Through this program, you will complete a week-long project involving aspects of textile design, fashion design, and fashion merchandising. You will have the opportunity to design and explore in Thomas Jefferson University's 14,000-square-foot Fashion and Textile Futures Center, as well as Fashion Merchandising & Management’s brand-new studio space. Learn about one of the largest and most exciting industries in the world from current faculty and industry professionals. 

This workshop invites you to engage with the many different facets of fashion, and introduces you to the collaborative and cross-disciplinary approach throughout fashion and textile industries. Members of the Thomas Jefferson University faculty will guide students through an immersive, career-focused curriculum that prepares students to contribute to aspects of the fashion value chain. Ranked among the top fashion schools by Business of Fashion and Fashionista, the program emphasizes active and hands on learning applications.

Our goal is to inspire high school students to pursue creative careers at Thomas Jefferson University.

Within this workshop, students explore fashion through the lens of inclusivity, environment, and ethics. With a focus on sustainable design practices, students will tap into currently underdeveloped areas of the fashion ecosystem to develop new and exciting opportunities.

Students will learn to research their inspirations and create engaging and aspirational mood boards based on their inspirations. Through textile design, students will synthesize their inspiration into print designs, jacquards, knits, and other unique fabrications. Inspired by these textiles, students will then explore fashion design with a focus on sustainability. Through an upcycling project, students will develop new and exciting silhouette ideas, and will sketch a capsule collection incorporating the textiles they developed. After these collections have been designed, participants will weave into Fashion Merchandising and Management. Students will assess the importance of developing brands and customer profiles to market products in a global world driven by technology. At the end of the week, students will present their projects to faculty and peers in a professional-style critique to gather feedback. 

Summer Academy Schedule 2023:

July 10-14, 2023: 9am-5pm

Monday, July 10th

• 9am- 5pm- Intro to Textile Design

Tuesday, July 11th

• 9am- 12pm- Intro to Textile Design
• 1pm- 5pm- Intro to Fashion Design

Wednesday, July 12th

• 9am- 5pm- Intro to Fashion Design

Thursday, July 13th

• 9am-5pm Intro to Fashion Merchandising & Management

Friday, July 14th-

• 9am- 12pm- Intro to Fashion Merchandising & Management
• 1pm- 5pm- Final Presentations

Eligibility

• Open to students entering their freshman- senior year of high school.

Fees & Materials

• Fee:
  • Enrollment in this 5-day workshop is $500; a $50 non-refundable deposit will reserve your space in this workshop
  • Registration fee balance is due no later than Monday, 6/26/2023.

• Materials Needed:
  • All necessary art supplies will be provided
• Lunch:
  • Pizza will be provided for lunch on Tuesday and Friday. Students are asked to bring a brown-bagged lunch on all other days and if they do not wish to partake in pizza.

At the end of the Jefferson Fashion and Textile Summer Workshop, students will:

• Understand the different career paths fashion and textiles offer globally.
• Conceptualize creative ideas through research, mood boards, and sketches to design for a brand.
• Examine techniques that allow designers to translate shape, color, pattern, form, fabrication, and movement through sketching & fabric selections.
• Discover the value and importance of creating, marketing, and merchandising a product in a consumer-driven digital environment.
• Develop professional critique skills, which allow textile and fashion teams to provide and receive valuable and professional feedback.