In my opinion, Fashion Schools, Fashion Merchandising Schools, Fashion Design Schools are essentially the same thing under different names.  The bottom line is that a school that teaches students regarding clothing, textiles, pattern making, sewing etc., we will consider to be a "fashion school".

The fashion schools have many programs and courses to assist you with entering the world of fashion.  Below I will list only a few:

Fashion Design Programs are typically designed to help you acquire the multifaceted skills you will need to understand and move seamlessly into the fast moving fashion industry. In general fashion design programs are developed to inspire students to create and produce innovative designs. Students can explore a variety of traditional techniques and combine them with computer-aided design to develop fashion industry relevant design skills.

Fashion Marketing Programs are designed to assist students with learning the inner workings of the retail and wholesale fashion industry by studying trends, analyzing the market, and evaluating production needs.  Professors are typically supportive team of experienced fashion marketing and merchandising professionals.  They will help educate you regarding a comprehensive range of disciplines including advertising techniques, marketing strategies and retail management. Successful fashion marketers can identify trends and adapt them to the marketplace, as well as understand consumer behavior.  At the proper fashion school, you will learn to be an excellent marketer of fashion.  When you graduate, you can hopefully work for a fashion pr firm or possibly start your own marketing company...  The sky is the limit with a fashion marketing degree.  You may want to also check out our fashion press release page or join the fashion public relations group and fashion marketing group at the Fashion Industry Network.

Patternmaking & Design Programs are courses developed to educate students in the art of pattern making.  Many fashion schools have intensive skill building programs to help you become a proficient pattern maker.

You can also find special courses on garment fit.  You can learn to analyze garments to figure out irregularities and learn how to make fit corrections to your spec sheets and patterns.

Sewing & Construction Programs will help educate you regarding sewing techniques etc.  Obviously, the term construction does not refer to constructing buildings.  In these classes you will learn the construction of garments.  You will learn about buttonholes, bias tape, seams and much more.  You will quickly find that their is an enormous amount of seams & stitches to learn.  If you enjoy home sewing or dream of becoming a famous fashion designer, the next logical step is to learn about sewing and garment construction.

Fashion Illustration Programs will help you learn to get your design concepts onto paper or into a computer.  Learn to draw a fashion figure in correct proportion and use proper elements to render appropriate fashion.

Obviously, their is way more to learn about fashion schools.  We suggest you visit the fashion school directory and contact the schools directly for more information.

Keep in mind, you do not actually have to attend a fashion school full time.  Many people pick and choose courses based on their particular interests.  Certainly it is best to obtain a full degree, but if you can not swing fashion school on a full time basis, you can still take a few courses to round off you knowledge base.

You will find that fashion schools can be found in many countries around the world.  Excellent fashion schools can be found in Italy, France, USA, China, India, etc.  When researching a fashion school that is right for you, you may want to at first stick with a school that is in your region.  If you are living in another part of the work, it may not be a good idea to register at a New York fashion school.  However, if you are prepared to go to school away from home a New York fashion school such as F.I.T certainly could not hurt your career.  If you plan to do your studies in the United States, you should also review the Los Angeles fashion schools at well as other educational facilities around the country.

You can find great educational facilities in Paris, London, Milan, Australia and many other locations around the world.

By the way, after you graduate, you should check out our employment section.  From there you can find employment agencies and many other tools to assist you with starting your fashion career.

If you are super smart and want to go beyond a Bachelor's Degree, you can learn more about a Master's Degree in Fashion.