One student’s case for a fashion class in the the Upper School STEAM curriculum
While designing a collection for the ILA (I love art) fashion club, I realised that there are some student designers in ILA who have not yet fully experienced the basics of design and  technicalities of creating garments. TAS should consider adding a fashion course to the Upper School as a part of a STEAM curriculum.
“If TAS had a class in fashion, I would be able to make my own clothes and understand the fashion industry better,” said Harrison Yu (‘20). Harrison is one of the many TAS students who cannot fully pursue their interest in fashion due to a lack of resources.
The absence of fashion in the curriculum disadvantages students interested in pursuing a career in fashion. Recently, due to the expansion of global markets and technological developments, fashion consumers are predicted to have more buying power and the number of potential customers is estimated to grow to over 1.1 billion by 2020, which has encouraged many to pursue a career in fashion. These statistics reveal that within the next decade, the importance of the fashion industry will rise exponentially.
“We should definitely add a fashion course to the Upper School covering technical aspects of making clothes,” Harrison Yu (‘20), an ILA club member, said. “Even though we have ILA, it’s not quite enough for students who want to go further in depth on either creating garments or fashion design.”
“If there is no possibility for a fashion course there are other alternatives TAS could explore,” Ms. Michelle Kao, the Upper School visual arts department chair, explains that students have shown an interest in fashion before. “In the past, if students were interested in fashion and creating clothes, they would find ways to learn it in school. They would often learn to design and sew from the seamstress, who creates costumes for theatre and dance productions,” she said.
Despite the fact that help relating to pursuing an interest in fashion is available, students who are interested in fashion need teacher guidance and experience in order to succeed. The addition of an actual fashion course would not only be more rewarding, but would also help develop students’ abilities to meet the competitive industry of fashion.
Currently, students who wish to understand the fashion industry and the technicalities of creating clothes, should visit the seamstress to pursue those interests. TAS also offers Honors advanced design and AP Studio Art: 3D portfolio which can be somewhat adapted to fit individual skills and interests. However, the addition of a fashion related course would bring in a new wave of passionate students who could bring major changes to the fashion industry in the future.