Skills Needed

Fashion Education Program Online

New York, NY (USA), July 2015 - Teen Vogue and Parsons School of Design at The New School have announced a new online fashion-education program designed to help millennials launch or transition into a career in fashion. Titled "Certificate in Fashion Industry Essentials", the program's enrollment recently opened, with the first cohort starting 15 September. Certification for completion of the program is provided by Parsons.

The partnership combines the industry knowledge, expertise, and fashion network at Teen Vogue with the innovative designers and faculty at Parsons. The Certificate in Fashion Industry Essentials will complement Parsons' other degree and certificate fashion programs by offering a new online educational experience that can help students lay the foundation for the knowledge and skills they will need to get ahead in a rapidly changing and competitive industry.

The specially designed coursework from Parsons and Teen Vogue will cover those elements that aspiring fashion professionals need to know in order to lay the foundation for a career in the fashion industry. The online education program will teach students how to hone their focus within the world of fashion, how the fashion industry works, and how to build a personal career brand and network.

"As the next generation of designers and artists continue to express an interest in the world of fashion, it is important for Parsons to offer new opportunities and gateways to access this world," said Andy Atzert, Vice President, Distributed and Global Education of The New School. "By partnering with Teen Vogue, we can now offer future fashion industry leaders across the globe a chance to learn the skills needed to start in the fashion industry in a way that both democratizes the process and provides insightful, real-world experience."

"Teen Vogue has always worked to educate and inspire our readers on the various career opportunities in fashion," said Teen Vogue editor in chief, Amy Astley. "By taking the knowledge and experience of both Parsons and Teen Vogue, we are able to teach the next wave of editors, designers, stylists, and more, the fundamentals for success, as well as show them the many paths that are open throughout the industry."

There are five courses within the program, each covering a different aspect of the fashion industry: Visual Style, Design, Production, Media, and Marketing. Courses combine interactive elements, featuring video lessons taught by Parsons faculty alongside supplemental reading material provided by Teen Vogue and other industry sources.

Lessons are reinforced with specific assignments and placed in greater context with real-world advice from Teen Vogue experts and other industry leaders, including Rebecca Minkoff, International Fashion Designer; Amy Astley, Editor-in-Chief of Teen Vogue; and Francesca Sammaritano, Parsons Faculty and former Fashion Designer for Calvin Klein.

In total, the program is equivalent to a full semester course with 42+ hours of online instruction and self-study; including 70+ on-demand video lessons taught by 20+ instructors and a combination of skills and career-focused assignments.