Canadian Schools ... for Fashion

[sergfs]

I applied to George Brown`s fashion program. I'm hoping to do dual college education in another field. I'm restarting my career. It's the only fashion school I applied to based on distance, training, cost and time. I like that it has a lot of hands on approach. I'm not sure what to expect. My strenghts I think are my creativity and drawing, I come from visual and design back ground.

 

[eloquent]

hey guys, i just recently got accepted into three fashion programs, and i was wondering if any of you could offer some insight into them. i got accepted into fashion management as well as fashion business industry at george brown, as well as fashion merchandising at fanshawe. i really want to go to fanshawe, but not if the programs at george brown will help me more in the long run.

 

[sergfs]

On Tuesday I go to George Brown to do a sewing test for the Fashion Program?
Anyone can help me out, I've never sewed in my life.

This is the only program I applied to.

 

[sergfs]

i really want to go to fanshawe, but not if the programs at george brown will help me more in the long run.

I would go to George Brown. Read this. . George Brown is more of a fashion oriented school. Moreover, you'll be in the city with influence in Fashion. If you want to fanshawe looks good to, and if you want to.

 

[applejammy]

I'm dragging up an old thread by asking my question... but

I'm interested in art and design but am not sure I want to dive straight into a fashion design course. I know I definitely want to work in fashion, doing styling or visual merchandising but I don't want to rule out design in my future. Are there any courses that train you to be a buyer and stylist and gives you a chance to hone your art and design skills?

Alternatively, could a design student go into a styling career post-graduation?

 

[BetteT]

I don't know about Canadian Schools, but you should know that a design course doesn't really prep you to be a stylist.

Yeah ... any knowledge about fashion is helpfull. Styling is a little bit about knowing fashion, farbics, trends, etc. .... but it's more about: having the "eye" for what looks good on film/photos, a lot about networking and who you know in the business, a lot about knowing how to market your sevices and having great business skills because you are running your own business. Classes in Entreprenurial Studies and Marketing would be way more helpful in being a sucessfull stylist, than design classes.


TBH ... even most "stylist" courses at fashion schools don't do more than just introduce you to what you need to do to build a styling business. It's not a job where a degree or a certificate means anything to your prospective clients. Not to say the a course won't be helpful ... it will ... but it's only an introduction to a long and difficult process that you must take to make it. To learn more, there's a thread about it (in addition to the previous thread which is really long, linked in the first post of this thread All About Becoming a Fashion / Wardrobe Stylist - Part 2 Pretty much everything you need to know about how to break into styling is in these threads, if you can take the time to read it all. And you will find out that most working stylists have never take any courses in styling, at all.

 

[manner]

I go to George Brown College and am taking the Fashion Business program. It's a really good foundation course, and covers a wide range of classes (4 hour sewing classes, but also accounting, merchandising, fabric analysis etc). It's only a two year program, which is mainly why I chose it. I couldn't commit to 4 years of anything right now. Some of the professors can be a miss, but overall I'm happy with my education so far. To be honest I completely underestimated the place, I thought I would stroll in there and ace all my classes, that was naive and rather cocky of me.

A lot of students from the Business program choose to switch into the Fashion Management program because they don't like how much sewing is in the business course (which really came as a surprise to everyone, but I don't mind sewing.. now). One reason why I didn't switch into the management course is because you have an UNPAID 40hr/week internship during the summer, and I couldn't afford to not be paid during the summertime. George Brown also has a couple of "boutiques" on the fashion floor, I think it's run by the management students, which sounds like a good opportunity.

A lot of the Fashion Techniques and Design students I've talked to are constantly stressed out and running around crying come midterms and exams, it's kind of sad .. but they create some really amazing things.
Apparently the workload is even crazier at Ryerson (obviously because it's a 4 year program with a degree).

I think I made the right decision, I've got one year under my belt and only have one more to go. Next semester is supposed to be a lot more Business oriented, but also balances with 5 hours of sewing and drafting. Should be interesting..

Anyways that's my 2 cents!

 

[applejammy]

I noticed Ryerson offers a program in Fashion Styling and coordination through their Continuing Education department. Does anyone know anything about that and can recommend their courses?

http://ce-online.ryerson.ca/ce_2010...c96-1259-11d5-a614-000064657374&mode=crs_list

They also have other fashion focused courses available. I don't want to jump into a fashion design program right away, but i'd like to see if it's what I want to do as well.

 

[BetteT]

I don't know about this course, but I can say this about styling courses in general:

Styling is not something you can just take a course about or do as a major in school, and then you are prepared to work as a stylist ... it just doesn't work that way. In fact, most stylists never took any courses about the process. Instead, they developed their own skills and contacts, and learned how to run a business and slowly developed their body of work and their portfolio before they actually got any paid gigs. Or, even more often, it's who they knew who trusted their sense of style that got them into styling.

