Design in Fashion Systems

PGFD 5130 | Fall 2011 | Faculty: Shelley Fox, Heico Wesselius

Although the fashion industry is often modeled as an economic and symbolic transaction between designers and consumers, it is difficult to use this model to portray fashion as a creative industry. Studies of complex adaptive systems provide a rich alternative model for interpreting the structural relationships and evolutionary dynamic that regulate creativity in the industry. By learning key principlesfrom systems-theory and case-study methodsstudents discover innovative ways to realize their designs and collaborate with designers, manufacturers, producers, distributors, retailers, the media, and consumers. Design in Fashion Systems is a graduate level course for students interested in understanding how fashion is shaped by forces beyond design.