RISD Undergraduate Degrees - BFA: Apparel Design

Recognizing that designers need the requisite technical skills to function effectively as professionals, Apparel Design at RISD prepares students to meet the highest requirements of the fashion industry. The program takes you through each stage of the design process as you create everything from functional to experimental clothing. Technical classes proceed from basic to advanced pattern drafting, draping and construction, and incorporate the use of computers as tools for designing and rendering apparel.

Placing a high value on individuality, Apparel professors assign a broad range of studio projects aimed at helping to develop your distinctive abilities as a designer. You will also visit New York's fashion district and, as a senior, will be given the opportunity to intern for six weeks at a major fashion house.

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• Intro to Apparel Studio (fall)
• Apparel Studio (spring)
• Design/Draw (fall/spring)
• Liberal Arts electives (fall/spring)
• Wintersession course (winter)

Sophomores
In the first year of the program, you will learn to translate your ideas into viable garments through drawing, pattern-making and sewing. Materials explorations are emphasized through an "innovatives" project in which you create a wearable garment from alternative materials of your own choice (tea bags, leaves, sticks, trash bags, balloons, etc.).

• Machine Knitwear Studio (fall)
• Cut and Sew Studio (fall)
• Tailoring Studio (spring)
• Design/Draw (fall/spring)
• Liberal Arts electives (fall/spring)
• Wintersession course (winter)

Juniors
As a junior, you will focus on knitwear and tailoring, creating fully fashioned machine-knit garments, along with tailored work as a means of exploring structure and innovative form through the use of traditional tailoring techniques.

• Senior Collection Development (fall)
• Thesis Collection Development (spring)
• Liberal Arts electives (fall/spring)
• Wintersession course (winter)

Seniors
In your final year, you will design and create a collection featuring a coat, and will intern at a design house in New York. You will also create a senior thesis collection that epitomizes your personal aesthetic and utilizes all of your creative and technical skills. You will present this work in a juried runway show choreographed with imagery, music and words that complement the look and feel of the garments.