This semester I am taking a class called “HAR 016: Creating the Fashion Figure.” This is a vital class to take if you plan on applying to the fashion design side of FIT. To apply to this part of the school, you will need to create a portfolio with your work and collection ideas. Also, if you dream of becoming a fashion designer, merchandiser, or stylist, this course can help you reach that goal. This course teaches students to understand, analyze, and draw the front view of the female fashion figure. Also, it teaches how to develop design ideas in a fashion sketch and to explore the silhouettes used in fashion design.

The Fashion Institute of Technology has a very specific style of fashion figure they like to use, along with detailed drawings of clothes submitted in portfolios. The body is usually very elongated and the clothes are very specific in fine detail. Fabric samples and color choices are also very important when you submit a portfolio piece. In my class, taught by Professor Renaldo Barnette, we learn how to precisely draw a fashion figure, one that fits FIT criteria. This class is very enjoyable and I have learned a lot from it. Not only have I learned how to draw a fashion figure, but I have also learned how to properly draw clothes on the fashion figure. Our professor teaches us how to draw necklines, tops, skirts and how to design our own collection. He also teaches us how to find inspiration and translate that into a collection. For example, we frequently look at fashion magazines and previous collections that designers have created. This week we learned from our substitute teacher, Professor Notto, how to determine what kind of customers would buy our clothes, and then how to design them to fit the customer base we want to target.

I would highly recommend this class for anyone who wants to apply to the design side of FIT. It has been very helpful to me and will hopefully help my chances of getting admitted. Above all, it is a very interesting class and I’m so glad I enrolled in it!