Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Merchandising

at Academy of Art University USA

The School of Fashion offers ten BFA degree programs, each designed to prepare you for work in the fashion industry. They are: Design, Knitwear Design, Textile Design, Costume Design, Footwear & Accessory Design, Fashion Styling, Fashion Product Development, Fashion Visual Merchandising, Fashion Merchandising, and Fashion Marketing. Students in these BFA programs may choose an emphasis in Fashion Design or 3D Design Pattern Making. Coursework combines excellence in design, artistic production, and innovative technology to provide students with the skills necessary to fully realize their creative visions.

Pattern Making and 3-Dimensional Design
The School of Fashion's BFA program offers nine types of degrees: Fashion, Costume Design, Fashion Marketing, Fashion Merchandising, Fashion Product Development, Fashion Styling, Fashion Visual Merchandising, Knitwear Design and Textile Design.

The MA program provides professional study within focused fields of physical design. In addition to classroom and collaborative coursework, each student develops a professional portfolio that will be used to launch a career in Industrial Design.

The School of Animation & Visual Effects BFA program provides students with the skills necessary to master today’s digital technology.

2D animation and Stop Motion
The 2D animation and Stop Motion emphasis BFA is designed for students interested in acquiring basic to advanced skills in either hand-drawn or stop motion animation. 2D animation focuses on digitally hand drawn and computer generated movement. Stop motion animation involves both digitally captured and generated work as well as a significant amount of hand crafted art.

The BFA in Fashion Product Development encompasses the process of fashion product development that requires understanding and knowledge of the consumer, market, and trends, textiles and raw materials, product concept and line development, and sourcing and manufacturing. Drawing from their design courses, students will apply a high level design aesthetic to develop products that are appropriate for a brand and their target customers.  Students will learn the hand drawing and drafting skills and the technical skills needed to produce detailed and accurate technical drawings and flat patterns using industry standard computer software. BFA graduates will be capable of working in various roles in a product development team.

The Master of Fine Art program provides students a framework for advanced study in drawing and painting, printmaking, and sculpture. Students are focused on technical and conceptual development in figurative, abstract or landscape work. The School of Fine Art provides graduate students with studio space, exhibition galleries, and world class facilities.

The School of Fashion offers one BA degree program in Fashion Journalism. In addition to emphasizing the principles and practice of the written journalistic form, the BA Fashion Journalism program offers coursework in fashion design to afford journalism students a broader appreciation of the craft.

The MA in Graphic Design & Digital Media emphasizes professional and career development with advanced study of the field and encourages students to extend their design skills into content creation, authorship, entrepreneurialism, and social innovation.

The Master of Arts program offers an introduction to landscape architecture. Coursework emphasizes the essential factors involved in the creation of outdoor spaces. This program is appropriate for students who want to learn about the profession but are not interested in practicing as a landscape architect in the future.

The BFA program provides students with a comprehensive education in the principles of modern web design and new media. Taught by a faculty that works in the San Francisco Bay Area creative industry, our students are provided a unique opportunity to learn from teachers immersed in the field. The curriculum focuses on visual design, user experience, design strategies, web design, and motion graphics.

The School of Industrial Design's MFA program provides advanced study within focused fields of physical design. In addition to classroom and collaborative coursework, each student works toward producing a final thesis project.