The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

college in downtown Los Angeles. It offers degree programs in majors including

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

, entertainment, beauty, interior design, and

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

. The college was founded in 1969 by Tonian Hohberg, the institute's president and CEO.

Academics

The college offers 26

associate of arts An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

degree programs; a Bachelor of Science degree in business management, which is also available via distance learning; and nine Bachelor of Arts degree programs. The college also offers a master in business administration degree. The college is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission. Due to a commission review finding problems in sustainability and faculty oversight in 2019, status has changed from "Accredited" to "Accredited with Notice of Concern". It is also an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD).Accredited Institutional Members
. National Association of Schools of Art and Design. Accessed 2014.

Campuses

The college has one campus in Los Angeles. The campus features the modern architecture of Clive Wilkinson. FIDM's main campus in Los Angeles features innovative study spaces, a design studio, and the FIDM Museum and Galleries. The San Francisco campus is located in Union Square. The award-winning Orange County campus is a visual experience with lofts, an indoor/outdoor student lounge, bright colors, and a unique audiovisual igloo. Students can take their first year of classes at the Orange County and San Francisco campuses, but have to transfer to the Los Angeles campus for their second year.

In popular culture

FIDM served as the location of

Lifetime Lifetime may refer to: * Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Lifetime (band), a rock band from New Jersey * ''Life Time'' (Rollins Band album), by Rollins Band * ...

's '' Project Runway'' season six, '' Project Runway: Under the Gunn'', '' Project Runway: Threads'', and '' Project Runway: Junior''. Several FIDM alumni, including Santino Rice, Daniel Franco, Guadalupe Vidal, Kelli Martin, and Leann Marshall, were contestants on the original ''Project Runway'' show. FIDM was also featured in the MTV show '' The Hills'', which shows the life of upcoming fashion designer, Lauren Conrad, who comes from Laguna Beach and wants to become famous for her designs.

FIDM Museum

The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising Museum, located at the Los Angeles Campus, is home to a large collection of fashion and costume pieces from the 1800s to today. The museum features permanent and temporary exhibits, including costumes and designs from early 20th-century Hollywood, theater, and current television shows and films. Currently, the art of costume design in television is being displayed until the start of November of 2022. The FIDM Museum Permanent Collection features more than 15,000 objects representing over 200 years of fashion, spanning haute couture, ready-to-wear, international ensembles, film costumes, and fragrance. Highlights of the collection include the Lilli Ann, Michael Arnaud, Damask Cecil Beaton, Nancy Dinsmore, Rudi Gernreich, Stella Hanania, Helen Larson, Tina Leser, Maurice Levin, and Gianni Versace Menswear archives. Due to COVID-19 concerns, the FIDM Museum Los Angeles and Orange County galleries are now closed. It is possible to browse the FIDM online collections.

Notable people

Alumni

Rajwa Al Saif Rajwa Al Saif ( ar, رجوى آل سيف; born 28 April 1994) is a Saudi architect and fiancée to Hussein, Crown Prince of Jordan, to whom she has been engaged since 17 August 2022. Early life and education Al Saif was born in Riyadh, Saudi A ...

, Saudi designer and the fiancée of Hussein, Crown Prince of Jordan *

Marina Toybina Marina Toybina (born October 15, 1981) is an American costume and fashion designer. She has won six Emmy Awards, including four consecutive in the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Costumes for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Programming, Outs ...

, costume designer *

Lubov Azria Lubov Azria (born November 8, 1967) is an American fashion designer. She was the Chief Creative Officer of BCBGMAXAZRIA Group, a global fashion house with over 20 brands. Biography Lubov Azria was born on November 8, 1967, in Kyiv, Ukraine. Growi ...

, fashion designer * Katie Bender, filmmaker * Gessica Brooke, fashion and accessories designer * Amanda Bynes, fashion designer, actress *

Lauren Conrad Lauren Katherine Conrad (born February 1, 1986)) is an American television personality, fashion designer and author. In September 2004, as an 18-year-old, Conrad came to prominence after being cast in the reality television series '' Laguna Beac ...

