Fashion Design

NYSED: 38535 CIP: 50.0407

The 60-credit Fashion Design MFA program is a two-year, full-time program that invites students to embark on a highly mentored personal journey into their own ideas and philosophies around fashion and design. They are encouraged and supported to innovate in design, fit, cut, construction, silhouette, and materiality, all with intention and meaning. Students are required to reflect with critical distance on their own work as well as contribute as an active participant in the critique space in a collaborative studio environment to gain new perspectives on their own ideas, concepts, philosophies, and ideologies, and to give feedback and insight to others on theirs.

Upon graduating from this program, students will have gained a new level of design fluency and creative confidence, a mastery of their own specialized design practice, and an understanding of their place as a maker and influencer in fashion history/futures. Graduates leave the program prepared to make a positive impact as industry professionals by working within existing fashion companies, launching their own brands, teaching or continuing study at the MPhil or PhD level.

Curriculum below is for the entering class of fall 2025.

CATHLEEN SHEEHAN, Chair
cathleen_sheehan@fitnyc.edu
fitnyc.edu/fashion-design-mfa

Semester 1
MF 502	Thesis Idea and Play	3
MF 503	Fashion Creation I: Advanced Technical Design	3
MF 504	Design Communication I: Visual Explanations	2
MF 505	The Fashion Activist	3
MF 507	Pattern Recognition	3
Semester 2
MF 523	Thesis Focus and Edit	3
MF 525	Design Communication II: Image Capture	2
MF 526	Fashion Design Legacies	3
MF 601	Fashion Creation II: Design Archaeology	3
MF 603	Business I: Brand Marketing and Finance	3
Summer Session
MF 602	International Making Seminar II: Fashion Farming	3
Semester 3
MF 522	Fashion Creation III: Collection Production	3
MF 604	Design Communication III: Portfolio Curation	3
MF 605	Thesis Realization	3
MF 607	Fashion Showcase Strategy and Planning	3
MF 628	Business II: Supply Chain Production and Retail	3
Semester 4
MF 606	Professional Development Seminar	3
MF 626	Thesis Conclude	3
MF 627	Collection Campaign	3
MF 629	Final Portfolio	3
MF 630	Fashion Showcase Seminar	2
Total Credits		60

COMMON REQUIREMENTS

All degree programs require that students maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 every semester while enrolled in the program. A student is placed on probation if his or her semester GPA is below 3.0. A student is not subject to academic dismissal at the end of his or her first semester in a degree program. A student will be dismissed from the college after two consecutive semesters with a GPA below 3.0. A final GPA of 3.0 is required for graduation.

ADVANCEMENT TO DEGREE CANDIDACY

Eligibility to Attend Commencement Exercises

Candidates for the master’s degree at FIT must have advanced to candidacy before being permitted to attend graduation ceremonies.

Degree Requirements

General

For admittance to degree candidacy, students must have satisfied all outstanding prerequisites, completed a minimum of 60 approved course credits, achieved a final grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0, and had their qualifying paper proposal approved by their committee. Students must have advanced to degree candidacy before being permitted to attend graduation ceremonies.

International Seminars

Every student in the Master of Fine Arts Fashion Design degree program is required to complete an international seminar. It is recommended that students budget approximately $6,000 in addition to fees for the international seminar MF 602. These figures are approximate and may vary. Additional administration fees may also be required.

Courses

MF 501 — Thesis Idea

2 credits; 1 lecture and 2 lab hours

An intensive orientation course for the Masters of Fashion Design program. Provides the opportunity to engage in workshops, roundtable discussions and mentoring sessions to explore the IDEA students proposed in their program applications. The primary focus is to facilitate the process whereby students explore personal inspirations and concepts differently.

MF 502 — Thesis Idea and Play

3 credits; 6 lab hours

This course employs practice-based research methodology that combines creative and academic research practices to support innovative and sustainable fashion design thesis development through scholarly investigation, artistic expression, and experimentation (play). Students begin developing their thesis collection through a series of creative design explorations and informed contextualization of their work.

MF 503 — Fashion Creation I: Advanced Technical Design

3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours

In this course students explore advanced design and production resources available to them at FIT. An induction to specialty equipment and techniques will allow students to utilize these tools to innovate and create prototypes. Advanced technical design and making direction will be tailored to individual student thesis research.

