The Apparel and Textile Design
major provides students with professional preparation
in designing apparel and textile soft goods. Students
create and evaluate designs considering interactions among
the person, the product, and the environments in which
they are used. Students are taught to assess the needs,
values, goals, and resources as they propose design solutions.
Products are designed to promote comfort, performance,
and aesthetic satisfaction. The ultimate aim is to improve
the quality of life and the quality of the environment.
Apparel designers in the twenty-first
century will form new alliances with professionals in
interdisciplinary teams. These teams may include apparel
designers and biomechanical engineers, textile chemists
and physicists, or medical scientists. Emphasis is placed
on effective decision-making and communication with professionals
in other disciplines, employers, employees, and clients.
Computer-aided design technology is used to create innovative
design solutions to functional and aesthetic design problems.
Cognates provide students with additional
depth in a focused area of study; these include entrepreneurship,
design communications, historic and cultural studies,
material science, and applied art.
For detailed information on courses,
refer to the Description of
Courses catalog available from the Office of the Registrar online or at 1
(517) 355- 3300.
The Apparel and Textile Design curriculum:
- Provides an aesthetic and functional
approach to apparel design.
- Emphasizes problem solving and
design communication skills.
- Uses an integrative approach
to apparel design through the analysis of social, psychological,
cultural, historical, and material factors that affect
the design process.
- Employs state-of-the-art technology
for computer-aided design, illustration, pattern making,
pattern grading, marker making, and textile design.
- Offers an optional internship
program to qualified students to provide exposure to
actual apparel design and textile employment opportunities.
- Provides an optional Visiting
Student Program with the Fashion Institute of Technology
in New York City.
- Provides opportunities through
the Student Apparel Design Association for developing
leadership, meeting practicing professionals, and participating
in design related projects.
- The curriculum also provides
preparation for those interested in pursuing graduate
study in apparel and textiles or related fields.
Apparel Design and Textiles provides
career opportunities in a variety of positions ranging
from single employee-entrepreneur to working for a large-scale
apparel manufacturer. Opportunities include:
- Custom apparel design
- Fashion advertising
- Fashion design
- Fashion forecasting
- Fashion journalism
- Fashion styling
- Historic collections management
- Image consulting
- Museum curatorship
- Pattern making
- Product design
- Product development
- Teaching
- Textile art
- Textile design
- Textile materials coordination
- Textile materials evaluation
- Theatrical costume design
