For those leaning toward an industry career, the Textiles and Fashion Design program gives students the option to apply to spend their senior year at Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City, the hub of the textile and fashion trade. The FIT experience provides students with industry-specific skills which, when paired with the creative liberal arts background, makes our graduates highly desirable and often recruited by industry leaders. Students apply to FIT in their junior year. If accepted by FIT, they participate in a visiting student program in one area of focus: Fashion Design, Textile Surface Design, Footwear & Accessories Design, Communication Design Foundation, Advertising and Marketing Communications, Fashion Business Management, Textile Development and Marketing.

Upon graduation, students who attend FIT are awarded a bachelor of science (BS) degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in Textiles and Fashion Design with a named option in FIT. A named option is a formally documented sub-major within an academic major program. Named options appear on the transcript with degree conferral. FIT students also earn an associate of applied science (AAS) degree from FIT. Students attending FIT who are considered Wisconsin non-residents continue to pay out-of-state tuition, even if they reside in the state of New York.

Requirements

Textiles and Fashion Design: FIT Named Option Requirements

Core requirements for the named option are below. Students should follow the curriculum requirements in place at the time they entered the major. This requirement list should be used in combination with a DARS report.

Design Core
DS 101 Introduction to Textile Design3
DS 120 Design: Fundamentals I3
DS 153 Sewn Construction I3
DS 150 Visual Thinking - Pixels and Pencils3
DS 251 Textile Science3
DS 355 History of Fashion, 1400-Present3
or DS 430 History of Textiles
Textiles and Fashion Design Focus Area
Choose either the Fashion Sequence or the Textiles Sequence12
Fashion Sequence (must be taken in this order)
Sewn Construction II
Patternmaking for Apparel Design
Fashion Illustration
Apparel Design I
Textiles Sequence
Textile Design: Printing and Dyeing I
Textile Embellishment I
Textile Design: Weaving I
Textile Design: Manual/Computer Generated Imagery and Pattern
Choose 3 additional Textiles Fashion Design courses for 21 total credits9
Professional Development2
DS 252 Design Leadership Symposium1
INTER-HE 202 SoHE Career & Leadership Development1
Fashion Institute of Technology FIT
Visiting Student Program Courses30
Total Credits73

Four-Year Plan

This is a sample four-year plan for Textiles & Fashion Design: FIT. We encourage all students to consult with their academic advisor to develop an individualized plan that meets their specific needs.

Freshman
FallCreditsSpringCredits
Communications A3Communications B3-4
DS 1013Quantitative Reasoning A3-4
DS 1203DS 1503
DS 1533DS 154 or 2283
Elective1SoHE Breadth3
 13 15-17
Sophomore
FallCreditsSpringCredits
DS 253 or 2273DS 2513
Social Science3DS 225 or 2293
Humanities3DS 3553
DS 2103
or Additional Textiles & Fashion Design Course
or Additional Textiles & Fashion Design Course
Social Science3
Science3DS 2521
INTER-HE 2021Ethnic Studies3
 16 16
Junior
FallCreditsSpringCredits
DS 4303Social Science3
or Additional Textiles & Fashion Design Course
Humanities3
DS 3273Science3
or Additional Textiles & Fashion Design Course
Additional Textiles & Fashion Design Course3
Science3Elective3
Quantitative Reasoning B (DS 451 recommended)3 
Literature3 
 15 15
Senior
FallCreditsSpringCredits
FIT Course Work15FIT Course Work15
 15 15
Total Credits 120-122