Fashion is a complex industry with many facets to it. Behind the gloss and glamour lies an intricate field where art, business, history, and science collide. It's easy to get lost in its sparkle, especially with its impact on pop culture, but it takes more than just making a dress to fully understand it. Fortunately, the world's best fashion schools are great places to start. There's the iconic Central Saint Martins, for example, which has produced some of the best-known designers working today. Ecole De La Chambre Syndicale in Paris, on the other hand, is where you want to go if you want to get into haute couture.
Where are The Best Fashion Schools in The World?
The best fashion school for you will depend on what you want to learn. While all the institutions on this list are the best fashion schools in the world, most of them specialize in a specific area of fashion. If you want to get into
haute couture, for example, you'll want to enroll in École De La Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne in Paris. London's Central Saint Martins, on the other hand, would suit you more if you're into avant-garde fashion. And if you plan on working in the business side of fashion, you'd do well to go to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles or The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.
Best Fashion Schools for Masters
Arguably the best fashion schools for getting a Master's Degree are Central Saint Martins in London, FIT in New York City, and Esmod in Paris, among many others. They offer the most extensive postgraduate programs in various areas of the industry.
Best Fashion Schools for International Students
Naturally, the best fashion schools for international students are those that mostly teach in English. These include Central Saint Martins, the London College of Fashion, FIT, Parsons School of Design, and the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. These institutions are located in English-speaking cities like London, New York City, and London.
As the undisputed fashion capital of the world,
Paris is one of the best places to study fashion. The city has a long history and extensive legacy of the industry, so you couldn't have asked for a better place to start your fashion career. Now, in terms of which school to enroll in, the École De La Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne is among the best. As the school associated with Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, the governing body over haute couture, graduating from here practically guarantees a career in the French fashion industry.
Address: 119 Rue Réaumur, 75002 Paris, France
Best Degrees/Programs: Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Design, Master of Arts in Fashion Design, Fashion Styling Workshop
Tuition Fee: €13,050.00 to €14,400.00 per year
Esmod is truly one of the
best fashion schools in Paris. The school was founded in 1841, so the fact that it's still operating today is a true testament to its legacy as a true training ground for future fashion professionals. What's great about the institution is that it has adapted to the times without straying too far from its traditions. Historic 19th-century tailor Alexis Lavigne founded the school according to his unique techniques, but over time, the school evolved to teach fashion business courses too.
Address: 12 Rue Catherine de la Rochefoucauld, 75009 Paris, France
Best Degrees/Programs: Fashion Design, Creative Director Postgraduate Program, Luxury Management, and Fashion Communications
Tuition Fee: €12,355.00 to €16,285.00 per year
Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, John Galliano, Phoebe Philo, Christopher Kane, and Mary Katrantzou. These aren't just some of the
best British fashion designers out there. They're also some of the many prolific designers who have graduated from the prestigious Central Saint Martins in
London. They're proof that the school truly knows what it’s doing in training students to become the next movers and shakers of the industry. And it does this by allowing its young creatives to go all out and push the boundaries of what's possible in fashion and beyond.
Address: Granary Building, 1 Granary Square, London N1C 4AA, United Kingdom
Best Degrees/Programs: Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Design, Bachelor of Arts in Textile Design, Graduate Diploma in Fashion, Master of Arts in Fine Art
Tuition Fee: £9,000.00 to £25,970.00 per year
Why is the London College of Fashion one of the
best fashion schools in London, let alone the world? Because it offers all sorts of programs that relate to different areas of the industry. Design isn't the end-all and be-all of fashion; far from it! There's also business management, marketing & communications, styling, and more. The London College of Fashion devotes its diverse range of courses to training students to know more about different sectors within the industry. This then allows them to choose their own specific part and become experts in their chosen fields.
Address: 05 Carpenters Rd, London E20 2AR, United Kingdom
Best Degrees/Programs: Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Design, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Marketing, Master of Art in Fashion Marketing, Master of Art in Fashion Design Management
Tuition Fee: Around £9,000.00 per year
If you want to study fashion, you should know about Istituto Marangoni. This isn't to say that this school is the only one that will teach you about the industry—this whole list is a contradiction of that!—but it's also the most accessible. How so? Because Istituto Marangoni has opened schools in different cities around the world. Devoted to both fashion design and fashion business, the school trains the industry's next professionals in cities like Paris, London, Firenze, Miami, and of course,
Milan. The latter is where it all started, making it the premier fashion school in Italy.
