Fashion as Design

The Museum of Modern Art

About this Course

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Among all objects of design, our clothes are the most universal and intimate. Like other kinds of design, fashion thrives on productive tensions between form and function, automation and craftsmanship, standardization and customization, universality and self-expression, and pragmatism and utopian vision. It exists in the service of others, and it can have profound consequences—social, political, cultural, economic, and environmental.
Fashion as Design focuses on a selection of more than 70 garments and accessories from around the world, ranging from kente cloth to jeans to 3D-printed dresses. Through these garments, we’re going to look closely at what we wear, why we wear it, how it’s made, and what it means. You’ll hear directly from a range of designers, makers, historians, and others working with clothing every day—and, in some cases, reinventing it for the future. Studio visits, interviews, and other resources introduce the history and development of each garment and their changing uses, meanings, and impact over time. 

Course Learning Objectives:

Develop critical tools to appreciate and contextualize fashion design—from everyday clothing to couture garments—through many different perspectives. 

Trace the history, development, and impact of garments over time, and explore how they may be reinvented.

Investigate garments through multiple lenses including politics, identity, and economics. 

Understand more about the lifecycle of clothing, from its design and production to its marketing, distribution, and consumption. 

Better comprehend the choices you make about fashion with respect to the visual language of dress, individual and collective identities, and issues such as labor practices, sustainability, and body politics.

Learner Career Outcomes

47%

started a new career after completing these courses

40%

got a tangible career benefit from this course

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Beginner Level

Approx. 18 hours to complete

English

Subtitles: English

Skills you will gain

Art HistoryArtHistoryCreativity

Learner Career Outcomes

47%

started a new career after completing these courses

40%

got a tangible career benefit from this course

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Beginner Level

Approx. 18 hours to complete

English

Subtitles: English

Instructors

Instructor rating

4.82/5 (372 Ratings)

Offered by

The Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art is a place that fuels creativity, ignites minds, and provides inspiration. With extraordinary exhibitions and the world's finest collection of modern and contemporary art, MoMA is dedicated to the conversation between the past and the present, the established and the experimental. Our mission is helping you understand, enjoy, and use the art of our time.

Syllabus - What you will learn from this course

Content Rating98%(40,760 ratings)

Week

Week 1

1 hour to complete

Introduction

1 hour to complete

1 video (Total 3 min), 4 readings

1 video

Why do we wear what we wear?3m

4 readings

Welcome to Fashion as Design10m

Who's Afraid of Fashion? by Paola Antonelli10m

Additional Readings & Resources10m

Tell Us About You10m

Week

Week 2

2 hours to complete

Heroes

Wearing certain garments can inspire heroic transformations, while heroes can elevate everyday clothing to iconic status. In this module, you will discover the relationship between aspiration, achievement, adulation, and attire through a wide range of heroes—and even imagine yourself as a space hero in the future.

2 hours to complete

8 videos (Total 35 min), 8 readings, 1 quiz

8 videos

How do clothes make heroes?3m

On Site in Los Angeles: Recreating Bruce Lee's Tracksuit7m

Curator Stephanie Kramer on Sports Jerseys2m

Guy Baldwin, International Mr. Leather 1989, on Leather Pants2m

Designer Richard Malone on the Jumpsuit2m

Designer Kerby Jean-Raymond on the Hoodie3m

Designer Kerby Jean-Raymond, Abecedarium Presentation on the Hoodie8m

On Site in London: Designing a MarsBoot with Liz Ciokajlo6m

8 readings

A Close Look at the Items: Sports Heroes10m

A Close Look at the Item: Subcultural Heroes10m

A Close Look at the Items: Military and Political Heroes10m

A Close Look at the Items: Celebrity and Pop Heroes10m

Bandana Tewari, Vogue India, on the Sari10m

Malika V. Kashyap, Border&Fall, on the Sari10m

A Close Look at the MarsBoot Prototype10m

Additional Readings & Resources10m

1 practice exercise

Heroes20m

Week

Week 3

2 hours to complete

Silhouettes

When we put on clothes, we change the shape and outline of our bodies—sometimes profoundly. The silhouettes we adopt are determined by everything from shifting trends in fashion to what looks and feels good. This week, we explore how clothes shape the body and how cultural constructions of the body shape clothes.

2 hours to complete

7 videos (Total 38 min), 7 readings, 1 quiz

7 videos

How do clothes shape the body?5m

On Site at MoMA: Designing Mannequins with Tae Smith6m

Curator Valerie Steele, Abecedarium Presentation on the Little Black Dress10m

Fashion Historian Francesca Granata on Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body—and Become One1m

Linda Loppa on the Tabi Boot2m

Designer Janie Bryant on the Pencil Skirt3m

Mickey Boardman, PAPER magazine, Abecedarium Presentation on the Muumuu and Caftan7m

7 readings

A Close Look at the Items: Shape10m

A Close Look at the Items: Conform10m

A Close Look at the Items: Augment10m

Designer Norma Kamali on the Sleeping Bag Coat10m

A Close Look at the Items: Free10m

Fashion Historian Lauren Downing Peters and Co-founder of Universal Standard Alexandra Waldman on Non-Sample Size Clothing10m

Additional Readings & Resources10m

1 practice exercise

Silhouettes20m

Week

Week 4

2 hours to complete

Coutures

The French word couture means "dressmaking" or "sewing,” and often refers to one-of-a-kind, primarily handmade garments intended for a specific individual. This module approaches couture from a broader perspective, exploring the complex processes—from traditional handcrafting to the use of new technologies—that go into the making of high-end and everyday garments.

