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Design and present an original fashion collection concept in this 2-week fashion design program for high school students on UCLA’s campus.
Seats are limited, and this course may sell out for summer 2027. Enroll early to save your seat.
Course Description
A collection begins with a point of view. Let a color, shape, or fabric suggest a direction, then work out what makes the pieces belong together.
In this course you will build mood boards and explore fashion sketching with croquis, the figures used to draw clothing designs. Color theory, silhouettes, textile properties, and fabric identification help you connect an idea with materials that could make it work.
Practice hand sewing and sewing-machine techniques, learning the terminology as you use it. Construction projects match your experience level. Critiques give you a chance to explain a material, shape, or detail and decide how feedback could improve the work.
Your original collection concept brings together a mood board, color story, sketches, brand identity, fabric choices, and construction knowledge. Present and defend your design decisions, then reflect on which studio methods you’d like to develop further. It’s a way to explore both the creative direction and the practical craft of fashion.
This two-week course for high school students takes place at UCLA in Los Angeles, California. The program is developed by UCLA and offered in partnership with Summer Discovery. Residential and commuter options are available.
What You Will Do
• Build a fashion identity and assess personal design interests
• Create sketches using croquis, silhouette, and construction details
• Apply color theory through studio challenges and a collection color story
• Analyze textiles, fabric swatches, and material performance
• Practice hand sewing and sewing-machine techniques
• Develop and present an original fashion collection concept
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Use a design process to connect inspiration with a developed visual concept
• Explain how color, fabric, shape, and construction choices work together
• Support design decisions with clear reasoning and respond to critique
You’ll leave with your developed collection concept, studio work, and a certificate of completion.
Why Fashion Design Skills Matter
Fashion design skills connect visual imagination to material decisions. A sketch communicates proportion and detail. Color theory helps create relationships across a collection. Textile analysis shows how weight, texture, stretch, and structure affect what can be made.
Construction practice adds patience and precision because an idea must work in fabric, not only on a page. Critiques develop communication and revision as students explain choices, listen to another perspective, and decide what to change. These abilities support fashion and costume design, but they also strengthen visual thinking, craftsmanship, project development, and the habit of testing creative ideas against real constraints.
Who Should Attend?
For students who have completed 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade.
If you’re drawn to clothing, drawing, color, or the feel of a fabric, this course gives you ways to turn those interests into design choices. It welcomes a range of experience levels, with construction projects matched accordingly. You can explore fashion, costume, textiles, or other studio interests without having to choose a career.
You’ll sketch, practice sewing, handle tools and fabric carefully, and revise ideas through critique.
Recommended by More Than 4 out of 5 Students
Based on students surveyed in Summer Discovery’s 2026 UCLA high school program.
Your Summer at UCLA
UCLA gives high-school students the opportunity to explore an academic interest while experiencing university life in Los Angeles, a city where entertainment, technology, business, science, and culture constantly intersect. The campus has its own community and rhythm while connecting students to a wider environment built around creativity and new ideas.
Students learn alongside peers, navigate a large campus, and gain independence through everyday choices and responsibilities. Time outside class expands the experience through friendships, campus life, and opportunities to notice which subjects and settings hold their attention. For families, UCLA offers a valuable combination of substantive academics, personal growth, and clearer direction about what a student may want to study, experience more deeply, or pursue next.
Summer Discovery Certificate of Completion
After successfully finishing this course, you will be awarded a certification completion for your accomplishment.
*This is a preview, not what you will receive