Russia and Fashion Education.
Where to get the profession of a designer, fashion designer?

Indeed, where are designers taught in our country? After all, we can say as much as we like that the best in the world is St Martin's College or Marangoni Institute, but most of the young talents who graduated from school are unlikely to be able to afford such an expensive education. And young people who decide to change their profession are also not always so wealthy, and the maximum that they can afford is, for example, online courses at the very famous St. Martin's College.

But we will start from the very beginning, or rather from the fact that one "I want to be a designer, fashion designer" not enough. You need not only desire and talent, preferably also the ability to draw and the understanding that learning to design is a very difficult process, and you will also need to be able to sew, and to understand fabrics and much more. However, if you do not know how to draw, you should not despair, you can take the appropriate courses, because you do not need to become a great artist, you just need to be able to make sketches, sketches, and it is quite possible to learn to draw with perseverance and desire. So, you know how to draw, how to hold a needle and thread in your hands, guess what next, where to go?

In Russia, clothing design is taught in colleges, universities and courses. In principle, design, or better to say the ability to sew, can be studied in courses. But it is better to choose courses not for one and a half or two months, but longer, because there are courses designed for a year or even two. In any case, they will teach you how to sew and cut. But a more complete education, nevertheless, is better to get in the corresponding educational institutions.

Let's start with colleges, vocational education. In Russian secondary specialized educational institutions, the profession of a fashion designer, couturier, is most often called a couturier-cutter and a couturier-constructor. At the same time, it is worth knowing the difference: the cutter is the one who places the patterns on the fabric, cuts the clothes and prepares them for fitting, but the fashion designer creates sketches and develops special patterns (technical patterns).

In colleges, education is free, after graduation, state diplomas are issued. You can apply both after the 9th grade - the term of study is about 4-5 years, and after the 11th grade - the term of study is 3 years. First, you learn the profession of "cutter", and then "fashion designer". "Cutter" - a diploma of primary vocational education, "fashion designer" - a diploma of secondary vocational education.

Entering colleges after the 9th grade, you only need to pass an interview, however, there are colleges in which exams are also taken, similar to exams after the 11th grade. After the 11th, you need to pass the Russian language and literature (presentation) or the Russian language Unified State Exam, mathematics (Unified State Exam), and also drawing.

Examples of colleges that teach fashion designers:

In higher educational institutions, the specialty "fashion designer" is also called differently, for example, "design of garments", in this specialty, more attention is paid not to the creative component, but to engineering and technical training, the study of industrial production, and the graduates themselves receive qualifications not a designer or fashion designer, but an engineer.

The specialty "Artistic costume design" is taught at the Moscow State Textile University. A.N. Kosygin (MSTU) - https://www.msta.ac.ru/

Designers specializing in costume design are trained, for example, at the Moscow State University of Design and Technology (MGUDT) - https://www.mgudt.ru/new/, (there is also a specialization in accessory design, students of this university received awards at many, both Russian and international competitions, for example, "Russian silhouette", "Admiralty needle"), Moscow State University of Culture and Arts (MGUKI) - https://www.msuc.org/. These are state universities. Non-state - MHPI (Moscow Art and Industry Institute) - https://www.mhpi.edu.ru/, National Fashion Institute - https://www.fashioninstitute.ru.

They also teach "costume design" at the design department of the Omsk State Service Institute (OGIS) - https://www.omgis.ru/. Students of this university have repeatedly won various design competitions, for example, "Russian silhouette", "Admiralty needle". They also received the Grand Prix in the Fashion School nomination at the Fashion Assembly 2005 International Competition in Moscow, where the best universities of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Milan, Canada, Estonia, Ukraine (26 schools in total) took part. And Evelina Khromchenko, the former editor-in-chief of the magazine "L" OFFICIEL "Russia, even noted that:" in terms of teaching, the Omsk School of Design can be equal to the St. Martin School in London. She outstripped and broke away from all fashion schools in Russia. "

Also famous is the department of "artistic design of costumes and textiles" of the South Russian State University of Economics and Service in Shakhty (https://www.sssu.ru/).

The cultural capital of Russia, St. Petersburg, here you can get an education in the field of fashion design, for example, at the Apparel Engineering School (college), which is part of the structure of the St. Petersburg State University of Technology and Design, as well as at the Costume Design Institute of the same university ( https://sutd.ru/).

As a result, we can say that the department of "costume design" of the Omsk State Institute of Service (OGIS) received many praises. It is also mentioned more than once about the time-tested Moscow State Textile University. A.N. Kosygin (MSTU), Moscow State University of Design and Technology (MGUDT). In general, education in Russia in the field of design is quite chaotic, there is a lot of it, but there is no definite school that everyone would praise and which would be famous for its graduates. Everyone has their own opinion on this matter. We can also mention those universities where Russian designers studied.

So Alena Akhmadulina studied at the St. Petersburg State University of Technology and Design at the Faculty of Fashion Design and Technology. Vyacheslav Zaitsev at the Moscow State Textile University. A.N. Kosygin. Valentin Yudashkin - at the Moscow Industrial College. Dasha Gauser has no professional education, she loved sewing since childhood, she studied at the Magnitogorsk State University at the Faculty of Art and Graphics. Duet Anna and Alexey Borodulins are graduates of the Ivanovo Textile Academy (https://www.igta.ru/).

If you are applying to the specialty "fashion designer", you will definitely need to pass a drawing, composition plus Russian and a humanitarian subject, somewhere history, somewhere literature. If you enter the specialty of a fashion designer, fashion designer and technologist, you will have to pass Russian language, mathematics, physics.

What other Russian educational institutions that train future fashion designers do you know? If you have ideas, write in the comments, and if you or your friends studied there, then you can also give feedback.