Educating Thinking Designers for Fashion’s Future

CCA’s Fashion Design students are trained to be the innovators of tomorrow. Our alumni are praised for excelling in their discipline and applying their talents in a wide variety of capacities from large and small design houses to artisan cooperatives in the United States and abroad.

Our innovative program weaves time-honored skills of fashion practice (draping, pattern cutting, sewing, knitting, and illustration) with a comprehensive approach to sustainability, conceptual fashion design, and interdisciplinary thinking. The program fosters creativity, curiosity, and innovation, as expressed in the individual senior thesis collections.

Fashion Design Resources

• The Boyce Fashion Design Studio on the San Francisco campus is fully equipped for developing the craft of fashion—from draping and patternmaking to sewing and knitting.

• The New Materials Resource Center offers a comprehensive and interdisciplinary collection of resources with an emphasis on sustainability and alternative materials.

• The San Francisco campus is also home to a state-of-the-art rapid prototyping facility that provides seam-welding machinery and kick presses to help actualize garments for the future.

Curriculum

To expand the collaborative studio practice, students are encouraged to take advantage of the college’s interdisciplinary studio courses offered among the 20 undergraduate programs. The program culminates with the creation of individualized senior collections and exit portfolios, as well as a group runway show each spring. (Read the college press release and be sure to bookmark the Senior Fashion Show page, too.)

The Fashion Design Program’s curriculum incorporates studio lectures, guest speakers, field trips, juried reviews, and the Design and Craft Lecture Series, which delivers national designers and business leaders right here on campus.

Industry Leaders on a Global Scale

Internships and graduate career opportunities are readily available on the local, national, and international fashion stage. In addition to joining some of America’s most-recognized fashion firms—Ralph Lauren, Narciso Rodriguez, Thom Browne, Isabel Toledo, DKNY, Jones of NY, J.Crew, Abercrombie & Fitch, Levis, Gap, Mountain Hardwear, The North Face, Athleta, Tea Collection, and Gymboree—Fashion Design alumni have successfully founded their own companies, set up programs to aid artisans, and applied design innovation to transform industrial waste into a valuable resource (Pratibha Syntex, Global Action Through Fashion).

Awards & Accolades

CCA’s Fashion Design Program is one of just 15 schools in the United States to participate and place in the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) Scholarship competitions. Our students compete and place in prestigious competitions worldwide, including the Fashioning the Future competition in the United Kingdom, Metropolis magazine’s Next Generation competition, and New Zealand’s World of Wearable Art.

Please join program chair Amy Williams and the Fashion Design faculty in following your dreams to become one of tomorrow’s inspired designers who will ignite global change in the fashion industry.