Are you considering a career in the fashion industry? You're in for a rewarding and demanding career. If you want to be well-prepared to enter any sector of fashion, whether it's the design or business side, an education from a reputable institution will undoubtedly be beneficial.
Before we go into the list of best fashion schools, let's talk about why you would want to attend one and how we came up with these rankings.
Because the fashion industry is so competitive, only the best make it. To become a great fashion designer, you need to have a lot of creativity, enthusiasm, dedication, and courage, but you also need to have strong knowledge and design abilities.
This is where fashion design colleges come into play. Studying at an university with a well-established foundation in the fashion and design industries will help you to hone your talents and learn from professors and other industry professionals with years of hands-on experience and insights.
What Exactly Is a Fashion School?
A fashion school provides professional degrees for students who want to work in the fashion business. They frequently provide a variety of majors or specializations.
The most common job path for a fashion degree is design, although there are several additional options available, including: fashion merchandising and buying, Fashion marketing and public relations Fashion production and management Fashion journalism and publication Advertising Fashion technology
A quality fashion course will give hands-on experience in the classroom and on the workplace, as well as numerous internship and career possibilities for both students and alumni.
The System of Ranking:
Ranking lists may be quite helpful if you want to obtain a basic sense of what colleges are available and whether they match your interests and criteria. Many lists have no defined ranking procedure or criteria, and they are not necessarily clear about the rating process.
Although this ranking list should only be used as a starting point for your own college study, we want to be very clear about the methodology we followed to select the best fashion schools. First, we looked for schools and institutions with a dedicated fashion major for students.
Key criteria to consider:
School Reputation in General:
The fashion sector is heavily difficult to enter into. It is critical that undergraduate students have access to the resources that come with a well-regarded school. As you can see from the rankings list, many fashion superstars have visited or even spoken at these institutions for educational sessions and seminars—a indication that these colleges are considered seriously by individuals in the fashion industry.
The Relevance of Related Graduate Programs:
Since we only selected colleges with dedicated degree programs in fashion, institutions also received points if they offer well-respected graduate schools in fashion or other creative areas. Undergraduate fashion students often benefit from the staff and resources available in these graduate programmes.
Employment:
Whenever an institution has a large number of famous alumni, it indicates two things: the programme generates outstanding graduates, and the institution's alumni network is large and well-connected. Successful graduates improve a school's reputation and make it simpler to obtain work later in life.
Environment:
The finest internship and career possibilities will be in major fashion capitals such as New York, Paris, Milan, England, & Hong Kong. Many of the colleges listed below have satellite campuses or programmes in these cities. Schools received extra points for providing students with the choice to study in a range of settings.
Ranking of the Top Fashion Schools
Although we were explicit about the criteria used to produce this list, you should use it as a starting point for your own study rather than a definitive reference to the quality of a school's curriculum.
We advise you to focus on the unique qualities of each institution rather than the precise sequence of rankings (which is rather subjective to begin with).
Let's get to the good stuff—the top fashion schools list.
- Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), New York
Degree offered: BFA, BS
- Parsons The New School, New York,
Degree offered: BFA
- Pratt Institute, New York
Degree offered: BFA
- Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah
Degree offered: BFA
- Kent State University, Kent
Degree offered: MBA/BS, BFA, BA
- Drexel University, Philadelphia
Degree offered: BFA
- Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia
Degree offered: BS
- Marist College, Poughkeepsie
Degree offered: BFA, BS
- Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles
Degree offered: BS
- Rhode Island School of Design , Providence
Degree offered: BFA
Choose a School That Provides the Degree You Desire:
Many of the institutions on the above list specialize in fashion design, but more are include merchandising and fashion business as degree choices. This type of curriculum is a fantastic fit if you are certain that you are interested in the design aspect of fashion.