2 hours to complete

6 videos (Total 38 min), 7 readings, 1 quiz

6 videos

What goes into making what we wear?4m

On Site in London: Making a Bespoke Savile Row Suit with Anderson & Sheppard, Part I9m

On Site in London: Making a Bespoke Savile Row Suit with Anderson & Sheppard, Part II12m

Designer Carlo Brandelli on the Suit2m

Designers Jessica Rosenkrantz and Jesse Louis-Rosenberg on the Kinematics Dress1m

On Site in New Jersey: Designing 3D-Printed Dresses with threeASFOUR7m

7 readings

A Close Look at the Items: Crafting10m

A Close Look at the Items: Producing10m

Jason Schott, Schott NYC, on the Biker Jacket10m

A Close Look at the Items: Growing10m

A Close Look at Design Collective threeASFOUR10m

Additional Readings & Resources10m

Mid-course survey5m

1 practice exercise

Coutures20m

Week

Week 5

3 hours to complete

Lifecycle

This module examines the lifecycle of garments, an often overlooked aspect of fashion that many individuals and companies are addressing with growing urgency. How do garments begin, how do they end, and how does the cycle of production, consumption, and disposal impact the world?

3 hours to complete

9 videos (Total 70 min), 7 readings, 1 quiz

9 videos

What is the lifecycle of our clothes?6m

On Site in San Francisco: Levi's Wellthread Design Team Meeting7m

On Site in San Francisco: Historical Jeans in the Levi's Archive with Tracey Panek7m

On Site in San Francisco: The Future of Denim Case Study with Paul Dillinger3m

Curator Emma McClendon, Abecedarium Presentation on Jeans7m

Designers Carmen Artigas and Mary Ping, Abecedarium Presentation on Rana Plaza10m

Curator Michelle Millar Fisher and Historian Francesca Granata on Premaman2m

Maxine Bédat, Zady, Abecedarium Presentation on E-Commerce10m

Conversation with Designer Pia Interlandi on the Little Black Death Dress13m

7 readings

A Close Look at the Items: Jeans and White T-Shirt10m

A Close Look at the Items: Anew10m

Cheng Kang, Woolrich, on the Plaid Flannel Shirt10m

Designer Wei Hung Chen on the Modular Dress for Pregnant Women Prototype10m

A Close Look at the Items: Forever10m

A Close Look at the Little Black Death Dress Prototype10m

Additional Readings & Resources10m

1 practice exercise

Lifecycle20m

Week

Week 6

2 hours to complete

Modesty

Modesty has many varied expressions that can be informed by social, religious, or political identifications, as well as by personal choice. But whether covered up or exposed, our bodies are often battlegrounds for continually shifting societal claims around morality, agency, and etiquette.

2 hours to complete

4 videos (Total 25 min), 8 readings, 1 quiz

4 videos

How do we use clothes to cover and reveal?5m

Designer Hana Tajima on the Turtleneck and Hijab6m

Grace Ali, OF NOTE Magazine, Abecedarium Presentation on the Veil10m

Historian Leila Ahmed on the Hijab2m

8 readings

A Close Look at the Items: Head and Neck10m

Rabbis Jodie Siff, Charles Savenor, and Melissa Buyer-Witman on the Kippah10m

A Close Look at the Items: Swimwear10m

Curator Glynis Jones on Speedo10m

A Close Look at the Items: Legs10m

Designer Miguel Mesa Posada on the Harem Pants Prototype10m

Designer Zhijun Wang on the Sneaker Mask10m

Additional Readings & Resources10m

1 practice exercise

Modesty20m

Week

Week 7

5 hours to complete

Expression

What we wear and how we wear it can communicate messages, create group identification, borrow and remake existing styles, or subvert a garment’s traditional associations. While choosing and wearing clothes is an act of personal expression, it is also a response to many of the topics addressed in the preceding weeks of this course. In this final week, we look at the ways in which clothing allows us to feel connected to others and to stand out.

5 hours to complete

8 videos (Total 59 min), 11 readings, 2 quizzes

8 videos

What do we say with what we wear?5m

Conversation with Artist Amanda Lopez and Designer Tanya Melendez on Door-Knocker Hoops19m

Photographer Tom Gould on the Lo-Life Crew3m

Curator Stephanie Kramer on the Slip Dress3m

Model Hari Nef, Abecedarium Presentation on Unisex Fashion8m

Photographer David Godlis, Abecedarium Presentation on Dr. Martens8m

Historian Christopher Richards on Kente Cloth3m

On Site in New York: Designing a 21st-Century Biker Jacket with Asher Levine6m

11 readings

A Close Look at the Items: Appropriate10m

A Close Look at the Items: Subvert10m

Jessica Barber, CALVIN KLEIN, on the Slip Dress10m

A Close Look at the Items: Message10m

Designer Peter Saville on the Graphic T-Shirt10m

A Close Look at the Items: Identify10m

Valarie Benning on New Breed's Dashiki Fashions10m

A Close Look at the Biker Jacket Prototype5m

Additional Readings & Resources10m

Funding & Credits10m

End-of-course survey5m

1 practice exercise

Expression20m

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Fashion as Design