Your first year at the Ryerson Fashion program will no doubt be a whirlwind. It is common to both Communication and Design students and it acts as a foundation for your next three years. Courses provide an overview of the fashion industry as well as theories and concepts that look at history, current events and challenges facing the industry in order to inform new opportunities and shape the future. Cultural and fashion events will introduce you to the world of networking with industry professionals. Guest lecturers from the industry will also be speaking at many of your classes to give insight and guidance into the working world.

Common to both options

Second year is filled with opportunities as you begin to specialize in your specific option and develop your skills while exploring your particular interests through professionally-related and liberal electives. In your courses you will start to examine how society looks at fashion and how fashion can change a society. Taking courses in business and communication practices you will begin to design with purpose and integrate your skill sets into projects that replicate real-world situations. We encourage you to get involved in internships and fashion events this year, whether it’s through event planning or submitting your own garments to gain exposure.

Your third year focuses greatly on applying skills to the real-world. You’ll be learning to conduct research and ask the right questions in order to identify where problems lie. Furthermore, you will be using technology to generate innovative design solutions to these problems. Competitions paired with industry partners McGregor and Danier allow you to present yourself and your ideas in a professional and persuasive manner while leaving you with an advanced set of technical skills that give you a competitive edge in the industry. Fashion Communication students will enroll in either Typography and Graphic Production or Fashion Promotion (also known as Mass Exodus). Finally, to add to the excitement, the opportunity to go on an international exchange occurs in the winter term for both Communication and Design students.

The bitter-sweet wrap-up to your undergrad, your fourth year brings it all together with an independently-guided project. In Communication this is known as your Capstone and Design, your final collection. These projects involve research, critical thinking and envelop all your skills to produce an innovative project featured in Mass Exodus. Your courses will complement this process and the objective to make a positive change in the industry locally, nationally and internationally. You will gain a deeper knowledge of the perceptions of consumers while developing employable skills for a job in fashion and related industries.