Creative Mind Podcast Episode 7 – Andrea Skillings on Fashion Product Development
(by Bobby Brill)
In this episode, Bobby and Andrea Skillings, Fashion Product Development Program Coordinator at Academy of Art University, cover the real-world job of working in fashion–brands, design, international business, and working with factories in the US and overseas.
Andrea explains the critical and theoretical ideas about fashion product development such as technical drawings, industry-standard software, sourcing material, international shipping, factories around the globe, etc. Most importantly, she goes deep into careers in fashion and how you’re actually making money either as a small independent designer or a major big chain.
Andrea Skillings received an MA in 20th-century fashion from The New School University and a BS in Fashion Merchandising, Textiles and Design from the University of Rhode Island. She joined the Academy of Art’s School of Fashion in 2016 as an adjunct instructor and in 2017 was appointed Program Coordinator of the Product Development program.
The program, through her leadership, focuses on the tools required to bring a fashion product from a basic concept to designing the product and into the roadmap of the product build. Through critical and theoretical discussions around product development, Skillings advocates empowering her students in developing professional skills that will translate from the classroom to the workplace.
Also, check out our bonus video for this episode where Andrea takes a tour of a local clothing factory in San Francisco to get a behind the scenes look at how business gets done.
Established in 1929, Academy of Art University is one of the largest private accredited art and design schools in the nation. Located in San Francisco, the epicenter of culture and technology, Academy of Art University offers more than 135 accredited degree programs spanning 40 areas of study, including entertainment arts, advertising, fashion, architecture, game development, music, communication, photography and more.
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Image courtesy of Eugenio Castro.
