Fashion Program Gets New Look

A Sketch by fashion/design student Mayara Batista of Eastchester High School

The Fashion Design/Merchandising Program at the Southern Westchester BOCES Center for Career Services has been getting a makeover. The two-year program has been updated to reflect a greater emphasis on the design aspects of the fashion industry, and a plans are being made to partner with the Fashion Institute of Technology, Parsons The New School of Design, and the Pratt Institute.

Career Services Director Linda Suarez is excited about the newly revamped program, which is concentrating more on the art and design techniques used to create clothing, including computer-aided design technology. A more in-depth study of the merchandising aspects of the fashion industry has also been incorporated into the curriculum.

"We want to focus more on the entire fashion design process," said Ms. Suarez, "and that will mean taking a design project from its inception to market, much like the professionals do in this multi-billion dollar industry."

The program at the Valhalla campus is for students interested in learning all aspects of fashion design. The curriculum includes fashion drawing, the history of fashion, textile studies, pattern making/draping, sewing techniques, CAD (Computer Assisted Design), and merchandising.

Clem Ceccarelli, supervisor of Secondary Day Programs at the Center, said the emphasis on creativity should encourage students to "think outside of the box." Designing one's own patterns as opposed to using patterns ordered from commercial companies is a way for students to develop their own concepts, he explained.  

Learning basic draping principles as they apply to current fashion trends and using the flat pattern design method to develop a variety of bodices, skirts, sleeves, collars, and shirts are some of the skills students are acquiring, he said.

Ms. Suarez said the curriculum has been revised to mirror the courses required by New York's top fashion design colleges so that students have a competitive advantage in the admissions process.

"Our graduates will leave this program with a fashion design portfolio and the basic construction fundamentals needed to make finished garments," she said. "It's a rigorous and relative program that I think students will really enjoy."

Newly hired fashion design instructor Carmen Galiano is also happy with the new curriculum. With more than 15 years of experience as a fashion designer in New York City, Ms. Galiano said the program is broad enough to give students a "little bit of everything so they see where their strengths and interests are."

A unit on the historical aspects of the industry should be especially helpful, she said. Creating "mood boards," a technique used by designers at the beginning stages of a project to convey the overall feel of a collection, can help students relate to a particular period, she added.

"I want the students to know that designers get inspiration from literally everything," said Ms. Galiano. "Since fashion is cyclical, it is important to understand where we've been in order to predict the future of the industry."

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