The North American Cowboy Boot is an iconic symbol of cultural individualism and strength of character that bridges design, making, function, and fashion. The boot itself is at heart a functional object, a work tool, whose construction techniques have remained unchanged since the late 1800s. This complex and sophisticated traditional art is kept current largely by artisanal apprenticeships and a patterning template system that circumvents the highly technical footwear pattern making more typical in industry footwear production.

In this course students will measure their own feet, adapt boot lasts to their measurements – the forms around which we build boots - draft/cut/sew uppers, and then join all the components together and sole the boots. This is a complex, labor-intensive hands-on process requiring dedicated attendance and out-of-class work. The result will be a pair of bespoke, one-of-a-kind leather boots individualized to the students’ size and design.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $85.00

Elective

Shirt Design introduces students to a multitude a ways to develop a shirt collection. 

Students will be encouraged to develop a greater understanding of materials and construction techniques, which can be applied in a wide range of creative projects spanning from product design to fine arts. 

The class will focus on the fundamentals of draping and drafting techniques, providing students with sewing skills by hand and with the machine. 

Students are encouraged to bring personal interests and ideas to this vigorous, technical and creative class that will be concludes with a presentation of the final shirt project. 

Elective

The Professional Portfolio: Fashion Design elective is a 12-week course focused on the development of the professional portfolio for the practice of fashion design and related disciplines. The course is focused on the development of a unique design identity through art direction, graphic design, typography, layout, formatting and material choices – finalized within a clearly structured modular physical portfolio. As one of the keys to a successful professional portfolio the course focuses on developing a distinct and clear structure in the communication of the process in design. The course includes various lectures and demos focused on navigational systems in layout, format and graphic design, image placement, InDesign, art-direction and presentation strategies with the professional portfolios. This course is recommended to students that have interest in pursuing postgraduate education and/or entering the industry of fashion design and relates fields. 

Elective

Concept to Clothing is a 3-credit elective undergraduate studio course open to undergraduate and graduate students (with the approval of faculty member Meg DeCubellis) who seek to learn the fundamental and technical principles of garment development, construction and design. This is a critical making studio which will focus on basic garment making for prototypes as well as supporting individual projects to be worn on the body. Students are expected to show evidence of physical making throughout this course while developing a deeper relationship to making clothing. Students will also tour local factories to witness the making of varying quantities of garments. A professional studio practice will filter through skill building in the areas of construction, draping, pattern making, garment development, fitting, industrial machine skills, and hand sewing techniques. The development process will include conceptualization, creating specifications, fabricating iterative prototypes, conducting supplier and material research to support each student’s thesis of study. Students are expected to have a project in mind which can be something that they have started to develop in their major. Because class discussion and participation is at the heart of this course, you are required to be in class for all demos and meetings which will determine a large portion of the final grade. Prior sewing experience is required.

Estimated Material Costs: $150.00 - $300.00

THE FACULTY MEMBER AND THE DEPARTMENT MAY ADJUST THE INFORMATION LISTED IN THIS SYLLABUS AND COURSE OUTLINE THROUGHOUT THE SEMESTER. THE AIM ALWAYS BEING TO BETTER SERVE STUDENTS BASED ON STUDIO PROGRESS, PERFORMANCE AND UNFORESEEN CONDITIONS.

Elective

Concept to Clothing is a 3 credit elective undergraduate studio course open to undergraduate and graduate students who seek to learn the fundamental and technical principles of garment development, construction and design. This is a critical making studio which will focus on basic garment making for prototypes as well as supporting individual projects to be worn on the body. Students are expected to show evidence of physical making throughout this course while developing a deeper relationship to making clothing. Students will also tour local factories to witness the making of varying quantities of garments. A professional studio practice will filter through skill building in the areas of construction, draping, pattern making, garment development, fitting, industrial machine skills, and hand sewing techniques. The development process will include conceptualization, creating specifications, fabricating iterative prototypes, conducting supplier and material research to support each student’s thesis of study. Students are expected to have a project in mind which can be something that they have started to develop in their major. Because class discussion and participation is at the heart of this course, you are required to be in class for all demos and meetings which will determine a large portion of the final grade.

Prior sewing experience is suggested.

