In Prague, art is intrinsically linked with lifestyle—fashion design enjoys a high priority and status. The city’s rich history and artistic culture spurred NC State University to launch its Fashion and Costume Design Program at the Prague Institute in 2006. Prague offers students accessibility to fashion venues off the beaten track. Many of Prague’s hundreds of boutiques are run by independent designers who don’t follow market trends and offer sources of inspiration to young design enthusiasts trying to carve their own paths.
Nina Provaan Smetanova, a widely respected fashion designer and commentator teaches fashion design at the Prague Institute. She says, “From the early days of European history, Prague was an important intersection of culture and trade and a bridge between Eastern and Western cultures. We feel Prague is geographically predestined to become a fashion hub for the newly formed Europe.”
A keen sense of duty to help grow an industry inspires many of the teachers in the field, including Ladislav Provaan, who teaches the History of Fashion and Costume Design at the Prague Institute. “The concentration on fashion design is not new,” says Dana Bartelt, Director of the Prague Institute, “It has always been a big part of the culture.”* National costumes have played an important role for centuries as well as theater costumes for the many active theaters found in Prague today and throughout history.
The Fashion and Design Program combines contemporary fashion–looking at and analyzing world trends, learning pattern-making, and conceptual renderings of a line of fashion apparel, and theater costumes–providing a venue for creative, thematic fashion design.
An excursion to Paris, or another fashion center such as Milan, local excursions within the Czech Republic, fashion shows in Prague, and attending theater performances are included in the program.
*parts of this article are excerpts from Sharon Donovan’s article “Keep it in Czech” in WWDFast publication. Jan 2009.
Required Courses:
ADN 490: Fashion and Costume Design Studio (6 credits)
Recommended Courses:
ADN 492/592: Fashion Illustration (Elective: 3 credits)
ADN 492/592: History of Fashion and Costume Design (Elective: 3 credits)
