USC Roski School Announces Master of Fine Arts in Fashion
A New Take on Fashion: Shaping the Future of Wearable Design and Fashion Design
The Gayle Garner Roski School of Art and Design is pleased to announce the inaugural launch of a groundbreaking Master of Fine Arts (MFA) graduate program in Fashion, set to begin in Fall 2025. This innovative studio program is poised to revolutionize the field of fashion education and wearable design, delving into new and emerging paradigms that examine the systems and structures shaping fashion in both the physical and digital realms.
Exploring New Frontiers in Fashion
This MFA program is tailored for visionary designers, theorists, and technically curious innovators who are eager to push boundaries and experiment at the intersections of fashion with gender equity, corporeality, biomaterials, and embodied experiences. By focusing on the future ecology of fashion design, the program aims to tackle cultural, social, environmental, and economic challenges head-on, inspiring transformative and impactful fashion solutions.
Dynamic Transdisciplinary Collaborations
Harnessing the dynamic transdisciplinary collaborations across USC’s prestigious schools—including the Roski School of Art and Design, the School of Dramatic Arts, the Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, the Iovine Young Academy, the Annenberg School for Communication and the Marshall School of Business—students will immerse themselves in a rich tapestry of expertise and resources. This collaborative environment will foster innovative thinking and creative solutions essential for addressing the complex challenges faced by today’s fashion creatives.
Program Highlights
Innovative Curriculum: This comprehensive curriculum merges traditional craftsmanship with cutting-edge technologies, paving the way for new explorations in fashion design. Students will engage in regular seminars, discussions, studio visits and field trips led by renowned visiting fashion designers, fostering strong connections within the contemporary fashion industry in Los Angeles – an essential aspect of the program.
Transdisciplinary Approach: Students will collaborate with experts in art, design, business, technology, and performance to create a holistic educational experience. They will have extensive access to USC’s diverse schools, courses, and expert faculty. The program’s transdisciplinary nature recontextualizes fashion through collaboration, offering electives in areas such as fashion studies, wearable production, smart fabrics, fashion in extended reality and digital environments, costuming, dance and movement, media and culture, entrepreneurship, and marketing.
Focus on Sustainability: The program emphasizes sustainable practices, materials, products, processes, activities, and stakeholders (policymakers, brands, consumers) aiming to achieve a carbon-neutral fashion sector based on equality, social justice, animal welfare, and ecological integrity, that will prepare students for leadership roles in this rapidly evolving industry.
Global Perspective: The program includes an emphasis on courses that provide students with a comprehensive understanding of how fashion operates on a worldwide scale, including fashion markets and trends, cross-cultural consumer behavior, and comparative analysis of fashion industries in different countries. There will be travel opportunities for short-term study tours to major fashion capitals and international collaboration to comprehend fashion’s global impact.
Join Us in Shaping the Future
Applicants are invited to apply directly to the MFA Fashion program via the main USC Graduate Application site. Current USC students are eligible to join the Progressive Degree Program (PDP) as undergraduates, beginning their graduate school journey as early as junior year. The PDP program welcomes all USC applicants regardless of major: PDP Application.
For more information about this new program please visit our Fashion MFA webpage or contact our admissions office at roski@usc.edu.
About USC Roski School of Art and Design
The Roski School of Art and Design is dedicated to fostering creativity and innovation through a diverse array of programs. With a focus on sustainability and transdisciplinary collaboration with other USC professional schools, Roski prepares students to become leaders in their fields by providing them with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in an ever-changing world.
Contact:
Roski School of Art and Design
University of Southern California
Email: roski@usc.edu
Phone: (213) 740-ARTS