THE FACULTY MEMBER AND THE DEPARTMENT MAY ADJUST THE INFORMATION LISTED IN THIS SYLLABUS AND COURSE OUTLINE THROUGHOUT THE SEMESTER. THE AIM ALWAYS BEING TO BETTER SERVE STUDENTS BASED ON STUDIO PROGRESS, PERFORMANCE AND UNFORESEEN CONDITIONS.

Estimated Material Costs: $150.00 - $300.00

Elective

This studio-elective course will follow a series of twelve lectures given at the South Kensington Museum as published in P.L. Simmonds, Animal Products. This seminal work served as a compilation of the trade exhibition collections from the 1851 Crystal Palace exposition that eventually served as the seed for the collections of the South Kensington Museum and finally the Branch Museum of the Department at Bethnal Green. These collections laid the foundation for much of the Victoria and Albert Museum collections (V&A) that in turn influenced the creation of RISD and the RISD Museum in 1877. This course will examine design and fashion, naturalist journals, and literature as a means to develop the students design vocabulary and materials palate. Students will compare the tastes and techniques of the Victorian era to contemporary design practices, with case studies of designers utilizing the natural world as a resource and source for design. Weekly lectures will introduce students to artists and designers of the 19th century and compare them to contemporary artists and designers. These introductory lectures will be paired each week with a specific material examination and hand-on exploration via materials demonstrations and a sample notebook. We will engage in readings, group discussions, critique of student Naturalist Journals, materials demonstrations, and examine historic and contemporary Museum objects within each theme material. Field trips to the RISD Museum will be augmented by visits to the Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab, RISD Materials library, The Providence Athenaeum, The Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology at Brown University, The New Bedford Whaling Museum, and The Museum of Natural History, Roger Williams Park.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $20.00

Elective

Who Wears the Pants? This course is about trousers - their function, fit, design and development. You will learn how to design and execute custom made trousers by recording and calculating key body measurements to draft, construct and fit a basic pants sloper. Students will acquire skills to manipulate the basic sloper into a variety of styles through pattern drafting exercises integrating trouser shapes and silhouettes, pockets, waistbands, openings, and design details. Classes and individual tutorials cover the development of bespoke trousers from concept to execution. You will gain a better understanding of the apparel design and creative problem solving processes, pattern drafting techniques using metric and imperial measurements, laying out and cutting fabric, constructing a basic trouser, fitting diverse body types, constructing a fly front opening and pockets; including tutorials focused on resolving individual trouser designs. Experience in garment construction recommended. Advanced sewing skills are necessary to take this course.

Elective

NASA's Artemis 2025 Lunar mission aims to return U.S. astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972 - when the Apollo 17 mission first landed there. This time, it will not be only men making the journey, as NASA has promised a lunar moondust walk for the first woman and the first person of color. As part of this historic endeavor, NASA is redesigning the spacesuit for the first time in 40 years to accommodate Women and meet the challenges of lunar exploration.

Spacesuits, essential for survival in the harsh environment of outer space, are meticulously engineered to shield astronauts from dangers such as radiation, micrometeoroids, extreme temperatures, and dust. An EVA Suit, or Extra-Vehicular Activity suit, is a marvel of engineering and design, essentially a miniature spaceship tailored to fit the human form, providing life support and mobility in the vacuum of space.

In this interdisciplinary course, students will delve into the intricacies of spacesuit design and technology. Leveraging CLO3D, a cutting-edge fashion design software specializing in 'true-to-life' 3D garment simulation, students will reimagine and redesign NASA's next-generation EVA Suit. Through collaborative projects, teams will conceptualize, pattern, and 3D model innovative spacesuit designs, addressing the unique needs of future lunar explorers.

Students will venture into the metaverse, exploring space in virtual reality using Oculus Quest headsets. Immersed in simulated environments such as the International Space Station, taking Space Walks, and viewing images taken by the Hubble Telescope, students will gain firsthand experience of space exploration. Gravity Sketch, a collaborative VR design tool, will facilitate the creation of the Hard Upper Torso (HUT) in a collaborative VR space, integrating soft designs crafted in CLO.

Drawing from critical design methodologies and informed by research, students will negotiate the complexities of spacesuit design, balancing functionality, mobility, and aesthetics. At the culmination of the course, students will present their finalized spacesuit designs to NASA, contributing to the ongoing evolution of spacesuit technology.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $40.00

Elective

NASA's Artemis 2025 Lunar mission aims to return U.S. astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972 - when the Apollo 17 mission first landed there. This time, it will not be only men making the journey, as NASA has promised a lunar moondust walk for the first woman and the first person of color. As part of this historic endeavor, NASA is redesigning the spacesuit for the first time in 40 years to accommodate Women and meet the challenges of lunar exploration.

