Teaching Haute Couture In Fashion Schools

Not many people know that the term "haute couture" has a very specific legal meaning. Fashion design programs undoubtedly teach what it's supposed to mean, but for the general public outside the fashion schools, it simply means "high fashion."

In their minds, and in increasingly general usage, it refers to fashion designed for the very wealthy or those with a lot of prestige. And the designers and houses that create these fashions are described with the same term.

That's why a school like the Academy of Couture Art (ACA) in West Hollywood, California, is unique among American fashion schools. This institution is the only French haute couture academy in the United States, having been granted the right to use that description by the official Parisian governing body itself.

The members of the faculty are designers who regularly create their own collections and present them in Paris, and the fashion programs offered by the school adhere to the more strict definitions of haute couture. The school aims to blend the European couture style into the fashion system of the United States.

However worthy the goal of the Chambre Syndicale, the ACA, and other couture fashion schools, the "haute couture" genie may have escaped the bottle and might not be forced back in at this point.

The phrase has now been used so often to describe fashion programs and designs catering to the wealthy that it's likely not possible to return it to its original legal meaning.

The work of the ACA will undoubtedly be viewed as haute couture in the minds of the public, but so will the work of other designers and schools that aren't strictly entitled to the designation.

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Online Degree Courses For Fashion Designing

It probably sounds ludicrous even to imagine that anyone could get a degree in fashion designing through an online program, when you think of what's involved, such as designing patterns, cutting and sewing fabric, using models, and so on.

It seems like a very tactile thing, and unless there's some kind of virtual reality course now available, it simply can't be done on the internet. The only real way to get a fashion design degree is to attend a traditional fashion school. Isn't that right?

Even a fashion merchandising course can be studied by online means quite easily. The business end of the fashion industry involves mostly theory and accounting, which don't usually require that the student be on a campus to learn.

So if you are interested in the industry, but want to concentrate more on the business and merchandising side rather than the actual fashion designing, an online program could be ideal for you. It's probably less expensive, and you might be able to remain at a full-time job while you're doing the courses.

It might take a bit of tweaking to launch your fashion design career through online programs. You will undoubtedly still need to arrange some in-person internships at a studio somewhere, since that simply can't be done online.

You might also have the added expense of getting your own industrial sewing machine, which would otherwise have been provided on campus. But much of your fashion designing course can indeed be handled through the internet.

If it would save you money and you could get a reputable degree by this method, it should be one of the options you consider.

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Education Of A Good Fashion Designer

It's possible that you've started looking into the various schools of fashion design and have had the occasional second thoughts. Either they look too expensive or perhaps the courses look too boring.

Do you really need to learn about the history of textiles to be a good fashion designer? If you already know you've got the talent, and have been dressing your friends and family for a long time already, maybe you don't even need to go to school before you try to launch your career. Others have done so without formal schooling, so why not you?

There's no doubt about it. Some designers have indeed had brilliant fashion design careers just by pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps. Except, of course, even though they worked hard, frequently their success came by serendipity and chance.

You've heard of the few successes, but no one knows the names of the vast majority who tried just as hard but never got the lucky breaks and never went anywhere. If you truly want to be a successful fashion designer, you need to think long and hard about how sure you are you'd end up among the few lucky ones.

Remember just how many successful designers, with obvious talent, attended fashion design schools. Someone like Byron Lars, who took the fashion world by storm in the early 1980s, was a brilliant talent, yet even with the schooling he had, he endured some low points in the 1990s.

His formal education as a fashion designer was undoubtedly what helped him keep going and return to a point of success. Consider his example and that of other successful designers, and remind yourself that in the very competitive world of fashion design, you need all the advantages you can add to your repertoire.

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How To Find The Best Fashion Schools

What are you looking for if you're hunting for the best fashion schools? It's likely that the first ones you'll think of will be those with the most prestige or famous graduates. But keep in mind that sometimes, being the most famous or, for that matter, the most expensive doesn't automatically mean it has the best fashion program.

While it's true that many of the prestigious schools do try to hire the best qualified instructors, it's equally true that you can usually find the same quality of teaching at other, lesser known institutions.

