Fashion Design (BFA)
Fashion Design BFA
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thinkparsons@newschool.edu
212.229.5150
Program Contacts
Anna Lerner-Zwick, Director
Deshon Varnado, Director
The innovative Fashion Design BFA program has trained six generations of designers who have shaped the global industry. Employing design thinking and creative problem-solving strategies, you explore form, silhouette, material, and process—including social and environmental imperatives—to create beautiful, sustainable, responsibly produced fashion for a complex and evolving field. You are encouraged to explore the broadest contexts and applications of fashion.
Program Highlights
Fashion Design Fundamentals
Learn to balance hand-making and digital skills with an integrated approach to design, honing your technique as you refine your creative vision.Four Pathways
Explore our four pathways—Womenswear, Menswear, Fashion Product, and Fashion Textiles—and develop a specialized, differentiated, personalized approach to fashion design.
Purposeful Design
Design with a focus on innovation and diversity, unlocking the power of apparel to spark systemic positive change in society — particularly in marginalized communities.Industry Collaborations
Develop your design sensibility in real-world settings through projects with premier partners such as LVMH, Kering, Saks Fifth Avenue, Louis Vuitton, Swarovski, Tory Burch, COACH, Theory, and Luxottica.
Innovative Thesis Projects
Share your research, process, collection, system, and final outcomes with industry leaders and the public in the graduating student exhibition. Explore the innovative work of the Class of 2026.
- DegreeBachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)
- FormatFull-time, on campus
- Credits120
- Duration4 years
Curriculum
Your BFA begins with Parsons’ first-year curriculum, which serves as the academic foundation for all undergraduate programs at Parsons. From your second year on, you dive into courses in your major field of study. You choose one of four pathways: Womenswear, Menswear, Fashion Product, or Fashion Textiles. Art and design history and theory courses develop your research, writing, and critical reasoning skills, and university electives broaden your perspectives.
Parsons faculty represent a broad range of expertise and are recognized as leading practitioners and scholars in their fields.
Student Work
Fashion Design (BFA)
Fashion Design (BFA)
Fashion Design (BFA)
Fashion Design (BFA)
Fashion Design (BFA)
Fashion Design (BFA)
Fashion Design (BFA)
Fashion Design (BFA)
Beyond the Classroom
Internships
New York City’s thriving creative industry and cultural institutions are part of your Parsons education. Our Career Services Office is deeply connected to the art and design industries and can help you advance your career with industry-oriented internships.
Making & Academic Resources
Enjoy access to extensive resources including New School libraries, computer labs, archives, and studios, along with Parsons’ state-of-the-art Making Center, facilities offering a broad array of tools to support your creative and academic growth.
Industry Engagement
Connect to the organizations, businesses, and entrepreneurs driving global creativity and commerce. In classes, internships, and extracurricular projects, you gain marketable problem-solving skills in sectors ranging from government and nonprofits to tech and creative industries.
Study Abroad
Enrich your learning and prepare for work in global contexts with study abroad that exposes you to new perspectives and settings in which to apply your creativity. Our study abroad destinations include, Paris, London, Florence, and more.
Related Programs
Undergraduate
Explore sample opportunities to create an interdisciplinary path of study around this major:
Graduate
Fashion Design (AAS)
Full-time or part-time program (two years, 60 credits); best suited to students who have previous college experience in an unrelated field and want to change careers.
