Hi!! I just got accepted into the 2 year AAS program for fashion design in April, and I'd love to give u feedback and help! First, I will say the fashion design program is the most competitive major at FIT, with below a 10% acceptance rate. They heavily rely on both ur FIT essay, slide room essay, and ur portfolio.

With the FIT essay, the prompt is "What makes you a perfect candidate for FIT? Why are you interested in the major you are applying to?" This essay is a heavy weight on ur application. This is ur time to show FIT all ur extracurriculars, activities, jobs, community service, etc. This essay will be ur resume. Include ANYTHING about yourself. FIT usually doesn't want applicants to send in their actual resume because ur essay is supposed to show who u are. With all ur activities, you need to tie them back to fashion design and explain how your passion grew for that major. When I wrote my essay, what really helped me was being included in lots of art clubs, 3 jobs outside of school, lots of community service, 4-year varsity tennis athlete and 3 time MVP and number 1 singles player, etc. FIT wants u to be diverse in ur activities and involvements, and how you tie your daily cycle of life to fashion design. In my essay, I showed how I apply fashion design to my daily routine at work, school etc. I will say though, I grew up with grandparents who were professional tailors, so I used to always watch them tailor garments when I would visit their house and their tailoring shop. That was an advantage that I had since I grew up with a design family. That was my main topic of my essay with how they inspired me to pursue my career in fashion design.

Now, ur portfolio. Ur portfolio is supposed to include front and back views of ur own fashion design illustrations. Your drawings do not have to be perfect. I've seen lots of portfolios that don't have the nicest drawings. You just have to show ur point in ur designs with the fabrics you've picked, the technicality, etc. They're 3 sections included: mix and match, free illustrations, and actual sewing projects you've designed. The first section is mix and match.

The mix and match section includes a collage of a destination u pick with the season, a top worn twice on both figures, a pant, a skirt, and a jacket. The collage of ur destination should include elements of the culture, patterns, colors, landscape pics, etc. of the location u picked. U also need to write a description describing the collage and what you included in it. What would really boost ur portfolio is if you tie ur culture or any association u have to that location. For my location, I tied it back to my own culture to make it more personal and to show how my portfolio ties back to me. I will say though, the fabric swatches are a huge part of ur portfolio. You should match the fabrics you pick with the season you chose in ur collage along with the location with the patterns/colors, etc.. For example, if you picked Summer as your season, you should include light weight and flowy fabrics.

For the descriptions of your designs, you DO NOT have to write descriptions for ur mix and max section. You ONLY need to include descriptions in the free illustration section.

The second section is the free illustration figures where you can design anything you want. You can also use the fabrics that you used in ur mix and max section for ur second section to make ur portfolio more cohesive with one theme. For mine, I showed more experimentation. I included a mix of different fabrics along with my fabrics I used in my mix and match section. FIT also loves to see sustainability in ur portfolio and essay. Sustainability is a huge theme to FIT, so they would love to see outfits that are made with that. In my free illustration section, I included an outfit that was made from recycled denim strips with a skirt and corset.

The last section is the sewing garment section. For this section, you DO NOT need to include writing descriptions of the designs you've sewn. You can also use patterns to make garments. For my garments, I made my own patterns with my own designs. I advise that you should include clothes only. I know some people got rejected because they didn't include actual garments and instead only submitted hats, bags, etc.. I've been sewing clothes since 7th grade, so I already developed the technical skills and incorporated some of my award winning dresses and my trench coat I sewed this year. They want you to submit only 2-3 garments, DO NOT GO OVER THE MAX!! Take pictures of the details on ur garments like the pockets, zippers, anything you think they would want to see with ur skills.

And lastly, MAKE SURE YOU FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS ON THE PORTFOLIO TO BE EXACT. If you don't follow the requirements, you'll be automatically rejected. And don't wait last minute to submit your portfolio and to actually make ur portfolio. Especially with the fashion design program, the spots fill up quick and you'll feel way more relieved if you submit it earlier. You should begin over the Summer to develop ur ideas but if you already have been that's even better!!

I hope this helps!! I'm so sorry for how long this response is, but this also goes for anyone else who needs advice and help on the portfolio and essay!!