MF 504 — Design Communication I: Visual Explanations

2 credits; 1 lecture and 2 lab hours

This course, the first of three in the series focused on Design Communication, will explore various analog and digital tools that a designer can utilize to communicate ideas quickly and efficiently to explain thought processes and/or design ideas and solutions to others.

MF 505 — The Fashion Activist

3 credits; 3 lecture hours

Requires students to challenge the accepted and traditional methodologies within the fashion system. Asks students to question every step of the process: from inspiration to sample-making and production to sales and marketing.

MF 506 — International Making Seminar I - Fashion Institute of Technology Investigates FIT

3 credits; 6 lab hours

Students investigate a wide-range of body types in real- life situations and examine an individual’s needs. Students observe body in motion and discover how fit and function interact with design. The focus of the two-week making seminar is experiential learning, which includes onsite research, exploration and making in London and Paris.

MF 507 — Pattern Recognition

3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours

First-year students will explore advanced creative pattern making using both digital and traditional methods. An integral and technical part of the design process, pattern making can also be approached more creatively. Experimental approaches to cutting and pattern making can result in innovative designs. Students will be encouraged to formulate a unique approach to patternmaking, while considering practical methods related to pattern creation and workflow.

MF 522 — Fashion Creation III: Collection Production

3 credits; 6 lab hours

This course focuses on production planning, making, and craftsmanship of individual thesis collections consisting of eight looks. Students will employ industrial and artisanal methods to achieve high craftsmanship standards. Focus is on best production processes, most appropriate and innovative construction techniques, professional finishing, sustainable design practices and quality control.
Prerequisite(s): MF 503.
Corequisite(s): MF 605.

MF 523 — Thesis Focus and Edit

3 credits; 6 lab hours

In this course students will finalize thesis collection design and fully prototype all looks. Students will also fine tune their line ups, create technicals, develop customer analysis, and allocate final fabrics and materials. Emphasis will be placed on muslin fittings, details, sustainable design practices and preparing for final production.
Prerequisite(s): MF 502.

MF 524 — craft:OLOGY

3 credits; 3 lecture hours

Provides an examination of fashion/textile/production history. Students explore the relationship between hand and machine, and question the link between technology and fashion. Key innovations in textiles and fibers, clothing manufacturing, and surface embellishments from the past, present and future are analyzed.

MF 525 — Design Communication II: Image Capture

2 credits; 1 lecture and 2 lab hours

Photographers, filmmakers, stylists, models and producers are vital industry contributors to present, document, archive and help promote fashion designs. Students engage with the many ways creative innovators have used imagery to capture and create significant moments in fashion. The class focuses on creative direction and the process of capturing images.
Prerequisite(s): MF 504.

MF 526 — Fashion Design Legacies

3 credits; 3 lecture hours

This course familiarizes students with the design hallmarks, business innovations, and cultural movements that transformed dressmakers into icons while exploring the role of museums, archives, and libraries in preserving their legacies. Students also develop skills in image research, citing their sources, oral and written communication, and formatting papers.

MF 531 — Special Topics in Fashion Design MFA

0 credits

MF 531A — Special Topic: Fashion in TRANS-FORM-LATION

3 credits; 3 lecture hours

Like Fashion the English language has many dialects, accents and diverse slang. Communication can often be complex, even more so when communicating to those from other countries. This course focuses on and explores Translation and Mis-Translation as a design tool.

MF 531B — Special Topics in Fashion Design MFA: Pattern Recognition

3 credits; 3 lecture hours

In this course students will explore creative pattern making via object abstraction: cutting, slashing, adding, distorting, twisting, spreading, enlarging, and articulating using visual pattern recognition. This course uses reflective studies, (P·C·S-Mirror World) of culture and society, print and surface/decoration, design/materiality and pattern-cutting/sample-making and fashion, through which to externalize and understand one’s own SELF as a creative.

MF 592 — Independent Study for MFA in Fashion Design

1-3 credit

Prerequisite(s): Approval of instructor, chairperson, and dean for Graduate Studies.

