The Lesley H. and William L. Collins College of Professional Studies
Queens Campus
Overview
To hear “fashion” immediately creates exciting images in one’s mind – images of garments that transform the individuals that make and that wear them, colorful reflections of fascinating diverse world cultures, and celebrities from all walks of life working with designers, journalists, photographers, videographers. The business, marketing, blogging, and finance people who enable the fashion industry increasingly capture our attention and imagination. The Bachelor of Science Degree with a major in Fashion Studies at St. John’s University prepares students to enter careers in the exciting global fashion industry. Fashion today represents employment and opportunity to many people around the world. The Fashion Studies major particularly examines the business and ethical aspects of this industry. The Collins College of Professional Studies is also the home of the Fashion Studies Institute of the University. The institute supports the major by hosting special guests and programs in Fashion Business and related areas. The College offers a minor program of study in Fashion too. Students at St. John’s University are interested in Fashion Studies; many intern for New York designers and volunteer during the New York Fashion Weeks. The University’s global campuses extend opportunities for students to intern in Italy, France or Spain.
The Fashion Industry offers students a view into great wealth and great poverty around the world.Fashion Studies majors will examine the what makes the Fashion industry work; they will look at its history, an overview of design, and business aspects and practices of the industry, including the entrepreneurial aspects, outsourcing and product supply chain management, branding, sustainability, fair trade, trendsetting, buying, and more.St. John’s is one of the largest Catholic universities in the world and will encourage students to apply St. John’s unique mission and Christian ethical perspective to their analysis of industry practices in research and seminar courses. In this way, students will be able to lend their support to cutting edge global movements to generate greater social awareness and change to improve working conditions for those who support fashion globally.
This sophisticated program in Fashion Studies allows students to tailor part of their programs to their personal interests by adding courses they choose in art, public relations, advertising, media, journalism, chemistry, environmental studies, analytics, and so much more from the University’s hundreds of courses.
Fashion is a growing billion dollar industry. Students who graduate from the B.S. program in Fashion Studies will be well prepared to assume professional positions to contribute to the growth, performance and betterment of the Fashion world. Graduates are also able to pursue fashion, law, business or other areas at the graduate level.
Apply Plan your Visit Request InfoAdmission
For more information about admission to this and other acclaimed undergraduate programs at St. John’s University, please visit Undergraduate Admission online. Or contact us directly at the campus of your choice:
Admission Office - Queens Campus
718-990-2000
[email protected]
Admission Office - Staten Island campus
718-390-4500
[email protected]
If you’re interested in Distance Learning, you may call either office.
Department Contact
Almerinda Forte, Ph.D.
Program CoordinatorDepartment Faculty
Please see the list of our department faculty.
Almerinda Forte, Ph.D. is the Chair of the Administration and Economics Division, home of the Fashion Studies Program. She is also Professor of Accounting and Management. She holds an MBA from St. John’s and a Ph.D. from New York University. She also has a certificate from the Fashion Institute of Technology in Sustainable Design Entrepreneurship. Dr. Forte’s fashion expertise is in accounting and in leadership, ethics and sustainability aspects of the industry.
Professor Carmine Gibaldi, Ed.D., is Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship (ENT) and the co-Director of the University’s ENT Program. Professor Gibaldi teaches the Fashion Entrepreneurship and E-Technology course. He also teaches ENT courses at St. John’s and at Harvard University.
Professor A. Andrea Licari, D.P.S, is Professor of Marketing and Fashion. She teaches courses in Fashion Marketing, Introduction to the Fashion Industry, Fashion Branding, and more, and has worked in the Fashion industry. She has taught at the Fashion Institute of Technology as well. Professor Licari is the Director of the University’s Fashion Studies Institute.
Professor Catherine Ruggieri, J.D., is Professor of Management, Marketing and Fashion Management. Professor Ruggieri is Dean Emeritus of the College of Professional Studies. She holds an MBA from St. John’s and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School. She teaches the Management Aspects of the Fashion Industry and Global Fashion Management courses.
Richard Kirby Bigger, Adjunct Professor of Fashion Studies, is originally from the Chicago area and studied at Pratt Institute and The School of Art Institute of Chicago in Fashion Design and Fine Arts. He worked in the fashion design industry with companies like Nautica, American Eagle, Zoo York, Converse, Ralph Lauren, and Calvin Klein. The positions were creative and adhoc. Professor Bigger recently launched 2 brands F.U.R.L. (Forget U R Lost) and POLLIWOG. The brands are based on artisanal concepts representing ideas of being unique, imperfect, sustainable, intentional, and functional. Both brands can be viewed @ www.forgeturlost.com.