Spacesuits, essential for survival in the harsh environment of outer space, are meticulously engineered to shield astronauts from dangers such as radiation, micrometeoroids, extreme temperatures, and dust. An EVA Suit, or Extra-Vehicular Activity suit, is a marvel of engineering and design, essentially a miniature spaceship tailored to fit the human form, providing life support and mobility in the vacuum of space.

In this interdisciplinary course, students will delve into the intricacies of spacesuit design and technology. Leveraging CLO3D, a cutting-edge fashion design software specializing in 'true-to-life' 3D garment simulation, students will reimagine and redesign NASA's next-generation EVA Suit. Through collaborative projects, teams will conceptualize, pattern, and 3D model innovative spacesuit designs, addressing the unique needs of future lunar explorers.

 Students will venture into the metaverse, exploring space in virtual reality using Oculus Quest headsets. Immersed in simulated environments such as the International Space Station, taking Space Walks, and viewing images taken by the Hubble Telescope, students will gain firsthand experience of space exploration. Gravity Sketch, a collaborative VR design tool, will facilitate the creation of the Hard Upper Torso (HUT) in a collaborative VR space, integrating soft designs crafted in CLO.

Drawing from critical design methodologies and informed by research, students will negotiate the complexities of spacesuit design, balancing functionality, mobility, and aesthetics. At the culmination of the course, students will present their finalized spacesuit designs to NASA, contributing to the ongoing evolution of spacesuit technology.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $40.00

Elective

Dressed bodies, is a course conceived to expose students from external departments across RISD campus to a variety of making practices stemming from traditional apparel design practices. Students are expected to bring their current skill set and their apparel related curiosity with the aims of developing a personal project or enhancing apparel related skills. Clothing development, brand, soft-goods development, principles for creating 3 dimensional works around the body from 2 dimensional sketches and patterns as well as basic sewing skills will be covered throughout the body of this course. Principles learned here may be applied to a variety of fine arts processes as well as product design. Students will be encouraged to develop a better understanding of materials and construction techniques while exploring deeper relationships between 2D shape and 3D form. This dynamic, technical and creative class; supports students further understanding of sewing construction and how it directly relates to- and impacts any creative or technical project, ultimately broadening the students understanding of both material properties and essential technical components of fabric construction.

*Components of this class are seminar and self-directed.

Elective

Dressed bodies, is a course conceived to expose students from external departments across RISD campus to a variety of making practices stemming from traditional apparel design practices. Students are expected to bring their current skill set and their apparel related curiosity with the aims of developing a personal project or enhancing apparel related skills. Clothing development, brand, soft-goods development, principles for creating 3 dimensional works around the body from 2 dimensional sketches and patterns as well as basic sewing skills will be covered throughout the body of this course. Principles learned here may be applied to a variety of fine arts processes as well as product design. Students will be encouraged to develop a better understanding of materials and construction techniques while exploring deeper relationships between 2D shape and 3D form. This dynamic, technical and creative class; supports students further understanding of sewing construction and how it directly relates to- and impacts any creative or technical project, ultimately broadening the students understanding of both material properties and essential technical components of fabric construction.

*Components of this class are seminar and self-directed.

Elective

This introductory course lays the foundation for the design process through draping, pattern drafting and construction. Students make basic patterns and proceed with variations to develop pattern making skills and design concepts. Weekly textile seminars introduce students to fibers and yarns, fabric types, properties and uses.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $100.00

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. This course is a requirement for Sophomore Apparel Design Students. 

Major Requirement | BFA Apparel Design

Building on basic techniques taught first semester, students proceed to more complex cuts for bodices, sleeves, skirts and pants through techniques of draping, drafting and construction. One finished garment is required.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $125.00

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. This course is a requirement for Sophomore Apparel Design Students. 

Major Requirement | BFA Apparel Design

This class evolves around an exploration of identity, social identity and fashion, and how clothing might assume responses not only for the wearer but for the audience too. Although some say that appearances are vain, they are also a way for us to divulge and communicate much to the world. Many of our encounters remain in the domain of the visual and there is rarely time or space to facilitate getting to know a person. Looking and seeing therefore, can oftentimes generate assumptions based solely on appearances. These assumptions can be derived from an individual perspective, but more often than not, are formed and dictated by culture and stereotypes.The class will explore individual and social identities through wearables and how ‘They’ relates back to each of us/you. Identity, alter ego and ego will also be investigated as a means to examine the interactions that emerge via visibility and invisibility. Some of the questions that will be explored through research, discussions and collaborative activities.

