Textile & Apparel Management

The Department of Textile and Apparel Management teaches students who major in fashion design and product development to envision apparel and textile products that range from experimental to specific target markets for the industry. They focus on both creativity and innovation and address conceptual problem solving, whether from perspectives of sustainability, experiments with new technologies or working across campus to be inspired by art, architecture or the botanical gardens for instance. Some students design for specific groups of people who are not well represented within the apparel industry, such as clothing that can help to provide full societal participation for people living with disabilities. In all cases, they must be familiar with how a 2D fabric will interact on the 3D body. In some cases they design so that the final object forces both viewer and wearer to question ideas of the body, of culture and of established ideas about the elements of design.