This whole set of classes are very general .... fashion styling, personal styling/consultation, photography, illustration, etc. Looks like a good overview of how a lot of related jobs work in fashion ... but it will not prepare you to be a stylist ... not sure what your goal is. It looks like it might be helpful if you don't know what to do in fashion if you don't want to be a designer. But then .... there are dozens of jobs these courses don't cover, so it's not anywhere complete. Not sure if taking the whole thing would be worth the money, TBH ......

The specific course about "Styling" looks like it starts to teach you about how to create a "fashion story" ... which is only one small part of being a fashion stylist for print ... but an important part . So it sounds like it might be helpful to any beginning stylist or someone who wants to work in the editorial dept. of a magazine, perhaps with the goal of becoming a fashion editor.

 

[Ives927]

I noticed Ryerson offers a program in Fashion Styling and coordination through their Continuing Education department. Does anyone know anything about that and can recommend their courses?

http://ce-online.ryerson.ca/ce_2010...c96-1259-11d5-a614-000064657374&mode=crs_list

They also have other fashion focused courses available. I don't want to jump into a fashion design program right away, but i'd like to see if it's what I want to do as well.

I'm a Fashion Communication student at Ryerson right now. I agree with BetteT that style/styling is not something that can ever be taught. I've heard about that course at school and I can assure you it won't be what it is made out to be. That is with any courses, actually. Ryerson is the best school for fashion in Canada, but fairs greatly in comparison to fashion schools around the world.

I enjoy my program, but even though it is called Fashion Communication, it is more communication than it is fashion. In fact, not many of the courses have much to do with fashion. Everything is very arts and design oriented. You do learn about fashion history, such as Worth and Vionnet and photographers in the likes of Avedon and Irving Penn, other than that, it's not very comprehensive. Not to mention, not many of the professions are not experts when it comes to fashion. They just teach what the course entails. In fact, some do not specialize in the field of the course they teach. The Fashion Design program, is as it seems. You make garments. Simple as that.

To be in fashion, I believe you have to have the natural talent. Style and creativity really can't be taught. It is, however, still a good idea to have a degree, which is the reason why I am in this program.

Of course, it doesn't hurt to take such a course. However, instead of paying $600 on a course, you might benefit more from educating yourself through magazines and/or fashion/design books and analyze them. A $15 magazine might do you better than a $600 course ever will.

 

[applejammy]

I'm a Fashion Communication student at Ryerson right now. I agree with BetteT that style/styling is not something that can ever be taught. I've heard about that course at school and I can assure you it won't be what it is made out to be. That is with any courses, actually. Ryerson is the best school for fashion in Canada, but fairs greatly in comparison to fashion schools around the world.

I enjoy my program, but even though it is called Fashion Communication, it is more communication than it is fashion. In fact, not many of the courses have much to do with fashion. Everything is very arts and design oriented. You do learn about fashion history, such as Worth and Vionnet and photographers in the likes of Avedon and Irving Penn, other than that, it's not very comprehensive. Not to mention, not many of the professions are not experts when it comes to fashion. They just teach what the course entails. In fact, some do not specialize in the field of the course they teach. The Fashion Design program, is as it seems. You make garments. Simple as that.

To be in fashion, I believe you have to have the natural talent. Style and creativity really can't be taught. It is, however, still a good idea to have a degree, which is the reason why I am in this program.

Of course, it doesn't hurt to take such a course. However, instead of paying $600 on a course, you might benefit more from educating yourself through magazines and/or fashion/design books and analyze them. A $15 magazine might do you better than a $600 course ever will.

Thanks for the reply Ives and Bette.

I know that just doing these courses alone isn't going to turn me into some fabulous stylist overnight, but what I want is to be able to learn the fundamentals of styling. The basic guidelines of creating an eye-pleasing looks, for instance. Knowing what clashes and what looks good together. I know styling is a kind of art form so creativity plays a large role, but you must still first know the rules before you can break them. That's what I want to learn. Are there books, like 'style bibles' that I can pick up to learn exactly this type of stuff?

When you say the Ryerson fashion design program is just making garments, what is missing from the curriculum currently?

And I also want to add - I feel talent is basically a bad word in my vocabulary. I firmly believe in the magic of hardwork and persistence in pursuing one's dreams, regardless of whether I lack talent or not (as viewed by outsiders).

 

[applejammy]

I don't know about this course, but I can say this about styling courses in general:

Styling is not something you can just take a course about or do as a major in school, and then you are prepared to work as a stylist ... it just doesn't work that way. In fact, most stylists never took any courses about the process. Instead, they developed their own skills and contacts, and learned how to run a business and slowly developed their body of work and their portfolio before they actually got any paid gigs. Or, even more often, it's who they knew who trusted their sense of style that got them into styling.

This whole set of classes are very general .... fashion styling, personal styling/consultation, photography, illustration, etc. Looks like a good overview of how a lot of related jobs work in fashion ... but it will not prepare you to be a stylist ... not sure what your goal is. It looks like it might be helpful if you don't know what to do in fashion if you don't want to be a designer. But then .... there are dozens of jobs these courses don't cover, so it's not anywhere complete. Not sure if taking the whole thing would be worth the money, TBH ......

The specific course about "Styling" looks like it starts to teach you about how to create a "fashion story" ... which is only one small part of being a fashion stylist for print ... but an important part . So it sounds like it might be helpful to any beginning stylist or someone who wants to work in the editorial dept. of a magazine, perhaps with the goal of becoming a fashion editor.

Are there any entry level jobs that help with getting a stylist career? Even working at a clothing store and getting access to visual merchandising is a good start, right? I don't know...

 

[BetteT]

I"m going to answer your two questions about learning to become a stylist over in the All About Becoming a Fashion / Wardrobe Stylist - Part 2 thread .... because we've moved off topic (Ryersons).

Hopefully Ives will pop back in here and answer your question about the curriculum.

 

[Ives927]

Thanks for the reply Ives and Bette.

When you say the Ryerson fashion design program is just making garments, what is missing from the curriculum currently?

And I also want to add - I feel talent is basically a bad word in my vocabulary. I firmly believe in the magic of hardwork and persistence in pursuing one's dreams, regardless of whether I lack talent or not (as viewed by outsiders).

Well, of course there are supplementary courses such as history of costume and elective courses, but as with any design programs, the main focus is on producing original garments. The design program will teach you skills that will benefit you.

What I think the fashion programs at Ryerson lack in are providing in-depth knowledge of the fashion industry today. The school also lack in professors that are in the industry. Let me just say that some students know more about what is happening in fashion than most (if not all) professors do. Anything discussed in lectures only touches the surface of the fashion industry. There isn't enough concrete information and knowledge provided that gives you a good insight into the industry.

The one thing that I am disappointed in is the lack of focus on fashion. Like I said before, the program is very arts/design oriented. Take away the handful of fashion history courses, it could easily be mistaken as an arts program.

The program itself seems to be very generalized and designed for students that want to get a career that revolves around arts and design and not in fashion (Keep in mind I am basing my opinion on the program I am in, fashion communication).

Those are my 2cents. Hope it helps.

 

[applejammy]

Well, of course there are supplementary courses such as history of costume and elective courses, but as with any design programs, the main focus is on producing original garments. The design program will teach you skills that will benefit you.

What I think the fashion programs at Ryerson lack in are providing in-depth knowledge of the fashion industry today. The school also lack in professors that are in the industry. Let me just say that some students know more about what is happening in fashion than most (if not all) professors do. Anything discussed in lectures only touches the surface of the fashion industry. There isn't enough concrete information and knowledge provided that gives you a good insight into the industry.

The one thing that I am disappointed in is the lack of focus on fashion. Like I said before, the program is very arts/design oriented. Take away the handful of fashion history courses, it could easily be mistaken as an arts program.

The program itself seems to be very generalized and designed for students that want to get a career that revolves around arts and design and not in fashion (Keep in mind I am basing my opinion on the program I am in, fashion communication).

Those are my 2cents. Hope it helps.

So you're learning drawing skills and how to design a pleasing picture or something? That's something I wouldn't have expected. OK... well, honestly, in choosing to go to school in Toronto you sort of expect that the education is not going to rival that of schools in NYC or any other fashion capital. If I ever choose to go serious I'm going straight to NYC to FIT or something similar.

 

[Ives927]

You hit it right on the nail. Lots of drawing and graphic designs. Not that there is anything wrong, but not everyone is good at drawing. Neither do I believe you have to be good at drawing and designs to be in fashion. You just have to he creative and talented. Definitely consider schools in NYC.

 

[canadianvogue]

Hey you guys, I know its a bit dead here but I have so many questions about fashion school after high school and no one can really ever completely answer my questions.

Does anyone know of any other fashion marketing/merchandising 4-year programs in Canada? Or alternatives? I know there are tons of 2-year programs but I would prefer four years, and definitely not programs in design (Ryerson seems fabulous but their courses are mostly centered around designing). I would go to New York if my family had the money..

Thanks for the help!

 

[baytsym]

hmm, maybe try Lasalle College in Montreal?

 

[canadianvogue]

is la salle a four year college? and also would they have classes in english because my french is pretty rusty

 

[models_vlada]

Any School in Quebec City?