Course Structure

The course is organized around 3 Ateliers, each lasting 30 academic weeks. Each atelier encompasses specific module groupings structured around various themes.

The 3 Ateliers correspond to the 3 levels identified within the Higher Education Framework. The course is constructed in compliance with the Bologna Convention principles and grant participants, upon completion, a total of 180 ECTS (60 ECTS per Atelier or year).

The underlying rationale behind this course construction is to allow students to be immersed in an environment that mimics what their working conditions will be like in a fashion studio. The assessment strategy uses a perfect balance between summative and formative assessments in order to improve skills not only on core disciplines but also in project planning and time management. Projects are concurrently conducted between all modules in order to improve students’ transferable skills, allowing them to link skills and competencies from various domains.

First Atelier: Discovery

The first atelier is conducted as the first year of the Bachelor Course. Under the framework of Higher Education Programs, the first Atelier is equivalent to an H.E. Level 4. Students are following core modules in order to discover the universe of fashion. They will acquire basic skills in design, construction, digital fashion, and fashion history in order to lay the pedagogical foundation of their learning curve.

Fashion Design 1

In the first installment of this module grouping, students will discover the fundamental skills of fashion design:

• How to sketch women and men figurines and technical drawings of each type of garments How to use colors and create color ranges adapted to fashion;
• How to design prints and integrate them into a garments collection How to develop a creative research methodology and exacerbate their curiosity and creativity;
• How to express their inspirations and ideas through mood boards, illustrations, stylization and complete professional portfolios How to build and structure a collection plan.

Fashion Workshop 1

Fashion design is not only abstract conceptions, and creativity must be supported by practical experimentation and technical research. In this first installment of Fashion Workshop, students will experiment different dying methods and printing techniques, work on silhouette construction through styling, discover and analyze various Artists and Designers through attending International exhibitions or work on the implementation of the concept and developed in the Fashion Design Module.

Digital Fashion Design 1

Mastering the right software is absolutely essential in today’s fashion industry: it’s necessary to design precise technical sketches and to present ideas and designs in a professional way. In the first installment of this module, students will learn the fundamentals of Photoshop, Illustrator, and In-Design.

Pattern Making and Draping 1

The knowledge of fashion is incomplete without a good understanding of construction. In the first installment of this module, students will discover the two main methods to develop clothes: pattern making and draping. They will learn how to create patterns directly from body measurements or by draping on a dummy according to I.F.A. Paris own construction techniques, developed by our own lecturers over 2 decades. At the end of the first level students will be able to design the patterns of usual skirts, shirts, and dresses.

Production 1

Fashion designers have to imagine every details and finishing of the garments they create, that’s why mastering the garment production process is so important. At the first level students will learn gradually different sewing and finishing methods to produce complete garments such as skirts and shirts.

Fashion History and Culture

Know the past and understand the present to create the future. Like every creative field, fashion is a culture and it’s essential to know its history and development before being able to visualize the directions it will take. Through lectures, research and presentation of archives, students will discover the evolution of fashion through time and analyze the works, style, and inspiration of the most important fashion designers with a special focus on the masters of the international fashion from the last forty years.

Second Atelier: Experimentation

The second atelier is conducted as the second year of the Bachelor Course. Under the Higher Education Programs framework, the second atelier is equivalent to an H.E. Level 5. In this stage of their learning experience, students are invited to develop their creativity through experimentation. Specific themes such as men’s wear, children’s wear or knitting workshop will be covered through interlinked modules. The pedagogical objective is to improve participants’ critical thinking.

Fashion Design 2

In the second installment of this module, students will apply the skills acquired during the first year and experiment new inspirations and concepts in various fashion projects including menswear collection, accessories collection, children’s wear collection, and fabric transformation. They will have to adapt their personal ideas to different kind of products and market segments and understand how to adapt their own creativity to main fashion trends.

