Are you a fashion trend follower? Are you drawn to how designers have pulled together fabrics and colors to create memorable pieces? Do you dream of designing your own line of clothing or accessories? Learn what it takes to get started in the fashion industry, from the careers available to new technology and trends reshaping the industry every day. Start creating!
Prerequisites: None
Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to...
- Describe and classify careers in the fashion industry
- Explore entrepreneurship opportunities and careers in the design industry
- Define the elements and principles of design
- Examine the use of color in design
- Practice types of communication used in the design process
- Explore and utilize different types of equipment for fashion design
- Demonstrate an understanding of sewing by completing a project
- Explore fashion design in the twenty-first century, including sustainability and accessibility
- Explore leadership and public relations in the fashion industry
- Complete a project from start to finish (design, production, presentation)
- Use the rules of ethical conduct, confidentiality, and giving proper credit
- Use and improve skills in time management and teamwork
- Use online tools to search and “apply” (creating resumes and portfolios) jobs online
Course Outline:
Unit 1: Introducing: Fashion Careers
Unit 2: Design and COmmunicate: Basic Skills for the Design Industry
Unit 3: Physical Tools for Fashion Designers
Unit 4: Sewing 101
Unit 5: Midterm Exam
Unit 6: The Runway Gives Back
Unit 7: Putting It into Practice
Unit 8: Entrepreneurship: Ready for Business
Resources Included: Online lesson instruction and activities, opportunities to engage with a certified, online instructor and classmates, when appropriate, and online assessments to measure student performance of course objectives and readiness for subsequent academic pursuits.
Additional Costs: Students will need access to the following materials (costs will vary):
- General art supplies (paper, pens, colored pencils, paints, tape, glue, scissors, poster board, markers, etc.)
- Sewing machine (not required but covered in lessons)
- Thread
- Fabric
- Pattern
- Pattern tools (chalk/disappearing markers)
- Needles and thread (for hand sewing)
- Measuring tape or yardstick
- Raw materials for creating or modifying garments/accessories (fabric, buttons, zippers, etc.)
Other optional items may include:
- Software that allows for the creation of simple art projects, such as Photoshop or Canva
- Software such as Illustrator, Photoshop, or Procreate
- A notebook or sketchbook
- Phone camera or other digital camera
- Index cards
- Computer printer
- Lightbox
- Embroidery floss or yarn
- Fashion magazines; images from magazines
- Calculator (can be a phone-based or web-based calculator)
- Methods to clean textile material, such as a dry-cleaning service, washing machine, detergent, or supplies for hand washing
- Methods to press or iron material, such as an iron, ironing board, and possibly a pressing cloth
- A portfolio case, binder, or other way to assemble and organize physical samples
- A website or online portfolio account where you can create a digital portfolio
Scoring System: Michigan Virtual does not assign letter grades, grant credit for courses, nor issue diplomas. A final score out of total points earned will be submitted to your school mentor for conversion to their own letter grading system.
Time Commitment: Semester sessions are 18-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1 or more hours per day in the course to be successful. Summer sessions are 10 weeks long: Students must be able to spend a minimum of 2 or more hours per day, or about 90 hours during the summer, for the student to be successful in any course. Trimester sessions are 12-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1.5 or more hours per day in the course to be successful.
Technology Requirements: Students will require a computer device with headphones, a microphone, webcam, up-to-date Chrome Web Browser, and access to YouTube.
Please review the Michigan Virtual Technology Requirements: https://michiganvirtual.org/about/support/knowledge-base/technical-requirements/
Instructor Support System: For technical issues within your course, contact the Customer Care Center by email at [email protected] or by phone at (888) 889-2840.
Instructor Contact Expectations: Students can use email or the private message system within the Student Learning Portal to access highly qualified teachers when they need instructor assistance. Students will also receive feedback on their work inside the learning management system. The Instructor Info area of their course may describe additional communication options.
Academic Support Available: In addition to access to a highly qualified, Michigan certified teacher, students have access to academic videos and outside resources verified by Michigan Virtual. For technical issues within the course, students can contact the Michigan Virtual Customer Care by email at [email protected] or by phone at (888) 889-2840.
Required Assessment: Online assessments consist of formative and summative assessments represented by computer-graded multiple choice, instructor-graded writing assignments including hands-on projects, model building and other forms of authentic assessments.
Technical Skills Needed: Basic technology skills necessary to locate and share information and files as well as interact with others in a Learning Management System (LMS), include the ability to:
- Download, edit, save, convert, and upload files
- Download and install software
- Use a messaging service similar to email
- Communicate with others in online discussion or message boards, following basic rules of netiquette
- Open attachments shared in messages
- Create, save, and submit files in commonly used word processing program formats and as a PDF
- Edit file share settings in cloud-based applications, such as Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides
- Save a file as a .pdf
- Copy and paste and format text using your mouse, keyboard, or an html editor’s toolbar menu
- Insert images or links into a file or html editor
- Search for information within a document using Ctrl+F or Command+F keyboard shortcuts
- Work in multiple browser windows and tabs simultaneously
- Activate a microphone or webcam on your device, and record and upload or link audio and/or video files
- Use presentation and graphics programs
- Follow an online pacing guide or calendar of due dates
- Use spell-check, citation editors, and tools commonly provided in word processing tool menus
- Create and maintain usernames and passwords
Additional Information: None