Studying Fashion Design at IIAD

April 11, 2018

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Why choose Fashion Design?

When you think of design, you cannot help but think of fashion! One can certainly not discount the importance Fashion Design holds in the global design scenario.

It can be observed that designers are now making an effort highlighting their ethnic background and showcasing it on a global platform. With them, they bring distinctive expertise in implementation of design techniques, material usage, and crafts, along with an understanding of international markets, their consumer habits, and trending design innovations.

Fashion Design has now permeated into interdisciplinary fields, with designers now working as entrepreneurs, along with being an integral part of product design teams, design analysis departments, intelligence pools and smart clothing

Learning Fashion Design at IIAD

At IIAD, the curriculum is based on the pedagogy of ‘thinking through making’. The course helps students create a stronghold not only in the domestic market, but also encourages them to create designs keeping the global audience in mind.

To facilitate a creatively stimulating and open environment, the traditional classrooms at IIAD have been replaced with ateliers/studios, simulating a typical industry setup. At the helm is a studio master who works with the students as peers, covering interdisciplinary fashion design learning through enquiry. The fashion design degree at IIAD attempts at providing the students with a thorough understanding of fashion, covering topics such as history, theory and criticism, materiality, and production amongst others.

Through the course, the students are also encouraged to develop their own individualistic approach that takes into account current design practices, technological advancements, and future market speculations.

All of this is accomplished through the following teaching and learning strategies:

Formal lectures
Studio – based projects
Practical workshops
Project critiques
Seminars
Guided independent study
Individual and small group tutorials
Field work
Demonstrations of equipment and techniques
Study visits
Screening

This in turn helps our future designers learn the following:

Practical design processes
Observational, recorded, and analytical enquiry
Conceptualising and generating ideas
Proactive problem finding/solving abilities
Visual and subject insight research
Visualization and communication skills
Critical and contextual understanding
Practical understanding of materials, processes and technologies
Roles and responsibilities within an Interdisciplinary context

The Degree Module at IIAD

The B.A. (Hons.) Fashion Design programme at IIAD is divided into a 4 year format. The following will give and an in-depth overview of the fashion designing course at the Institute.

Year 1 – Foundation Course in Design

In the Foundation Year, students are given a strong foothold in basic design that will help them throughout the 4 years of their design education at IIAD and beyond. The study combines working with both peers and faculty in the understanding of various concepts, skills, research work, techniques, and materials that form an integral part of the design process. The students are also motivated to build on their own personal interpretation of design and develop their comprehension of what it takes to be an interpretative, innovative, and critical designer.

Year 2 – Principle Learning and Practical Experience

In the second year, students draw from the knowledge of principles and design thinking that they have assimilated in Year 1, and apply them in studio-based projects. Through the atelier environment, the students get to experience what the world of fashion design is like in real time.

Year 3 & 4 – Project Work

In the final years, the students undertake 4 projects in 2 main ateliers. The first one involves the creation and execution of individual custom designs, while in the second atelier students will be creating a personalised garment using contemporary production techniques.

By the time the student enters the final semester of the programme, he/she would have completed a total of 3 projects in the 2 ateliers. For the final project, each student would design their own atelier that would comprise of studio masters and peers, who would be assisting and collaborating with the student towards completion of the project.

Careers You Can Pursue in Fashion Design

With a Fashion Designing Degree from the Indian Institute of Art and Design (IIAD), you can pursue any of the following roles in the industry and more: