Fashion

This upper-level studio expands students' knowledge and skills in creating fashion imagery while providing an understanding of the role and functions of Art Directors, both working individually and as part of collaborative teams. The course emphasizes the importance of narrative as a key element in contemporary fashion communication. Students will focus on developing concepts, selecting visual elements, creating mood, and coordinating the production process to tell compelling stories through still and moving images.

Grading techniques for fashion design will explore the fundamentals of garment sizing and methods of pattern grading. Standardized and made-to-measure sizing based on anthropometric data, grading charts and diverse body shapes are analyzed in relation to size ranges, adaptable solutions and garment types. Industrial theory and grading techniques are examined with respect to manual grading and CAD applications.

Many people associate fashionable dress with a modernn Western culture and industrialization, but this course examines how fashions have long existed in cultural dialogue across ancient, medieval, and early modern societies. Trade, warfare, colonialism and ceremonial exchange ensured that raw materials, techniques, and dress forms literally traveled the world on our backs. Networks for the circulation, assimilation and representation of fashions forged in these periods still impact the operation of our global fashion system today.

This course will examine women's revolutionary campaigns and movements and militant tactics. It will discuss the interrelated role of design and social action. Areas of study will include the use of graphic images as a means of empowerment; Deeds Not Words; the Rational Dress Reform Movement; the Suffragette movement and the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). Contemporary examples will range from Maoism to Guerrilla Girls and radical activism.

This course is an introduction to Indigenous fashion globally. Whereas historical Indigenous clothing practices were previously considered dress or costume within anthropology, this course examines Indigenous clothing as fashion systems in their own right. Through exploration of contemporary Indigenous design resurgence amongst Indigenous peoples such as the Anishnaabe, Inuit, Maori, Sami and Zapotecs, this course also introduces issues related to imperialism and colonization, capitalism, and globalization. Lecture format.

This course will explore scholarly writing as a creative practice addressing the need for the artist/designer's voice to be empowered in theoretical making and analysis. Additionally this course will examine the essay as a form of research creation. Varied deliveries such as spoken word and authorship through decolonizing methods will be encouraged to elevate new writing practices. Studio format.