management.
- Use the design process to create products that meet marketplace needs.
- Understand how aesthetics and the design process can support quality of life, social responsibility, and sustainability
- Relate the elements and principles of design to product development, use, and evaluation.
- Understand the role of historical, socio-cultural, and psychological factors in aesthetic expression.
4. GLOBAL INTERDEPENDENCE, including the ability to:
- Understand how dynamic and diverse political, cultural, and economic systems impact industry processes.
- Understand how theoretical perspectives on markets, trade, and economic development can be applied to historical and current data on production, consumption, and disposal of products.
5. ETHICS, SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, AND SUSTAINABILITY, including the ability to:
- Identify and evaluate issues of social responsibility, professional behavior, and ethics related to the impact of individual, organizational, and corporate decision making.
- Analyze and evaluate issues related to environmental sustainability and environmental impact as they relate to industry activities and processes.
6. CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING, including the ability to:
- Demonstrate critical and creative thinking skills, including the ability to critically evaluate and compare diverse perspectives.
- Identify and understand social, cultural, economic, technological, ethical, political, educational, language, and individual influences on industry issues.
- Apply quantitative and qualitative skills to problem solving within the textile and apparel complex.
- Use appropriate technology to facilitate critical, creative, quantitative, and qualitative thinking within the textile and apparel complex.
7. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, including the ability to:
- Communicate ideas in written, oral, and visual forms using appropriate technology.
- Function as team members and leaders within professional and culturally diverse environments.
- Demonstrate the ability to critique oneself and others constructively.
- Apply career planning concepts and job search strategies to the diverse industry opportunities.
These competencies are incorporated across the FDM program curriculum. Students are introduced to these learning goals incrementally as they progress from entry-level courses to and including the capstone internship.
