Overview

We explore the creative and business aspects of fashion.

How do you transform an idea into a successful fashion product, and how do you define success? Fashion Design Management (FDM) merges creativity, business savvy and ethics to realize the potential of fashion products and ensure they reach the right consumers. In Cornell Human Ecology (CHE) we examine issues through a holistic lens, considering the health and well-being of people and communities. In the FDM major, this means thinking about the needs and desires of consumers as well as the impact of fashion products, production, and promotion on the consumer, the environment, garment workers and society more generally.

The goal of the Fashion Design Management Supplement is to get to know you, your experience, and your perspectives on the fashion and textile industry, including its challenges and opportunities, as well as how you see connections between our major and the CHE mission.

This submission will be considered together with your application materials (Common Application, transcripts, etc.). Fashion Design Management applicants who do not submit the design supplement will not be considered. 

Submission instructions

All Fashion Design Management Supplement components must be submitted via SlideRoom. Mailed materials will not be accepted, reviewed or returned.

Deadlines

Late submissions will not be considered.

First-year applicants

  • Early decision: November 1, 2026
  • Regular decision: January 2, 2027

Transfer applicants

  • Fall external transfer applicants: March 15, 2027

Internal transfer applicants

Current Cornell students applying for internal transfer must also complete the internal transfer application process.

  • Spring transfer: December 1, 2026
  • Fall transfer: May 1, 2027
a fashion mood board posted to a wall

2027 Fashion Design Management Supplement components

The Fashion Design Management Supplement consists of three required components. Applicants must complete and submit all components.

  1. Written statements
  2. Creative samples
  3. Résumé 

All work must be original and produced by the applicant, with no assistance from consultants, artificial intelligence, etc. Any images or graphics that are not the work of the applicant must be properly cited (for example, a mood board of collaged images from a magazine must include attributions to the sources). Submissions found to have significant similarity to work posted on the internet or from other sources will not be accepted.

Tell us more about yourself and your interest in Fashion Design Management (FDM) by responding to each question/prompt below. 

  1. Describe a fashion brand, retailer, product, campaign, resale platform, event, or consumer behavior that has made you think differently about the fashion industry. What did you notice, and what larger question did it raise for you about value, identity, labor, sustainability, technology, culture, or markets? 
  2. Tell us about a time you had to make a decision involving competing priorities. In the fashion industry, for example, those in the management field are constantly navigating decisions balancing aesthetics and cost, speed and quality, profit and ethics, individual taste and group needs, or creativity and practicality. Your example does not have to relate to fashion because we want to know about your process and how your mind thinks. What did you decide, and what did you learn? 
  3. Fashion Design Management sits at the intersection of design, business, culture, and systems. What part of that intersection most interests you right now, and what kind of problem would you like to learn how to address? 

Each response has a 150 word maximum.

Submit 3-5 examples of your prior original creative work.

We want to get a sense of  your aesthetic sensibilities, your technical skills, and how your background and experiences have informed your fashion perspective. Please see the FAQ below for more information about choosing your creative work to submit. 

Format

  • Submit your images via SlideRoom.

Upload your résumé highlighting out-of-classroom extracurricular activities.

You may include work, community engagement, school activities, etc. If you submitted a résumé as part of your Common Application, you are welcome to upload that document.

You may submit a maximum of two pages of your résumé to SlideRoom.

Frequently asked questions

Your original creative work should reflect your aesthetic sensibilities, technical skills and how your background and experiences have shaped your perspective on fashion design management. Examples may include—but are not limited to—fashion photography, mood boards, styling for a shoot or show, original garment or accessory designs, sketches or illustrations, textile surface experimentations, upcycling projects, visual merchandising, exhibit curation, digital media and film, blogs, social media pages, zines, fashion journalism, community-based work (e.g., organizing a clothing swap, volunteer work, etc.), graphic design, entrepreneurial ventures or other creative work that expresses your unique interests and point of view that you may not have had a chance to share in the prior essay responses.

Contact the College of Human Ecology Admissions Office (607-255-5471) to learn more about your candidacy. You can also send a statement of continued interest to the College of Human Ecology Admissions Committee through your application portal. Additional letters of recommendation are not helpful.

You can email FSAD-DUS [at] cornell.edu (FSAD-DUS[at]cornell[dot]edu) with specific questions about the design supplement.