Fashion Workshop 2

In connection to Fashion Design 2, students will continue to explore various techniques and practical methods that can enhance their creative expression. They will experiment embroideries, pleating or knitting methods that will allow them to imagine more elaborate fashion products. They will also have the opportunity to collaborate with professional suppliers and external workshops to experiment with the management of the supply chain which is an important part of the job of a fashion designer.

Digital Fashion Design 2

The second part of this module is designed as a workshop supporting the development of students’ creations in Fashion Design as well as in Fashion Workshop. By this stage, students will be guided by their instructors in order to assess which software is better suited to their creative and personal requirements. The objective is to experiment and find the best tool to generate fashion design portfolios and presentation reflecting the students’ own identities.

Pattern Making and Draping 2

Building upon Pattern Making and Draping 1, the module will allow students to learn how to combine two-dimensional and three-dimensional approaches to find the best methodology so as to create the patterns for any kind of garments. They will experiment on how to adapt the classical construction of pants, tailored jackets, kimono and raglan sleeves to create the pattern of their most creative designs.

Production 2

Like in the PMD module, the main goal of the second level production module is to lead students to be able to choose and practice the best production strategy and finishing method to maximize the quality of the finished garments they have to produce.

Digital Fashion Product

It’s very important to keep students up to date with the latest changes within the fashion industry. While the software developed by Lectra is usually supporting in fashion production, 3D printing is a brand-new technology that is bound to become inevitable in the future. In this module, students will learn the basic use of Lectra and one 3D graphics software they will later experiment with the completion of fashion projects.

Textile Technology

Fabric is still the main raw material of fashion, that’s why it’s essential to fashion students to have a deep knowledge of textile products. Through lectures, research and workshops, students will learn how fabrics are produced from fibers to weaving and knitting, understand their various characteristics, textures, and qualities and experiment their best uses for garment production according to their specificities.

Fashion Marketing 1

Although a creative one, fashion is an industry and fashion design is also affected by a brand strategy, market segmentation or price positioning. In this module, students will learn the basic marketing tools and explore the key success factors that lead fashion brand to success.

Third Atelier: Imprint

The third atelier is conducted as the third year of the Bachelor Course. Under the Higher Education Programs framework, the third atelier is equivalent to an H.E. Level 6. In the final process of their learning experience, students will focus on expressing their own voice as a designer. Through the development of a Mini-Collection, they will be asked to think in terms of personal creativity, appropriate construction techniques, contemporaneity, and unique selling proposition and positioning. The final objective here is to prepare a unique portfolio of garments to be used as stepping stone for job search within the industry or access to the Post-Graduate Course at I.F.A. called “Contemporary Fashion Design”.

Fashion Design 3

The main focus of the 3rd installment of the fashion design module is to create a complete and professional collection of womenswear or menswear according to a given theme. Each student will have to develop their own concepts and interpretations, design silhouettes including accessories, build a collection plan and create complete technical files of 4 to 6 garments that will be produced by the students. At the end of the process, students will have to present their collection portfolio to a professional jury.

Digital Fashion Design 3

In the last installment of this module, the main purpose will be to support the fashion design process and to create a personal and creative layout for the final collection portfolio.

Pattern Making and Draping 3

In this final module, students will have to develop 3 to 6 prototypes from the collection they have created. They will conduct research on volumes, find the right methodology to develop a pattern in the most efficient way and finalize the pattern of the garments they have to produce after a fitting session on models.

Production 3

In the production module, students will have to find and choose the most adapted fabrics, identify the best sewing methods and finishing solutions in order to produce their prototypes in the most professional way. At the end of this process, the best collection and prototypes will be selected by the jury to be showcased in the I.F.A. Paris annual Bachelor Fashion Design fashion show.

Fashion Marketing 2

While continuing to explore the main marketing theories and practice, students will have to define a marketing strategy for their final collection with the target market, price positioning, distribution, and communication strategy.

Student Workload over the 3 years

2112 Hours of Face-to-Face lectures
2444 Hours of Self-Study
180 Hours of Industry Networking