Authored by Kelley C Coffeen
The fashion industry employs about 1.8 million people in the
United States. The industry includes high-value occupations--
fashion and textiles designers, market research analysts, textile
researchers and developers, computer systems developers,
patternmakers, garment manufacturers, marketing, supply chain
management, and wholesale buyers, along with retailers [1]. The
career opportunities are diverse and expansive, with innovation
evolving with an increasing demand for fashion-related skills.
Although fashion careers were historically located in the fashion
capitals of New York and Los Angeles, jobs in the fashion industry
are now developing across the country, with design clusters
appearing in the West and the South [1]. A working knowledge and understanding of clothing
construction and textiles are critical to the professional success of
students entering the design, production, and merchandising areas
of the fashion industry. Understanding the elements and principles
in constructing and altering garments also helps prepare students
for this rapidly growing career field. The goal of many fashion merchandising and design programs
at the post-secondary level is to offer students a strong foundation
in all of these areas. However, students in our fashion program (and we suspect
in many other programs) struggle with college-level clothing
construction classes. Students lack the beginning basic construction
skills that were previously taught in middle and secondary Family
and Consumer Sciences (FCS) clothing classes. Today’s college
professor finds students with widely varying levels of expertise in
clothing construction in the very same classroom. A decline in funding at the middle and secondary schools has led
to clothing construction classes being removed from the curriculum.
Conversations with local public-school administrators indicate a
negative perceived value for clothing construction classes and a
misconception of career opportunities available to students in the
fashion industry. A review of the current literature focuses on the need for
family and consumer sciences content to combat the current
needs of society. We do not argue with the importance and need
for this content; however, we argue that the fashion and apparel
industry is robust-evidenced by double-digit sales growth driven
by an expanding global market predicted over the next decade [2].
Interest in fashion and design has been heightened by technology
and social media marketing, specifically in the area of customer
engagement and omnichannel retailing with both male and female
college students pursuing career paths in the fashion industry. A national survey of secondary Family and Consumer Sciences
(FCS) programs conducted in 2010-2012 indicated that 3,427,601
students were enrolled in FCS classes taught by 27,894 teachers [3].
However, in our state, as perhaps in other states, the focus at the
secondary level has shifted to culinary arts. This narrow focus of
potential FCS career and technical opportunities may unfortunately
overlook careers in the fashion industry.
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