, author and fashion designer *

Cris Crotz Cristina Marie Crotz (born April 26, 1986) is a former American beauty pageant titleholder from Mesquite, Nevada who was named Miss Nevada The Miss Nevada competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Nevada in th ...

, Miss Nevada 2010 *

Candice Cuoco Candice Cuoco (born April 8, 1988) is an American fashion designer who finished as a finalist on Season 14 of '' Project Runway'' and has been on the sixth season of '' Project Runway All Stars'', where she finished in 12th Place. Early life ...

, fashion designer, ''Project Runway 14'' finalist *

Kyra Davis Kyra Davis (born August 23, 1972) is an American novelist. She is best known for her ''Just One Night'' trilogy and the ''Sophie Katz'' mystery series. In 2013 Anonymous Content optioned Davis' ''Just One Night'' trilogy with the intent to develo ...

, novelist * Lil Debbie, rapper, model, and fashion designer *

Nikita Dragun Nikita Nguyen (born January 31, 1996) known professionally as Nikita Dragun, is a YouTuber, make-up artist, and model. Early life Nikita Nguyen was born in Belgium and attended high school in Virginia, United States. She is of Vietnamese and Me ...

, Beauty YouTuber * Mario Hollands, pitcher for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

* Sassa Jimenez, fashion designer, Philippines * Karen Kane, fashion designer * Lisa Kristine, fine art photographer *

Michael Kuluva Michael David Kuluva (born May 6, 1983) is an American fashion designer and founder of the New York fashion week label Tumbler and Tipsy. He resides in Los Angeles, California. In 2012, Kuluva collaborated with a video game software company, U ...

, fashion designer, professional figure skater, owner of

Tumbler and Tipsy Tumbler and Tipsy is a brand of clothing and accessories founded by Michael Kuluva in 2009. Kuluva graduated from Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising with a degree in fashion design in 2012. Tumbler and Tipsy by Michael Kuluva became the f ...

Masiela Lusha Masiela Lusha (; born October 23, 1985) is an Albanian-born American actress and author. She gained recognition for playing Carmen Lopez on the globally syndicated ABC sitcom ''George Lopez'', a role that earned her two consecutive Young Artist ...

, Albanian-American actress, poet, and humanitarian * Leanne Marshall, fashion designer, ''Project Runway'' 5 winner *

Thai Nguyen Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode bloc ...

, fashion designer and television personality * Trish Summerville, costume designer * Santino Rice, fashion designer, ''Project Runway'' 2 finalist *

Yotam Solomon Yotam Solomon (born March 28, 1987) is a Los Angeles–based, Israeli-born fashion designer. Biography Personal life Solomon's grandparents migrated from Austria and Hungary to Israel after the Holocaust. A son of Israeli-born parents, Yotam ...

, fashion designer * Marlene Stewart, costume designer *

Edwin Bodney Edwin Bodney is an American slam poet and author of the book ''A Study of Hands'' (Not A Cult Press). He is one of the hosts of Da Poetry Lounge. Various of Bodney's poems have been featured in Button Poetry. He is the author and performer of t ...

, poet *

Gottmik Kade Gottlieb (born August 19, 1997), better known as Gottmik, is an American drag performer and make-up artist. He became the first openly trans man to compete on '' RuPaul's Drag Race'', tying for 3rd place on the thirteenth season. Early li ...

, drag performer, make-up artist

Faculty and staff

* Kevin Reagan, graphic designer and author * Bradford Shellhammer, entrepreneur and designer, founding editor of ''

Queerty ''Queerty'' is an online magazine and newspaper covering gay-oriented lifestyle and news, founded in 2005 by David Hauslaib. As of June 2015, the site had more than five million monthly unique visitors. History ''Queerty'' was founded by David ...

'' *

Nick Verreos Nick Verreos (born February 13, 1967 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American fashion designer, fashion commentator, former '' Project Runway'' contestant, educator and author. Early life and education Verreos was born in Missouri on February 13, ...

, fashion designer

References

External links

*
FIDM Museum and galleries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising Fashion schools in the United States Business schools in California For-profit universities and colleges in the United States Universities and colleges in Los Angeles Universities and colleges in Orange County, California Universities and colleges in San Diego Universities and colleges in San Francisco Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges California people in fashion Private universities and colleges in California