Courses
Major Area Requirements: 36 Credits
Required Coursework: 18 Credits
| FAS | 1055 | Legal Aspects of the Fashion Industry | 3 |
| FAS | 1056 | Fashion and Ethics | 3 |
| FAS | 1065 | Current Issues in Fashion | 3 |
| FAS | 1070 | Management Aspects of the Fashion Industry | 3 |
| FAS | 1075 | Introduction to the Fashion Industry and Careers | 3 |
| FAS | 1076 | Fashion Entrepreneurship and e-Technology | 3 |
Major Area Elective Coursework: 18 Credits
| FAS | 1015 | Introduction to Fashion/Lifestyle Branding | 3 |
| FAS | 1079 | Leadership and Management in the Fashion Industry | 3 |
| FAS | 1080 | Global Fashion Management | 3 |
| FAS | 1081 | The Fashion Design Process | 3 |
| FAS | 1082 | Fashion in Film | 3 |
| FAS | 1090* | Internship | 3 |
| FAS | 1091* | Internship | 3 |
| FAS | 1092 | Internship | 3 |
Leadership/Marketing and Organizational Skills: 18 Credits
Required Coursework: 12 Credits
| ACC | 1007 | Fundamentals of Accounting I | 3 |
| BLW | 1001 | Law and Business | 3 |
| MGT | 1001 | Principles of Management I | 3 |
| MGT | 1001 | Principles of Marketing | 3 |
Elective Coursework: 6 Credits chosen from:
| BLW | 1005 | Topics of Business Law | 3 |
| BLW | 1015 | Legal Environment of the Workplace | 3 |
| MGT | 1003 | Financial Management | 3 |
| MGT | 1006 | Small Business Management | 3 |
| MGT | 1021 | Cultural Environment of Human Resources | 3 |
| MKT | 1002 | Fundamentals of Advertising and Sales Promotion | 3 |
| MKT | 1003 | 3 | |
| MKT | 1020 | International Distribution: Marketing Strategies | 3 |
Other Liberal Arts Requirements: 9 Credits
Required Coursework: 6 Credits from:
| ENG | 1007 to 1073; not 1040 | English | 3 |
| MTH | 1002 | Introduction to Statistics | 3 |
And 3 additional credits in Social Sciences chosen from either:
| ECO | 1001 | Principles of Economics I | 3 |
| ECO | 1002 | Principles of Economics II | 3 |
Core Requirements: 42 Credits
| DNY | 1000C | Discover New York | 3 |
| FYW | 1000C | English Composition | 3 |
| ENG | 1100C | Literature in a Global Context | 3 |
| HIS | 1000C | Emergence of a Global Society | 3 |
| PHI | 1000C | Philosophy of the Human Person | 3 |
| PHI | 3000C | Metaphysics | 3 |
| PHI | 1020 or 2200 Series | Philosophy | 3 |
| SCI | 1000C | Scientific Inquiry | 3 |
| SPE | 1000C | Public Speaking for the College Student | 3 |
| THE | 1000C | Perspectives on Christianity | 3 |
| THE | 1040 Series | Theology | 3 |
| THE | Any THE Elective | 3 |
And: Modern Foreign Language/Cultural Studies: 6 Credits from:
| ART | 1000C | The Creative Process | 3 |
| LAC | 1000C | Language and Culture | 3 |
Free Electives: 15 Credits
Additional Information
Students majoring in Fashion Studies at St. John's benefit from faculty and alumni with extensive contacts in New York City's fashion industry. This alumni network provides outstanding internship and job placement opportunities, helping to prepare students for professional positions as fashion industry executives, professionals supporting fashion design processes or in many related business areas.
Students also gain an academic and professional edge by joining any of St. John's more than 180 student clubs and organizations. Clubs that may be of special interest to Fashion Studies majors include the Queens Campus fashion club, The Red House; the Staten Island Campus Fashion Club, Club Couture, and more, including:
- Advertising Society
- Communications Club
- Management Club
- Marketing Club
- Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture
- Communication Arts Film Society
- St. John's University Television Club (WRED)
- WSJU-Radio
- The Torch
Fashion Studies majors also may apply to a variety of honor societies, including The Collins College of Professional Studies Honor Society, whose Members are recognized for academic excellence and demonstrable involvement in their churches and communities, and the St. John’s University President’s Society.
Of course, students also benefit from outstanding University-wide facilities and resources for which St. John's is widely known.
Facilities include labs in the Collins College of Professional Studies complex at Queens in St. Augustine Hall; high-tech classrooms, up-to-date computer and science laboratories and a 1.7 million-volume University Library whose resources are available to students at both campuses. Our D'Angelo Center is a five-story, 127,000-square-foot University and Student Center with classrooms, lecture halls, a Starbucks Café.
Students take advantage of St. John’s location in dynamic New York City and in the St. John’s global campuses. Our faculty and Career Center have strong ties to employers and other professional and educational resources throughout the New York area. Students also make New York their classroom through innovative courses like Discover New York.
Career Outcomes
The B.S. in Fashion Studies prepares majors to regard the Fashion Industry as an exciting and rewarding industry to work within, for individual personal satisfaction and to help positively influence the lives of many who work in fashion globally.
The program will prepare students to:
- Examine how the Fashion Industry operates and analyze how different talented professionals work together to support collections, shows, weeks, setting trends that affect customers tastes, preferences and purchases
- Develop expertise in varied aspects of fashion, retail, on line, acquisition of talent, fashion law, accounting, finance and more
- Research and be able to discuss the history of fashion, in the United States and western Europe
- Understand the latest important trends in fashion today, inclusion of fashion designers in many countries outside of the US and western Europe; Diversity, at home and globally; the intersection of entertainment with fashion;
- Be aware of how and why fashion needs to be more ethical and responsible; the ethical obligations and social requirements that now impact fashion, including sustainability, fair trade, better conditions for workers at home and globally, and more.
Graduates will also be prepared for further study in law and fashion business fields.
Additional Information
Digital Badge Options
In addition to our major in Fashion Studies, students interested in enhancing their skill set also have the option of earning Digital Badges in various fields. In order to obtain a badge, students must complete all required activities/classes for the badge they wish to be awarded. For a complete listing of those badges, please click here.