Department of Design and Merchandisingwhere Creativity and STEM converge
Through our academic programs, specialized learning facilities, and engaged scholarship, we foster creative and socially responsible solutions to human-centered challenges in apparel and merchandising and interior architecture and design.
Programs and Highlights
Our academic programs offer holistic learning experiences that foster knowledge and skill development while embracing diverse cultural and global perspectives, innovative technologies, and experiential learning. You will have numerous opportunities to participate in community service-learning projects, design and research competitions and shows, industry events, department-led study tours, internships, and student organizations.
Our Apparel and Merchandising program is accredited by the Textile and Apparel Program Accreditation Commission of the International Textile and Apparel Association and our Interior Architecture and Design program is accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation.
February 2025 Highlights
We had a fantastic month in February – IAD students took field trips to Slate in Fort Collins and several design firms in Denver, our New York Study Tour course hosted a “Famous Figures Soiree” in preparation for their spring break trip to New York City, and the shoe design course is exhibiting their final projects at the Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising in The Art of Sneaker Design.
You will gain valuable resource management, communication, and leadership skills through involvement in community activities, service-learning projects, and student organizations.
Through access to specialized physical and virtual spaces equipped with current industry technologies, you will engage in experiential learning to foster knowledge and skill development.
By being involved in department-sponsored industry events and the formal internship program, you will gain understanding of contemporary business practices and philosophies.
Through participation in department-led study tours or CSU’s Education Abroad semester-long programs, you will expand your knowledge of the discipline as well as your appreciation for diverse cultures and global perspectives.
The Avenir Museum is Colorado State University’s historic costume and textiles collection. The museum includes four galleries located in two campus buildings.
Each year, during the final two weeks of the semester, we Celebrate Design and Merchandising students with a series of events showcasing student work including various exhibits, the Design and Merchandising Fashion Show and the Interior Architecture and Design Senior Show.
Whether you’re building technical skills for a chosen profession or following a passion for helping people, each of our majors and degrees are designed around making connections while you learn — with faculty, employers, professionals, and people in the community.
As a human-centered college, we believe that research should not only contribute to scientific knowledge, but also be translated into programs, policies, and applications that put that knowledge to work.