Address: Via Cerva, 24, 20122 Milano MI, Italy
Best Degrees/Programs: Fashion Design, Fashion & Luxury Brand Management, Fashion Buying & Merchandising, Fashion Communications & Digital Media
Tuition Fee: €17,800.00 to €23,000.00 per year
The American fashion industry may have grown globally over the past few decades, but The Fashion Institute of Technology in
New York City remains one of its central institutions. The school teaches a variety of programs and courses related to different areas in the industry. From design to business to technology and even sustainability, the sky's the limit on what part of fashion you want to pursue through FIT. Just ask Calvin Klein, Carolina Herrera, Michael Kors, Ralph Rucci, and more.
Address: 227 W 27th St, New York, NY 10001, United States
Best Degrees/Programs: Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Design, Master of Fine Arts in Fashion Design, Master of Fine Arts in Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice
Tuition Fee: $220.00 to $983.00 per credit hour/ $2,645.00 to $11,793.00 per semester
If you're a fan of the iconic reality TV design competition series, “Project Runway,” you know that Parsons, The New School for Design is one of the best fashion schools in New York City. But don't let the show fool you! This institution isn't exclusively about design. Much like the other schools on this list, Parsons encompasses the entire industry, including business, textiles, history, and more. From short courses to postgraduate programs, there's no scarcity of academic opportunities here.
Address: 66 5th Ave, New York, NY 10011, United States
Best Degrees/Programs: Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Design, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Design, Master of Fine Arts in Fashion Management, Master of Fine Arts in Textiles
Tuition Fee: Around $28,989.00 per semester
Despite how fashionable of a city it is,
Los Angeles is not a fashion capital. It's not on the level of New York City, Paris, London, and Milan. So naturally, the fashion schools in LA don't get as much attention. There is, however, the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. Its extensive range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs can almost rival those in FIT NYC and Parsons, The New School of Design. But as its name suggests, the school arguably trumps its New York counterparts with its detailed Fashion Business courses.
Address: 919 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90015, United States
Best Degrees/Programs: Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Design, Bachelor of Sciences in Apparel Technical Design, Bachelor of Sciences in Beauty Business Management
Tuition Fee: Up to $64,800.00 per two-year program
As the fashion industry expands, more and more cities get into the game. Fashion is no longer exclusive to the four capitals—Paris, London, Milan, and New York City—and various places are starting to show potential as a center of the industry.
Antwerp in Belgium is one such place. The city has long been a hub of artists and other creatives, but in recent years, its fashion professionals have gained more prominence. This is thanks in large part to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, the finest fashion school in Belgium. It has produced graduates like Martin Margiela, Dries Van Noten, Haider Ackermann, Kris Van Assche, Veronique Branquinho, and more.
Address: Blindestraat 35, 2000 Antwerpen, Belgium
Best Degrees/Programs: Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Design, Bachelor of Arts in Costume Design,
Tuition Fee: €967.00 per year for Non-EU Students and €238.00 per year for EU Students
Finally, there's the Bunka Fashion College in Tokyo, Japan, perhaps the farthest fashion school on the list. Farthest in the sense that most of the other institutions are in the Western Hemisphere, namely Europe and the US. This time around, the school is in East Asia, specifically in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. The city has long been known for its incredible fashion scene, almost rivaling those in Paris and London, and the Bunka Fashion College is the best proof of that. From fashion design to textile research, this school goes above and beyond in teaching its students the possibilities of fashion.
Address: 3 Chome-22-1 Yoyogi, Shibuya City, Tokyo 151-0053, Japan
Best Degrees/Programs: Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Creation, Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Technology
Tuition Fee: JP¥150,000.00 per semester
To truly become a huge part of the fashion industry, your best bet is to enroll in the best fashion schools in the world. Unsurprisingly, these prestigious institutions are in the big fashion capitals, From Paris and London to Milan and New York City!