• Who am I?

• Who would I like to be?

• How might clothing create a mask for a persona?

• How might I construct ideas of myself?

• How might clothing become a means to facilitate an altered experience and/or presence?

The course Sophomore Design: Identity/Identities incorporates 4 stages within the development of the course work and is taught by 2 different faculty that guide and support the progression of work from and within their unique expertise. Each Stage of the course builds of one another consecutively covering the areas or research, concept development, design principles, exploration in 2D and 3D developments and performance.

The course works to open students to experimental and alternative ways of making and presenting a garment, existing outside of industrial standards of mass produced fashion. It aims to unpack and disrupt no- tions of power in the fashion discipline, by allowing students to form an Alter-Ego that empowers them with the communication of their vision and the celebration of their identities.

Alter-Ego

“An alter ego (Latin for “other I”, “doppelgänger”) means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person’s normal or true

original personality. Finding one’s alter ego will require finding one’s other self, one with a different personality. The altered states of the ego may themselves be referred to as alterations. A distinct meaning of alter ego is found in the literary analysis used when referring to fictional literature and other narrative forms, describing a key character in a story who is perceived to be intentionally representative of the work’s author (or creator), by oblique similarities, in terms

“Beyoncé further explained that Sasha Fierce came about in an effort to separate her timid personality from her stage-slaying persona, giving her the courage to be free and seductive while performing. “Sasha Fierce is the fun, more sensual, more aggressive, more outspoken side and more glamorous side that comes out when I’m working and when I’m on the stage,” - Beyonce on Oprah 2008.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $250.00

Majors are pre-registered by the department. This course is a requirement for Sophomore Apparel Design Students. 

Major Requirement | BFA Apparel Design

The design course builds on design process skills from the first semester through assignments that focus on research and its application, conceptual development, and team dynamics. Varied facets of apparel design are explored through lectures, museum research, classroom discussion, and creative exploration.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $150.00

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. This course is a requirement for Sophomore Apparel Design Students. 

Major Requirement | BFA Apparel Design

This course is an introduction to the creative and technical possibilities of the knitting machine. Through the development of knit swatches, the course will cover the following essentials of sweater knit design including graphing, calculating gauge and tension, shaping of a knit body, exploration of a diverse range of knit stitches, professional finishing of a knit garment, and how to select the best yarn to execute your final garment. Students will also develop unique trims and finishes to enhance their designs.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $250.00

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Junior Apparel Design Students. 

Major Requirement | BFA Apparel Design

In Design/Draw II, Junior students focus on designing for knitwear, experimenting three-dimensionally as they explore the unique properties of knit fabrics. Color, texture, yard, and stitch variations are examined as students also design using the diverse properties of machine knitwear. Students build on self-expression and visual communication to place their creative voices firmly at the center of their design.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $200.00

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Junior Apparel Design Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Apparel Design

Students concentrate on designing with 'cut and sew' knit fabric. Through draping with knit fabrics on the form, students learn to utilize the inherent properties of knits. Instruction in 'cut and sew' construction is combined with pattern making techniques, enabling students to execute their concepts as finished garments.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $250.00

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Junior Apparel Design Students. 

Major Requirement | BFA Apparel Design

Students focus on tailoring techniques and the design of tailored apparel. Drafting and classic tailoring techniques are taught and students explore shape and structure through experimentation on the form and creative pattern making. During this process, students use these technical skills to design and execute a jacket and companion piece.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $400.00
 

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Junior Apparel Design Students. 

Major Requirement | BFA Apparel Design

The class explores fashion and gender representations and aims to emphasize content and context in students' design work. Students focus on silhouette, form and proportion as they explore the structural possibilities inherent in the art of tailoring. They will sculpt the torso with original shapes, by inventing either a bolero, a caraco, a coat, a jacket, a manteau, a suit, a tuxedo, or an hybridation, an extrapolation, or a re-invention of these classic tailored garments, thereby creating a piece that defies sartorial codes or costume classification.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $200.00

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Junior Apparel Design Students. 

Major Requirement | BFA Apparel Design