Design Your Dream Career

Dominican's high-impact programs will help you gain a deep understanding of fashion as both a profession and an art form—and prepare you to make your statement in the industry.

A top-ranked program where your professors know your name.

Dominican’s fashion program earned the #7 spot on College Choice’s 2023 rankings for Best Fashion Degrees in the United States. Here, you'll work side-by-side with talented, caring faculty who are experts in the field, preparing you for a meaningful career in an exciting industry.

Get Inspired and Excel

What makes the fashion program stand out? Just ask our students.

Faculty Who Know Their Students and the Industry

Find one-on-one support from faculty who are genuinely invested in your success.

Learn the Ropes

Through our Fashion Mentorship Program, you’ll meet accomplished industry professionals willing to review your portfolio and offer career insights.

Learn by doing, then do even more.

The opportunities you’ve always dreamed of—they all start here. You’ll get hands-on experience from day one. Create the designs or manage the logistics for Dominican’s annual spring fashion show where you’ll showcase your work to industry professionals, while sharpening your problem-solving, events-planning and leadership skills. Design the costumes that student and professional actors wear on stage at the university’s Performing Arts Center. Study abroad through Dominican’s partnership with the Paris American Academy in France.

Think Outside the Classroom

Every year, Dominican’s senior fashion students put on all the elements of the fashion show—big risks earn real rewards.

Expand Your Worldview

Many students travel to Paris for Dominican’s six-credit French fashion course..

Acquire the tools to make your professional mark.

Dive into fashion design and merchandising with practical experience built directly into our curriculum. Using state-of-the-art technology, you’ll get hands-on experience in every area of fashion design—from pattern making to fabric selection and illustration. Or develop innovative retail floorplans and visualize them in three dimensions in our merchandising courses.

Dominican’s Fashion Lab—Your Space to Create

Sewing and embroidery machines, 3D printers, a dye room, a fabric closet, and so much more; all that’s missing is your imagination.

Discover a Comprehensive Curriculum

Design, create and display your own themed collection of original work.

Showcase Your Professional Skills

It’s simple: Build your portfolio pages as you go. Assemble your portfolio as your senior capstone project. Graduate job market-ready.

Put your degree to work.

River Forest, just ten miles from downtown Chicago, is home to a thriving fashion community and a rich job market for fashion graduates. Get hands-on experience through top internships that draw on the enormous retail, corporate and cultural resources both in our local community and in the city.  Explore retail buying at DKNY, study management at Target Corporation, help Oak Park businesses reimagine their displays—and so much more. We make our connections your connections, so you can test-drive your dream job in the real world. 

Share Your Creativity with the Neighborhood

Design holiday window displays to draw shoppers to local shops.

Experience the Industry

Tour design houses and meet industry leaders while exploring employment and internship opportunities in NYC.

Ignite Your Creativity

The spring fashion show: Showcase your work. Make industry connections. Earn opportunities.

Flex your future.

Expand your capacity for critical thinking, problem-solving and visual communication at one of the few schools where you can combine a liberal arts education with fashion. Tailor your studies to your interests and increase your marketability even further by complementing your major with a related minor like art, foreign language, business or communications. You can even begin working towards an accelerated MBA while you’re still an undergraduate.

Expand your Perspective

“Dominican has given me a global and diverse perspective in making sure the fashion industry is targeted towards everyone.” -Alicia Morgan ‘21

Follow Your Calling

Theology and fashion major Rosalinda Ramos: “I wanted to combine the things that make up my personality. It’s kind of my way of evangelizing, but without words—with my art.”

Find Your Voice

Fashion students prepare the garments and the presentation for the spring 2023 fashion show.

Destination: Dream Job

Many internships lead directly to job offers after graduation; in a recent survey, 87% of employers said they would hire their Dominican interns if a full-time position were available. Dominican’s fashion alumnae/i are leaders in the field. You’ll find them working with big name brands including: Driehaus Design Initiative, Claire's, Nordstrom, Ulta Beauty, Kohl's, Camuto Group, Walgreens, Snapchat, Alo Yoga, Wilton Brands, Summersalt, LTD Commodities, The RealReal, Norix Furniture and AllKinds.

 

Chart Your Path

“My time in Dominican University really provided me with the proper tools and experience to further develop my skills as a designer.” -Rosa Rocha '12, designer, R2KHOUSE

Graduate Job-Market Ready

“When I was becoming a professional in the field, I would look at my portfolio and use my projects as my experience.” -Teresita Cintora ‘20, International Franchise Assistant, Claire's.

Build Your Industry Network

Students graduate with an industry network that they build through their mentors, internships, the fashion advisory board and fashion show attendees.