About
ASU FIDM is an academic community with fashion industry connections designed to support your creative vision.
ASU FIDM - where you'll learn to create a future you're proud of from experts in their field.
At ASU FIDM, you'll discover a supportive college experience with a range of networking, internship and skill-building opportunities that will empower you to begin a satisfying, successful fashion career that meets your creative vision. You will learn from a world-renowned faculty with extensive fashion industry experience in state-of-the-art design spaces in Los Angeles or Phoenix.
The ASU FIDM community has a passion for preparing students for creative careers as professionals who practice their craft with a commitment to social responsibility and global sustainability. Like most creative industries today, fashion is entering a new era; with new technology come new jobs, new connections to manufacturing, new retail experiences and new worlds in the metaverse connected to all areas of fashion.
History
ASU launched its first four-year fashion degree in 2017 as a program in the School of Art in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. Led by Dennita Sewell, the program was created in response to student demand and by spring 2023 had more than 500 students either majoring or minoring in fashion, with hundreds more from disciplines across the university who take individual classes.
In 2021, the program moved to the brand new Fusion on First building in Downtown Phoenix. During its first few years, the program also built partnerships with industry leaders and local collaborators, including Optitex, Dress for Success, the Arizona Humane Society and Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
In 2023, the program became a school and expanded to Los Angeles, becoming ASU FIDM.
ASU FIDM builds on the legacy of Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM), founded in 1969 by Toni Hohberg, and on ASU’s expertise and innovation around fashion and the creative industries to provide the best education and opportunities for students.
In its more than 50-year history, FIDM developed and evolved cutting-edge fashion, design and business degree programs. Alumni include world-renowned designer Monique Lhuillier; Rea Ann Silva, founder of Beautyblender; Sarah Truly Beers, Marvel’s vice president of franchise creative and marketing; Kia Ragland, director of global product development at Smashbox Cosmetics; and costume designer Trish Summerville (“Red Sparrow,” “Westworld,” “Gone Girl,” “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”).
ASU FIDM operates in downtown Phoenix at Fusion on First and in downtown Los Angeles at the ASU California Center Grand in the heart of the LA Fashion District.
An experience defined by excellence
#1 in the U.S. for innovation
ahead of MIT and Stanford
– U.S. News & World Report, 2016-2023
#1 in the U.S. and #2 in the world for global impact
ahead of Purdue, MIT and Penn State
– Times Higher Education
#1 in the U.S. for sustainability
ahead of MIT and Stanford
– Sierra Club
Top 10 in the world for sustainable fashion schools
– University Network
Top 10 in the world for employer-student connections
ahead of Princeton, MIT and Stanford
– QS World University Rankings
Top 20 in the U.S. for undergraduate education
ahead of Stanford and Yale
– U.S. News & World Report