MF 601 — Fashion Creation II: Design Archaeology

3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours

Using the lens of an archaeologist, students examine and analyze the artifacts of material culture and environmental data. Artifacts will be utilized as the starting point from which to design two contemporary collections of clothes. Will also examine intellectual property in fashion, appropriation, and plagiarism through design.
Prerequisite(s): MF 503.

MF 602 — International Making Seminar II: Fashion Farming

3 credits; 3 lecture hours

Local fashion systems are compared to distant manufacturing systems. Students travel to diverse local and global communities to examine the complexities of “fast” (Factory Farming) vs. “slow” (Free Range Farming) global fashion production systems.

MF 603 — Business I: Brand Marketing and Finance

3 credits; 3 lecture hours

Students learn to develop a fashion brand marketing strategy using traditional methods and interactive technologies. The fundamentals of financial planning and reporting, with a focus on merchandise planning and buying introduce students to brand marketing communications and finances.

MF 604 — Design Communication III: Portfolio Curation

3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours

In this course students create their own personal way of building a comprehensive portfolio of work. Projects will be evaluated and curated into a readable 2D space with a primary focus of researching and creating a simple yet thoughtful and methodical order and format.
Prerequisite(s): MF 525.

MF 605 — Thesis Realization

3 credits; 6 lab hours

In this course, students fully realize their thesis collections of eight fully-fabricated looks that successfully communicate individual thesis concepts. Emphasis is placed on innovation and originality, refinement of design ideas, sustainability, research documentation, fashion fabric fittings on a model to evaluate fit and design, collection production, and thesis research completion.
Prerequisite(s): MF 523.
Corequisite(s): MF 522.

MF 606 — Professional Development Seminar

3 credits; 3 lecture hours

A three-credit advanced professional development course to help graduate students chart their fashion design career paths, market themselves effectively, and transition successfully into the workforce. Class sessions and workshops are complemented by experiential learning or other special research projects, as selected by the student based on their individual professional goals, in consultation with the course faculty member.

MF 607 — Fashion Showcase Strategy and Planning

3 credits; 3 lecture hours

Students explore the history and evolution of fashion showcases and plan for their own group fashion showcase taking place in the final semester. Through a series of expert guest lectures and projects, students delve into fashion showcase production, budgeting, creative direction, sponsorship, model casting, beauty, music, media relations and sustainability.
Prerequisite(s): MF 523.

MF 626 — Thesis Conclude

3 credits; 6 lab hours

Students will finalize their thesis collection looks for their fashion showcase. Furthermore, students will author their thesis papers to fully document and articulate their research, context, development and outcomes. They will also deliver oral presentations to an industry panel with a display of their collections to finalize thesis research.
Prerequisite(s): MF 605.

MF 627 — Collection Campaign

3 credits; 2 lecture and 2 lab hours

During the course, students will conceptualize, plan and produce individual photo shoots to create collection campaigns with editorial and lookbook photography as well as brand fashion videos. Topics covered will include art direction, budgeting, location scouting, models, photographers, team members, hair, makeup, styling, lighting, time management, production and editing.
Prerequisite(s): MF 604 and MF 605.

MF 628 — Business II: Supply Chain Production and Retail

3 credits; 3 lecture hours

Students learn to recognize the complex processes at play in organizing, managing and supporting an apparel and/or accessories brand from sourcing and manufacturing to distribution and sales. Three key business areas: 1) supply chain, 2) production, and 3) distribution/retail, are analyzed.
Prerequisite(s): MF 603.

MF 629 — Final Portfolio

3 credits; 3 lecture hours

Students incorporate their completed thesis collection work into their portfolios and curate their final physical and digital portfolios. They also create business cards and a personal graphic style to present themselves professionally in the industry. Professional websites are also designed and constructed during the course.
Prerequisite(s): MF 604 and MF 605.

MF 630 — Fashion Showcase Seminar

2 credits; 1 lecture and 2 lab hours

Students collaborate to create a group fashion showcase of their final thesis collections for an audience of industry professionals and media. The showcase format may be a runway show, presentation, exhibition or digital release. Sessions focus on collection preparation, media, production, models, accessories, styling, music and beauty direction.
Prerequisite(s): MF 607.

MF 692 — Independent Study for MFA in Fashion Design

1-3 credit

Prerequisite(s): Approval of instructor, chairperson, and dean for Graduate Studies.