If you’ve decided to pursue a promising career in fashion, then natural talent and design skill will only take you so far. Once you committed to a fashion institute, your next decision will be whether you want to qualify with a degree or a diploma in fashion. There are certain differences between the two and several factors worth considering. Here’s a look at the differences between the fashion degree versus fashion diploma.

 

Fashion Diploma vs Degree

Fashion Diploma

 

The fashion diploma will generally be up to three years in length and offered on a full-time or part-time basis. This is ideal if you are looking to complete the diploma while continuing to work full-time.

The emphasis for the fashion diploma is on the practical aspects of the fashion industry. It will instruct you in a wide variety of core principles that will see you succeed in various fashion roles.

 

Principles that you will learn include:

  • Building a body of research
  • Using inspiration for design
  • Fabric knowledge
  • Garment engineering
  • Quality of a marketable product

 

By taking a practical approach to the fashion industry, the fashion diploma will analyse aspects such as fashion trends, looking at all aspects that go into this, including the design process, business management and garment engineering.

 

Graduates will have a solid grounding in business management and entrepreneurship through real-world work integration. At the end of the course, you will emerge a well-rounded fashion graduate.

 

Fashion Degree

 

The fashion degree takes a much more academic and theoretical approach the the fashion industry, although graduates will also experience extensive practical training as well. The degrees tend to be anywhere from three to four years and can also be studied part-time if necessary.

 

When it comes to a degree in fashion, you can expect an environment that encourages innovation rather than one that provides you with the answers. You are shown the way and then given the tools to find your own path. Problem solving is vital, and you will receive instruction on the social, cultural and economic factors that influence the fashion world.

 

There is more of focus on creativity and artistic flair which is then brought into the commercial context, allowing the graduate to discover the complexities of the fashion industry in a secure environment.

 

Read More: Online versus Offline Fashion Degree

 

While the fashion diploma might take a more practical approach and the fashion degree a more theoretical one, that’s not to say there is no theory in the diploma and no real-world experience in the degree, they just have differing emphases. You will need to decide what career in fashion you are looking to pursue before deciding whether the fashion diploma or degree is more suited to your needs.

 

Read More: Types of Fashion Courses | Local vs International Fashion Schools

It’s worthwhile researching some of the more reputable fashion schools because, like it or not, brand is key when it comes to studying fashion design.

Villioti Fashion Institute is an accredited tertiary institution that takes pride in making the ordinary extraordinary. Led by Spero Villioti, who has run a successful fashion brand for more than 30 years, Villioti Fashion Institute prides itself on being “extraordinary in the details”, which is what sets their students apart from others and secures them a future in fashion.