Fashion Design
Is fashion your passion? If so, this major is tailor made for you! You’ll study art and culture, develop technical skills at a professional level, and gain a deep understanding of fashion as both an industry and an art form.
Expand your skills, talents and knowledge
Fashion design majors work side-by-side with talented, expert and caring faculty. You’ll study textile science, visual literacy, fashion illustration, fashion trends, and the cultural, psychological and social aspects of dress. With the latest technologies, you’ll work hands-on to design, create and display your own themed collection of original work. Throughout your undergraduate career, you’ll create pages for an online professional portfolio that you’ll produce as a senior capstone project—just in time for the job market. In a curriculum deeply rooted in the liberal arts, you’ll expand your capacity for critical thinking, problem solving and visual communication. You’ll start your career ready for success in a fascinating industry.
Learn by doing—then do even more
Practical experience is built into our fashion design curriculum. Our internships draw on the huge retail, cultural and corporate resources of Chicago—a great job market for fashion graduates. We make our connections your connections, so you can test-drive your dream job in the real world. Many internships lead directly to job offers after graduation; in a recent survey, 87% of employers said they would hire their Dominican interns if a full-time position were available. Seniors work together to produce our Spring Fashion Show, which presents the best student designs to industry professionals. You’ll not only gain professional exposure but also sharpen your problem-solving, events-planning and leadership skills.
You can apply for grant funding to aid your creative work. The university awards funding on a competitive basis that enables students to complete original research or creative work—like fashion design—or travel to academic and professional conferences across the U.S. It's all part of the Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Investigations (URSCI) program, a distinctly Dominican initiative. URSCI also gives you a chance to present your work at a campus expo.
Rhiannon Cassata
Dominican University Graduate
“As a Dominican University fashion design major, I’ve been able to learn how to sew, pattern, draft and create a cohesive collection for the fashion show during my senior year.”
Great resources. Amazing opportunities
On state-of-the-art computer technology, you’ll develop innovative designs and visualize them in three dimensions. In our fashion workroom, you’ll find a friendly, supportive environment that nurtures your innate creativity. To gain further inspiration, you can choose from among 18 study abroad programs—from China and Ghana to Spain and South Africa. Many students travel to Paris for our exceptional six-credit course on French fashion.
While still an undergraduate, you can begin work toward an accelerated MBA through the Brennan School of Business. A fashion design degree and an MBA is a powerful combination in the job market. Fashion students design costumes for both the student and professional productions at Dominican’s outstanding Performing Arts Center. They also regularly enter (and win) fashion competitions throughout the Chicago area.
Our Community-Based Learning Program enables you to combine academic learning with effective, compassionate service to people in need—in the Chicago area and around the world. The program has been nationally recognized for excellence.
Through our Fashion Mentorship Program, you’ll meet accomplished industry professionals, including many graduates of our program. The board members make themselves available to review student portfolios and help to ensure that our curriculum evolves continually—like fashion itself.
Kathryn Greenlea
Dominican University Graduate
“All of the professors at Dominican have real-world experience. They’ve been in the fashion industry for multiple years, so as they’re teaching, they give you real-world examples and they help you find mentors who can guide you toward your career goals.”