Fashion Passions Are Nurtured Across the Globe

Professor Marcela Godoy’s Interactive Fashion course at NYU Shanghai invites students to merge fashion and technology. Professor Godoy believes that people have used clothes throughout history to express their identity and address complex issues related to class, race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. In her class students explore how computational design, digital fabrication, and electronics contribute to this tradition through new, innovative wearables that explore the limits of the body.

“What makes this course unique is that it’s not a course only about fashion. Rather, students learn digital fabrication techniques and use electronics to propose the future of fashion,” explains Professor Godoy. “Also, they develop a critical understanding of sustainability, fashion, and other cultural issues.”

Jiachen “Johnny” Zhou, an Interactive Media Arts major, has always been interested in creating sustainable, functional wearable devices. He appreciated the course’s emphasis on the intersection of fashion theory and technology, especially through robotics and digital design. As a result, he dove deeper into his interests.

“I do think there is a more sustainable and interactive way to design the ordinary outfit,” says Johnny. “I wanted to learn how to integrate technology and untraditional materials into existing fashion. Going forward, this will change how we convey information or identity through the medium of clothes. The course provided me with a platform to practice and reflect on my approach to designing physical, wearable devices.”

Prior to taking Professor Alessandra Capodacqua’s Introduction to Fashion Photography class at NYU Florence, Francesca DiMiceli didn’t have any experience with the fashion industry. Francesca is a Photography and Imaging major at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. After college, she hopes to work in the music industry, either in marketing or concert photography. However, spending a semester focusing on fashion photography allowed her to explore new techniques to use throughout her career.

“I got to take photos in a studio setting and gained a better understanding of lighting and posing models,” says Francesca. “The biggest lesson I learned was how to make a model comfortable in front of the camera. Additionally, I learned how to make my photographs look as clean as possible. Ultimately, the class allowed me to get out of my comfort zone and learn a lot of new skills.”

Professor Capodacqua has a lifelong love of fashion, an interest she shared with her mother. In fact, she spent years working as a photographer in Italy’s electrifying fashion scene. Today, she brings that experience into the classroom. “My students combine this artistic medium with an exploration of cultural concepts related to fashion and self-expression,” she explains.

In addition to Professor Capodacqua’s class at NYU Florence, the course is also offered at NYU Paris. “When a student comes to study for a semester or a year in a new country, it means they’re exposed to a new culture, a new language, a new way of life,” says Professor Capodacqua. “It opens them to a new world, with all its difficulties and obstacles. So it represents an important growth opportunity, a change of perspective. And fashion photography fits into this framework.”

Here’s some insight into a few more of the many fashion-forward courses offered at NYU:

This class, offered on NYU’s campus in New York City and at NYU Paris, examines fashion as a form of communication and culture. Students consider how one’s attire has been valued through history, popular culture, and media. Specifically, they focus on its relationship between visual self-presentation and power.

Offered at NYU Accra, West African Fashion: Concepts, History, and Utility provides a window into how West Africa’s fashion industry incorporates African culture, spirituality, place, and the need for self-expression. The class interrogates the impact of conquest, the trans-Saharan trade, and other relevant contemporary factors, such as globalization and social media.

Aptly offered at NYU London, NYU Florence, and NYU Shanghai, Global Fashion Industry gives students a deep understanding of each city’s unique fashion scene. These courses examine various aspects of the industry, including history and theory. Additionally, they investigate critical concepts such as social identity, consumer culture, media, and globalization.

Offered through NYU Stern School of Business, Next Gen Fashion focuses on the ins and outs of the fashion industry. First, students connect with industry experts and take advantage of New York City’s position at the center of this dynamic sector. Then, they combine the theory learned in the classroom with the reality of running world-renowned fashion businesses.