• Fashion Design and the Arts MFA

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    Student presenting work to classmates during a critique in a studio classroom with mullioned windows
    A fashion show including a blue velvet dress with antennae coming out the back, a purple and gold dress, and a dress featuring the face of Donatella Versace in a French art studio.

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  • In the MFA Fashion Design and the Arts at Parsons Paris, you develop sustainable and inclusive approaches to fashion innovation through studio-based projects that are closely linked to the fashion industry and cultural institutions of Paris. This two-year program allows you to challenge traditional forms of understanding, making, and disseminating fashion beyond the traditional boundaries set by gender and market positioning. The interdisciplinary curriculum addresses topics such as sustainability and inclusivity through creative practice and artistic experimentation.

    Program Highlights

    • Parisian Perspectives

      Explore French and European fashion and art ecosystems and practice in an international center for the arts, home to galleries and artists' residences.

    • Sustainable Focus

      Integrate parameters of environmental and social justice into your research and design process.

    • Fashion Experimentation

      Experiment with interdisciplinary artistic methods to develop your skills and voice as a creative, guided by faculty mentors and guest artists from diverse fields.

    • Personalized Approach

      Customize your third semester, which can include options such as developing your thesis concept at Parsons Paris, completing an internship, or studying at the Parsons campus in NYC.

    • Fashion Design for Performing Arts

      Students interested in a career in costume design have the option to develop studio projects, internship experiences, and thesis work for a film, live performance, theater, or ballet context.

    • Applicant Profile

      The program welcomes students with a practice-based bachelor's degree in fashion design or equivalent skills from related arts fields such as textile design, product design, the fine arts, the visual arts, or architecture.  

    • Degree Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
    • Format Full time, on campus
    • Credits 60
    • Duration 2 years

  • Curriculum

    The MFA curriculum is rooted in the interdisciplinary and visionary approaches that have placed Parsons School of Design at the forefront of fashion and art education. In the program, you engage with key industry partners and cultural organizations in Paris in a variety of studio projects, master classes, and research seminars.

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  • Career Paths

    Graduates of the program are ready to play a variety of roles within the professional fields of fashion and contemporary arts, including design, visual arts, research practice, styling, and merchandising.

  • MFA Fashion Design and the Arts faculty represent a broad range of expertise in the fields of fashion design, visual and performing arts, and other contemporary areas of art and design practice. Long-term projects, workshops and creative seminars involve guest practitioners of various backgrounds and leaders in the creative industries who connect you with professional realities and networks.

    • Experimenting is at the core of this program—you have to leave some of your past ways of seeing behind and push yourself to try new things. The courses are open and push you in ways that you can't expect—you will question who you are as a designer but will come out with new perspectives that you couldn't have imagined before.

      Portrait of student Daniel Bosco
      Daniel Bosco MFA Fashion Design and the Arts ’23

    • Being a student in the MFA Fashion Design and the Arts program forces you to work outside of the comfort zone of the conventional fashion industry.

      Portrait of Kylie Rose Carroll
      Kylie Rose Carroll MFA Fashion Design and the Arts ’23

    • It is very motivating to learn from experienced faculty members who are very active in the professional industry. We are lucky to benefit from their unique experiences and broad knowledge.

      Portrait of student Isabelle Yuan Xing
      Isabelle Yuan Xing MFA Fashion Design and the Arts ’23

  • Beyond the Classroom

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      Industry Engagement

      Courses, projects, and faculty at Parsons Paris are closely integrated with industry and external partners, enabling you to apply what you’ve learned in the classroom to real-world challenges in creative business, nonprofit, government, and technology sectors.

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      Making and Academic Resources

      To facilitate your creative growth and experimentation across all disciplines, Parsons Paris offers access to academic resources such as on-campus making and project facilities, tech and fashion research labs, and The New School’s digital libraries and archives.

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      Research Centers & Labs

      Parsons Paris places research at the center of the learning experience. Faculty and students in our graduate programs collaborate closely, preparing students for real-world teamwork and enabling graduates to respond to current social, political, and economic conditions.

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Undergraduates

To apply to any of our undergraduate programs (except the Bachelor's Program for Adults and Transfer Students and Parsons Associate of Applied Science programs) complete and submit the Common App online.

Undergraduate Adult Learners

To apply to any of our Bachelor's Program for Adults and Transfer Students and Parsons Associate of Applied Science programs, complete and submit the New School Online Application.

Graduates

To apply to any of our Master's, Doctoral, Professional Studies Diploma, and Graduate Certificate programs, complete and submit the New School Online Application.