UW-Stout offers highly unique fashion design, development program

Cheryl Hentz

Contributor

March 18, 2024

MENOMONIE – The Universities of Wisconsin have much to offer students, but some programs within the system are only offered at certain universities.

Such is the case with the Bachelor of Science program for Fashion Design & Development – formerly called Fashion & Retail. 

This program is offered almost exclusively at the University of Wisconsin-Stout’s (UW-Stout), Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University. 

“We are unique in terms of the (Universities of Wisconsin),” Sarah Eileen Smith, the interim program director for fashion development & design at Stout, said. “As a student, for example, I came here to Stout because it was my only option to do exactly what I wanted to do.”

Smith – who worked in the fashion industry for several years after graduation as a technical designer – said Stout approaches designing and making garments scientifically. 

“That scientific approach, where we’re looking at things from their foundation and building blocks and going from there, is unique, as well,” she said. “A lot of institutions that are focused on fashion and design focus on creative design only, not on the technical design aspect. We find that focusing on both gives our graduates a leg up when they’re going out to interview for those entry-level positions. They can speak to both sides of the process and can be a good cross-functional team player.”

New digs

The entire Fashion Design & Development program, Smith said, is moving from the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Management to the College of Arts and Human Sciences to be housed in the college’s design department.

Most of the move, she said, has already been completed, but there’s a lot of paperwork that still needs to be done.

It’s expected everything will be finalized by July.

However, Smith said the university is already accepting applicants for the newly-named Fashion Design and Development program.

“We’re seeing some renewed and more extensive interest with this adjustment we’re making to (the program being) housed in the design department,” she said. “We found in the past, some students were a little scared off by us being housed in STEM because they wanted to be sure they had a creative focus. So, we’re hopeful this move will help spur some more interest in our program as we continue forward.”

Currently, Smith said there are about 80 students enrolled in the overall program with a cap of 20 students in the lab at any one time to ensure students get face-time with their instructor.

“We’re also unique because we’re a Bachelor of Science program, not a Bachelor of Arts,” she said. “We go toward everything with a scientific approach, and then we have the added creativity aspect we are offering by going over to the College of Arts and Human Sciences.”     

No need for prerequisite knowledge

Smith said one need not be a sewer, crochetter or have experience working with any kind of fabric to enroll in the program.

If they do have that kind of experience, she said it’s a plus, but certainly not a requirement.

The main thing, Smith said, is that students have an interest in some aspect of fashion – those who could find their future in the fashion design and development program at Stout.

“We see students with all kinds of levels of experience and interest,” she said. “We see students who have a general interest in fashion. We also see students who are into sewing – maybe they’ve been sewing with their grandparents since they were little and they love the process of the garment coming together.”

Smith said the program also has students who are interested in art, just generally.

“Maybe they’re interested in drawing and they love drawing fashion figures and that’s a way they express their artistic (leanings),” she said. “Then we have students who are more interested in the mechanics of how things come together, so they’re more focused on construction and technical aspects of how things are made. So, it is a mixed bag.”

UW-Stout, Smith said, does not have a requirement that students have some level of prerequisite knowledge, which she said is unique to the university.

“We love to have students who have never sewn a day in their life or been around a sewing machine,” she said. “But we also love having students who have been drawing fashion figures since they were little. And we love students who maybe do know how to sew everything but maybe they’re having a hard time with other aspects of it. Any student who is interested in some aspect of fashion could find their future here, for sure.”

Well-rounded knowledge of industry

Smith said students in the program work on real-world projects, with a unique combination of design and technology – learning about apparel construction, textile pattern structures and 21st-century garment engineering and manufacturing, as well as visual merchandising, merchandise planning, product sourcing, social media marketing and market research.

“They’re learning not only to imagine what the garment they want to make will look like, but how to put it on paper, how it would be constructed, how to make the pattern that makes the product and how to write technical packets which are like blueprints of what the garment should be,” she said. “All students in this program learn how to do all of those things. Learning everything on both sides helps students have a broader understanding of the industry they’ll work in. It also helps them gain insight and get a feel for what areas of the industry they prefer and excel at.” 

Regardless of what area of fashion students end up pursuing after school, Smith said it’s important to understand all of the pieces and how they all come together.

UW-Stout, she said, is an applied-learning institution.

“Students will get their hands dirty working on products with us,” she said. “We will take things apart. We will help students understand how everything goes together, and they will have opportunities to see, touch and feel everything they’re working on and have a tactile experience. We know from all of our students that hands-on learning is a big thing for a lot of students these days, and I think we’re doing a great job offering them the space to learn in the ways they learn best.” 

Opportunities right here

Smith said students graduating with a degree in Fashion Design & Development don’t have to go to New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Paris, London or other places like that to get a job in fashion following graduation – there are opportunities right here in the area.

There are plenty of big and small retailers in Wisconsin and nearby states, she said, who are happy to hire Stout grads.

“Target, for example, has its corporate headquarters in Minneapolis,” she said. “Kohls is run out of Menomonie, Wisconsin. Trek Bicycle has an apparel division and they are located by Madison. Duluth Trading Company is in southern Wisconsin and there’s Mason Company in Chippewa Falls.”

The types of clothing or other products being designed by Stout graduates, Smith said, vary greatly also.

One of Stout’s alumni, she said, designs clothing for ice fishing, while others work designing hunting gear, cheerleading costumes or high-end fashion. 

“We have graduates doing everything and working on any type of product you can imagine,” she said. “For example, we have alumni who work on things like interiors of aircraft. There’s so many directions someone can go.”

Smith said Stout has a high placement rate for students graduating from their fashion design programs, as well.

The university’s 2022-23 First Destination Outcomes survey showed that with 24 degrees conferred upon students, 100% of them are either working within the industry with an average yearly salary of $53,000, or they have gone on to continue their education. 

A culmination of work

The seniors in the program, Smith said, can showcase their years of study with the Spring Fashion Show – this year’s showcase is set for April 27.  

“(The seniors in our program) produce collections of garments for the show,” she said. “It’s four looks, so each student has four models who go down the runway in garments that were conceived by each designer. Those seniors also go through an entire process of developing their brand… Essentially, they’re creating their own design house for this event.”

Afterward, there are exhibition booths set up where the students can meet people and talk about their brands and designs.

Smith said showcase attendees can see all the materials the students used in their work, as well as see the garments up close.

“It’s a cool experience and, for some of the students, this will be the only show they do,” she said. “We like to talk about it as if this show is like their baby. They’re producing something that no one’s ever seen before. It’s exciting for them.”

The event is open to the public, but key members from campus are always invited, such as the chancellor, provost and department heads. 

“We also invite our advisory board to attend,” she said. “These are industry partners from all over who we meet with twice a year. They give us their feedback on our curriculum, and they talk with students. We tell them what we’re doing and they help make sure we’re keeping up with the times and that we’re producing graduates who they want to hire.”

More information about the upcoming showcase can be found on the university’s website (uwstout.edu).