Fine Arts Degree Useful in a Fashion Design Career

By Karen Lawson
Fashion Design School Review Columnist

If you have or want a fine arts degree and wonder how you’ll use it to earn a living, fashion design and merchandising are creative career options. Many fashion design positions require education in basic design, color, and drawing. You can also combine business and sales experience with your fine arts degree to start a career in fashion marketing.

Creativity a Key Element in Fashion Design Careers

No matter what type of fashion design career you want, your creativity and knowledge of design principles will help you get started. Consumers want fresh clothing designs without having to break the bank to buy them. There’s an increasing demand for designers to produce innovative yet practical clothing for active and busy lifestyles. Your knowledge of art and design can be helpful whether you plan to open your own boutique or design clothing for major labels and retailers.

Fine Arts Training Enhances Fashion Design Talent

Not surprisingly, significant aspects of fashion design require knowledge of how fabric fits the human body. Courses in life drawing, color, form, and three-dimensional design are useful for working in fashion design. Understanding how colors are created and how they work with texture and form also have an application in design, as you work from initial sketches to completion.

Fashion Design Opportunities in Merchandising and Retail Marketing

You can also use your fine arts degree in fashion merchandising and retailing. Merchandising involves placement of fashions within a store to achieve maximum customer appeal. Marketing can involve designing advertising for print media for fashion retailers, malls, and clothing manufacturers.

You’ll also want to be computer literate, as computer assisted design (CAD) programs are used for many design functions. As web-based advertising continues to grow, your computer skills can help you land a great position in fashion design fields.

Whether you choose a fine arts or fashion design degree, your creativity combined with formal training can help you achieve your career goals.

About the Author

Karen Lawson is a freelance writer whose interests include topics in higher education and the humanities. She holds an MA degree in English from the University of Nevada, Reno..

Posted on May 14, 2007 at 03:19 PM