“Welcome to the Beach,” says the president of California State University, Long Beach. The ocean, just 3 miles away, provides a serene backdrop for students pursuing a degree in Fashion Merchandising and Design. The school is also located on the Los Angeles/Orange County line, where students can get a first hand look at some of Hollywood’s “Do’s and Don’ts” on the red carpet, and look behind the scenes at those creating all the glamour.
A Fashion Merchandising or Apparel Design degree prepares students for a career as a retail buyer, product designer/pattern maker, store operations manager, manufacturer’s representative, stylist, costume designer and more.
We talked to the schools Program Director, Dr. Suzanne Marshall, who said their fashion grads are also seeing jobs in social media. Dr. Marshall talked to us more about the program in our latest Q&A.
(This interview, done via email, has been edited for length & clarity)
FS: For starters, please give us an overview of your program and some of its highlights.
CSULB: We have over 600 students in our two majors (Fashion Merchandising 500+) and Apparel Design (100+), plus our two minors (Textiles; Fashion Merchandising). We are currently the highest ranking of the California Universities offering fashion schools.
Our faculty have earned the highest educational degrees plus having worked in the industry. Our faculty includes five who have Ph.D.s in either Fashion Merchandising and/or Design which is more than any school in California. Our lecturers each have Master's Degrees and fashion industry experience.
We offer a two-week course in Paris every summer. We partner with a fashion college in Paris for this course which includes seminars with a variety of international fashion professionals including the International Visual Display Director of Louis Vuitton and L'Essage.
We offer courses in New York City twice a year. Students often procure internships and/or jobs on these trips. We require two internships for our majors. One is required in retail during the student’s sophomore year. The senior internship is chosen by the interns from the over one hundred sponsors who request our interns.
We offer Bachelor's degrees which we believe better provides the knowledge base and expertise needed in the fashion industry.
Our degree program is affordable. Students will not need to borrow tens of thousands of dollars in order to complete their degree thus graduating in overwhelming debt. CSULB has been voted one of the best values in education for the US for the past several years.
We are located on the Los Angeles/Orange County line. This location positions us strategically for jobs and internships in both Los Angeles and Orange Counties.
FS: What do students in your program cite as the "best" parts of the fashion program at California State University Long Beach?
CSULB: Our annual Campus Couture Fashion Show which is held at our largest campus venue to over 1000 attendees many of whom are from the fashion industry. The fact that our show is judged by fashion industry professionals including Mikey Koffman, producer of LA Fashion Week and Michael Costello from Project Runway, Season 8. This provides students with multiple networking opportunities.
Our study-away programs including our Paris and New York courses and our trip to the Magic tradeshow each year.
FS: To what degree is it essential or beneficial for students to have existing knowledge of fashion or design?
CSULB: Knowledge is always a plus since it gives students entering the program an edge or leg up. Students who enter the program with existing knowledge are most likely to become the leaders in our programs and the extra curricular activities we offer.
FS: Will a student in the Fashion Merchandising and Design department also be required to take basic core classes, including general business classes?
CSULB: Yes our program offers several business focused classes. We require technology based classes as well. Because our university is the second largest in California, students are able to choose courses from a variety of subjects; journalism, public relations, costume design, graphic arts, business, marketing, accounting, management, etc. We feel these options enrich our students in ways that cannot be provided in two-year fashion schools.
FS: Tell us about your career placement services or any on-campus recruiting efforts for fashion students.
CSULB: We have industry presentations in all of our classes every semester. A variety of fashion company representatives come with opportunities which they offer our students for internships and for jobs. We are partners with the fashion placement company 24Seven, which places many of our students. Our students are required to complete two internships and have the opportunity to complete additional ones if they choose to. Many students are recruited into jobs from these internships. We have alumni who constantly contact us with job opportunities which we post on our Facebook page and in our classes.
FS: In which areas are you seeing the most opportunities for jobs?
CSULB: Opportunities in social media seems to be the hot job of the moment. We require students to develop a semester blog in our advertising class and to critique other forms of social media to give them experience in this arena.
FS: What are the most common misconceptions incoming students have about pursuing a career in fashion?
CSULB: They do not realize: 1) the amount of mathematics that is involved in both merchandising and design; 2) the competition and stress involved in all aspects of the industry; 3) how "small" the industry is and, thus, how important it is to not burn bridges; and 4) how much hard work (and long hours) it takes to succeed.
FS: Please tell us about the fashion club at CSULB
CSULB: Students in Fashion (SIF) is totally led by students. It is designed to provide opportunities for our students to network within the fashion industry. The club frequently takes field trips and has industry speakers come to meetings. They help organize our trip to the Magic Tradeshow in Las Vegas each February. They fundraise to support our annual fashion show.
FS: Tell us about opportunities on campus or in professional partnerships, where your future designers can showcase their work?
CSULB: Our annual Campus Couture Fashion show is our largest event with over 1000+ in attendance, many of whom are from the fashion industry. Garments shown in this event are judged by fashion industry judges. Our industry partners award prizes to the winners each year. The show is covered by various members of the press all during the year as the show progresses. We partner with Mikey Koffman, from LA Fashion Week, who also is one of our judges. This year (2013) she selected five of our students (2 to show their 15 piece collection in the Emerging Designer Fashion Show and 3 to showcase three garments each in the vendor room) to participate in the Fall LA Fashion Week. This is the most visibility given to any fashion school in California. We had seven garments selected for the International Textiles and Apparel Association's annual fashion show at the annual meeting in Hawaii. This was more than any other US university.
The Pink Ribbon Campaign and the Queen Mary ran a contest this year in which students were asked to design a garment for the Princess Diana exhibit which one of our students won. His garment is now featured at the entrance of the exhibit. Our six students who were finalists have their designs featured on the Queen Mary website. Also, one of our students was selected to participate in the Outdoor Retailers Design Contest in Utah this fall.
Check out more interviews at the Fashion-Schools.org Fashion School Interview Series.