APPAREL DESIGN AND MERCHANDISING
One of the greatest advantages of studying apparel at Dominican University is our liberal arts approach to the field. Our students gain an understanding of how information and innovation are seen in context—ways commodities affect one another and how connections are made. Students learn to recognize standards of quality and creativity in the apparel field so that they are equipped to evaluate the hierarchy of goods being produced in the domestic and international marketplace.
The field of apparel is as ancient as the earliest cave dweller dressed in an animal skin and as recent as the stunning model walking down the runway in Milan, Paris or New York. The research, design, development, manufacture, distribution, retailing, merchandising, advertising and sale of apparel products make up a billion-dollar industry.
Dominican is ideally located for the apparel student. The safe and secluded tree-lined suburb of River Forest is only 10 miles from downtown Chicago-home to the glamorous Magnificent Mile, large department stores, exquisite boutiques and renowned museums. Design and merchandising students can make the city and its surroundings their laboratory. Field trips, visiting guest speakers from the industry, and practical internships are just a few of the many benefits of Dominican’s apparel program. Our graduates have careers ranging from fashion designer and fashion show coordinator to boutique owner, department store buyer, and visual merchandiser. Alumnae/i provide an active network for our students.
Students can major or minor in Apparel Design or Apparel Merchandising and many of our students choose to double major in Apparel Design and Apparel Merchandising.
The Apparel Design Major
All apparel design students take a group of required apparel core courses and then branch into design and art courses.
The core courses are:
- Apparel Structure and Design
- Cultural Perspectives of Dress
- Textile Science
- History of Dress
- Computer Design Applications
- Senior Apparel Seminar/Fashion Show Production
Apparel Design courses include:
- Surface Design
- Flat Pattern
- Apparel Design
- Advanced Apparel Design
- Fashion Illustration
- Couture Tailoring
- Computer-aided Design
- Advanced Computer-aided Design
- Specialty Markets
- Senior Collection
- Beginning Drawing
- Figure Drawing
The Apparel Merchandising Major
All apparel merchandising students take a group of required apparel core courses and then branch into merchandising and management courses.
The core courses are:
- Apparel Structure and Design
- Cultural Perspectives of Dress
- Textile Science
- History of Dress
- Computer Design Applications
- Senior Apparel Seminar/Fashion Show Production
Apparel Merchandising courses include:
- Introduction to the Fashion World
- Retail Promotion and Visual Merchandising
- Analysis of Apparel Industry
- Retail Buying
- Fashion Markets
- Internship
- Principles of Economics
- Human Resource Management
- Marketing
- International Marketing
- Management
Major / Minor Combinations
Students are encouraged to tailor studies to their interests. Many students elect to choose a minor that compliments their major work. Apparel design students often minor in Art or Theater. Apparel merchandising students often minor in Business or Communications. Also, apparel students may decide to continue at Dominican for their MBA. Qualified students can begin work in the Graduate School of Business while they are undergraduates. Students take the required MBA foundation courses as electives and they can take one graduate core course each semester of their senior year, reducing the time required to complete an MBA degree.
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