The best fashion schools for you will be the ones that actually offer the courses and degrees you need. For example, if you want to know the industry thoroughly but are in fact more interested in fashion merchandising than designing, then you will need a school that offers a merchandising program.

If you want to qualify for most jobs in the industry, you'll likely do better with a BA Degree rather than an Associates Degree, so the types of degree programs offered at these schools will become important as well.

What is paramount is that you find the school that will help lead you to the fashion career you actually want. Can they teach you what you need to know, and will you be able to learn it? Can you afford to attend?

For the majority of people, those criteria are the most important in discovering the best fashion schools for them. It may be a nice feather in your cap to say that you attended some famous design school in Paris, but in the final analysis, the really important thing is whether you know your stuff, and graduate as a good designer.

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Knowing About Merchandising And Fashion Design

Although the fashion design aspect of the industry is what the public tends to see in the media, in a way it's just the tip of the iceberg. While the designers are the ones that everyone else revolves around, their designs would probably go nowhere without a large, skilled support team.

This consists of people who understand the business side of the industry and, most especially, fashion merchandising. That's why someone who doesn't want to design the clothes but is fascinated with the industry can still find a career in this market.

The merchandising side of fashion design is really as important as the design aspect itself, and in the bigger design houses, it can be almost as exciting. Those who deal with merchandising sometimes need more knowledge about the industry than the designers themselves.

They need to have learned a great deal about fashion art in history, so they can spot trends and understand how they develop. These people do marketing, engage in negotiations, and sometimes represent a design studio to the public.

If you chart a fashion merchandising course rather than one that takes you into actual design, you may end up having more involvement with people than if you had become a designer and spent most of your time doing the fashion design in a studio.

Between studying the developing fashion trends in society, planning the publicity, and coordinating the design and marketing efforts of a studio, you could find yourself with an exciting career in the fashion industry.

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New Fashion Designers Making A Splash

Most people who watch the American fashion industry recognize certain familiar names of fashion designers. People know the work of Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Liz Claiborne, Donna Karan and so on.

All have or have had fashion design careers that really took them places and essentially steered the course of American fashion for much of the past century. But one fact is pretty clear, as you look back.

The vast majority of these people are either a sort of generic white, or sometimes Jewish, but almost never is there any publicity about designers from clear visible minorities.

With fashion designers like Kevan Hall and Patrick Robinson, that pendulum is also finally swinging for black Americans in the industry. Hall has had his own fashion collection since 2002 and Robinson since about 1997, while Robinson is also the head designer for Gap, Inc.

Each has had a very successful career in fashion, and these and others in their ethnic community have been getting well earned recognition in the past few years.

It's about time that the accomplishments of fashion designers from visible minorities are recognized. Partly because they are minorities, they have had to fight some degree of racism and even family expectations to get where they are.

But even more than that, they should be recognized for their own fashion design careers, and not just because they come from a minority group. All great designers should be acknowledged for their accomplishments, no matter who they are.

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Improve Your Knowledge With A Fashion Design Course

A fashion design course teaches all the things you'd expect it would, as it covers everything from gowns and accessories to jeans, shirts and sneakers. It deals with clothing worn by the rich and famous and the not so rich as well.

But that's not all that people study when they're working on a fashion design degree. In fact, those things are actually the end result of a great deal of background study in other things, some of which are obviously related to clothes, and others which aren't so obvious.

Nothing in human society ever happens in a vacuum, and the same is true even of fashion. This means that anyone trying for a career in fashion design needs to understand the history and sociology of fashion trends.

They need to know the history of textiles and materials, and even the politics of fashion. A fashion design course provides this knowledge and then draws it into the present, teaching how it relates to marketing and the business side of the industry.

This is why it's important for a student earning a fashion degree to have as broad a program as possible.

Not only is it important to understand the past and how it affects current fashion trends, but the person taking the fashion design course also needs to be adept at using the tools necessary; not just to design fashions but to market them as well.

A well rounded program is absolutely crucial to a successful career.

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