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Many undergraduates, eager to study something useful in college choose a major like business or marketing. Although such careers are often lucrative, they don't always meet the need to be creative. If you're enrolling in graduate school for this reason, consider fashion design as a career path.

Students in fashion design graduate schools can expect to get an extension of the same education in design and fashion making as undergraduates. Fashion designers typically earn about $55,000 per year, but it's safe to assume that fashion designers with post-graduate degrees can earn more, with some making over $100,000 per year. Graduate courses in fashion design move at an accelerated pace, since most students already have a background in design. If you don't, you'll be taking basic courses first and then moving on to more advanced topics. Here are a few ways you can prepare yourself for advanced courses at a fashion design graduate school.

Topics to Study before Fashion School

To best prepare yourself for fashion school, you should devote yourself to the world of fashion design. Read the magazines, follow the trends, and keep up with gossip pages like Page Six and Fametracker. This isn't just celebrity trash--often, rising stars are responsible for single-handedly reviving a certain look or designer.

Activities and Research for Graduate School

Go to museum exhibits on fashion design, textiles, pop culture, design or clothing. This will get your brain warmed up to think about things in terms of shapes and textures. Gather your collection, catalog it and identify gaps or things you want to try.

Once you have familiarized yourself with mainstream fashion design, build your skills to execute it. Fashion design students with an undergraduate education behind them are often proficient in computer-aided design (CAD), pattern-making, and textiles. Learn as much as you can to catch up.

About the Author

Lynsey Hemstreet is a freelance writer and hairstylist. She has a BA in Journalism from San Francisco State University.

Source(s)

"Fashion designers," U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics