The decision-making process behind where to go to college or university (or whether to go at all) is inevitably one of the most stressful moments of everyone’s teenage years. If you don’t get the grades, will you make it to the university you had your heart set on? If you choose to do a creative course, will you still be able to get a job afterwards? And what the hell is clearing?
In previous years, The Business of Fashion’s annual list of the best global fashion schools has been an invaluable resource to those hoping to pursue careers in fashion, offering information and guidance on the various courses and institutions available all across the world. This year, however, the list underwent a makeover.
The BoF team noted that while previous lists had been compiled numerically, with a single school being awarded the number one spot, many of the institutions objected to the process: even, they noted, “some of those which had featured at the very top of our rankings”.
Establishing an official BoF Education Council of 12 members, the group assessed 66 schools and over 13,500 student and alumni responses to form a comprehensive overview of the state of fashion education today, and subsequently drew up a list of top schools divided by various categories.
Some of these include more practical considerations, such as relationships and access to the industry at large, with many of the Italian schools ranking highly for their close partnerships with some of the country’s most prestigious luxury brands. Another marker of excellence were schools that prepared students for the multidisciplinary skills required to run a fashion business: instead of pure design, having some knowledge of business and technological innovations in the industry can be useful too.
To read more about the methodology behind this year’s rankings, and to read the full list, visit BoF’s website here.