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Introduction to Fashion & Interior Design

Course Description

This course is designed for the student interested in a career in fashion, textiles or interior design. In this course, students will obtain a foundation in the knowledge needed for more advanced studies of fashion, textiles, or interior design. Students will cover the basics of the physical, psychological, social and cultural reasons for how we dress, the elements and principles of design, textiles, and selection for apparel and home use.  One quarter will focus on Interior Design and the other quarter on Fashion Design.

Grade Level(s):  9th-12th grades

Related Standards (State &/or National): National Standards for Family Consumer Sciences Education

Priority Standards include:

  • Analyze the psychological impact that the principles and elements of design have on the individual. (11.2.2) 
  • Analyze the effects that the principles and elements of design have on aesthetics and function. (11.2.3)
  • Demonstrate design, construction document reading, and space planning skills required for the housing, interior design and furnishings industries. (11.4)
  • Apply design knowledge, skills, processes, and theories and oral, written, and visual presentation skills to communicate design ideas. (11.7)
  • Apply appropriate terminology for identifying, comparing, and analyzing the most common generic textile fibers and fabrics. (16.2.1)
  • Demonstrate textiles, fashion, and apparel design skills. (16.3)
  • Explain the ways in which fiber, fabric, texture, pattern, and finish can affect visual appearance. (16.3.1)
  • Apply basic and complex color schemes and color theory to develop and enhance visual effects. (16.3.2)
  • Utilize elements and principles of design in designing, constructing, and/or altering textiles, fashion, and apparel. (16.3.3)
  • Apply research methods, including forecasting techniques, for marketing textiles, fashion, and apparel. (16.5.6)

Essential Questions

  • How can different sketching and illustration techniques be used to create and communicate different fashion and interior designs? How does a designer communicate information?
  • How can various garment elements and garment details be utilized to create unique fashion designs?
  • How do the elements of design guide the principles of design?
  • How can different elements and principles of design be applied and/or manipulated to produce intended design outcomes in the fashion and/or interior design industries? 
  • How are designers guided by inspiration?
  • How does a designer design for unity, harmony, practicality, and/or efficiency? 
  • What considerations influence the design of a living space?

Enduring Understandings/Big Ideas

As a result of their coursework and experiences in the Introduction to Fashion & Interior Design course, students will be able to:

  • Demonstrate textiles, fashion, and apparel design skills.
  • Evaluate elements of textiles, fashion, and apparel merchandising.
  • Evaluate housing and design concepts and theories in relation to available resources and options.
  • Apply residential and interior design knowledge, skills and processes to meet specific design needs.
  • Analyze the design and development of interiors and/or furnishings. 
  • Conduct research as to current consumer and fashion trends and design garments and styles in response to that research. 
  • Design interior spaces and fashion lines for focus groups.
  • Analyze how various elements and principles of design are utilized in different ways in the fashion and interior design industries. 
  • Design different living spaces in a home, considering traffic patterns, industry standards, function, and efficiency in doing so.

Course-Level Scope & Sequence (Units &/or Skills)

Unit 1: Fashion Sketching

In this unit, students will learn and practice fashion sketching and illustration techniques. Students will create  sketches that provide the designer's vision and ultimate design goal.  

  • Students will use fashion sketches to communicate design ideas.
  • Students will use a croqui figure to draw & design details such as ruffles, pleats, gathers, darts, and hemlines.
  • Students will use a croqui figure to draw clothing including different necklines, sleeves, tops, dresses, skirts, and pants.
  • Students will shade fashion designs using pencil, colored pencil, and art markers.
  • Students will sketch, shade, and render an original fashion design.

Unit 2: Garment Elements, Fabric Types, & Current Trends

In this unit, students will learn garment parts, styles, and fabric types.  Students will identify the current runway trends including garment parts, styles, fabric types and colors and then use that research to create new design styles.

  • Students will explore and identify a variety of garment styles, garment parts and design details.
  • Students will identify basic shaping techniques for designing garments.
  • Students will identify woven and knit fabric types.
  • Students will evaluate current trends in garment details and fabrics.
  • Using Vogue and other current sources, students will research and gather data on the upcoming seasons' trends. (Assignment)
  • Students will create a trend board for the upcoming season. (Assignment)
  • Students will design a head-to-toe look that could “fit with” a designer’s upcoming season. (Assignment)

Unit 3: Elements & Principles of Design in Fashion

In this unit, students examine each of the visual elements of design and their relation to apparel and fashion design. Students study and learn about the elements of shape, form, line, color, and texture and then apply their knowledge of those elements to evaluate how those elements create the principles of design - proportion & scale, balance, rhythm, emphasis, and unity/harmony.

  • Students will identify and analyze the visual elements of design in relation to fashion design.
  • Students will identify and analyze the principles of design in fashion.
  • Students will recognize the various color schemes in clothing.
  • Students will explain how color influences fashion design in different ways.
  • Students will describe how the elements and principles of design are utilized and featured in current runway designs.
  • Students will use the elements and principles to create a fabric pattern.

Unit 4: Fashion Design

In this unit, students will design a three-piece fashion line using inspiration from a non-fashion source. Students will use previous knowledge of garment parts, details, fabrics, etc. to create an “on trend” design for the upcoming fashion season.

  • Students will design and sketch a three-piece fashion design line while working through the design process.
  • Students will choose fabrics and/or design a fabric print for their design line based on market trends, focus group and design season.
  • Students will design for a focus group of choice.
  • Students will use non-fashion inspiration to design their three-piece line.
  • Students will use current trend research to include design details in their three-piece line.

Unit 5: Elements & Principles of Design in Interior Design

In this unit, students will examine each of the visual elements of design in relation to interior design. During this unit the various elements used in design are reviewed along with the principles & how these relate to designing interior spaces.

  • Students will examine and identify the visual elements of design in relation to interior design.
  • Students will be able to interpret and identify how the elements and principles are used to design pleasing spaces.
  • Students will recognize the various color schemes in interior design.
  • Students will design a space/ accent wall, applying the elements and principles of design in doing so.
  • Students will identify uses of the elements and principles used in interior spaces that provoke both pleasant and undesirable responses.

Unit 6: Living Spaces, Traffic Patterns, & Floor Plans

In this unit, students will determine the main living spaces in a residential home and the common traffic patterns associated with those spaces. Students will create floor plans to scale, using residential industry standards for furniture arrangement and traffic patterns by hand or using 3D design software.

  • Students will draw a floor plan for a space in a home to scale - either by hand or using 3D design software.
  • Students will design a space in a home using residential industry standards.
  • Students will determine the main living spaces in a residential home and explain how the main spaces function together.
  • Students will examine common traffic patterns in residential spaces.
  • Students will analyze different floor plans for the main living spaces and traffic patterns.
  • Students will use the appropriate scale when creating floor plans for interior design.

Course Resources & Materials: TBD

Date Last Revised/Approved: 2022