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Department of Design and Merchandising
College of Health and Human Sciences

Design and Merchandising Fashion FUNdamentals A STEM Enrichment Program for Middle School Youth

June 10-21, 2024
*No program on June 19!

Passion for Fashion

Fashion FUNdamentals is a two-week, summer program designed to enhance young people’s interests and self-esteem in science, technology, engineering, and math by leveraging their interest in and passion for fashion.

Our STEM program is open to middle school students entering 6th, 7th, and 8th grades in the fall following the summer program. The program was developed by faculty in the Department of Design and Merchandising. and represents an innovative, technology-rich, learning experience comprising technical and social programming. Technical programming will engage young people in hands-on application of STEM concepts to develop solutions to real-world problems in the global fashion industry. Social programming will address topics of concern among adolescents, and thus, will have the potential to positively influence their self-esteem as well as their academic performance.

The Fashion FUNdamentals team is grateful for the kind support of Dave Folkes through the Kathryn T. Bohannon Fund as well as other private donors who help to make the program possible.

students gather around historic kimonos at the Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising.

More Information

Programming

Fashion FUNdamentals offers a lively mix of hands-on technical and social programming.

Application

Applications for 2024 have now closed.

Please reach out to Sara.K.Dudek@colostate.edu if you would like to be placed on the waitlist for Summer 2024.

Our Team

The program is led by faculty in the Department of Design and Merchandising.

Contact

For more information, contact Sara Dudek, Fashion FUNdamentals Program Manager.

Scenes from Summer 2023

2023 Hands-On Fun

A student poses in their pants at the Fashion FUN fashion show
2 students sit in a computer lab, one explaining something to the other with her fingers
a top view of the fashion show with the stage and a large crowd in the audience.
many students laugh as they look on at the laser cutter.
one student works on a sewing machine, another student in the background raises her hand.
two students pose for the camera with their arms around each other and around a black and white fluffy dog.
a class of students learns how to use photoshop and one looks back at the camera.
A student poses at the end of the runway in her handmade pants and shirt.
A student poses in his pants, shoes, bandana, and shirt for the fashion show
dancers reach toward the sky in a dance theater space.
students in a circle with their hands in the center of the circle in a dance space
Students work on a math game in the nancy richardson design center
a student poses for her dad taking a picture in the fashion show
two students get help from a teacher measuring out on fabric
a group of students learn from an instructor cutting vegetables
students gather around historic kimonos at the Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising.
Morgan Davis, the keynote speaker, holds the microphone as she speaks.
A group of 4 students marvel at the laser cutter doing its work.
a group of students laugh with a teacher as the look at the results from the 3D body scanner in a fashion fundamantals community engagement project
A teacher helps two students measure paper to create a sewing pattern.
a student throws a been bag while playing a beanbag toss game.

Scenes from Summer 2022

Read more on the College of Health and Human Sciences Source News page!

2022 Hands-On Fun

Students participate in technical courses like apparel construction, digital textile design, textile science, and apparel technology and engineering. They also take part in social activities around campus by visiting the Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising, the University Center for the Arts, the campus REC center, and the Kendall Reagan Nutrition Center.

4 Fashion FUN students work at sewing machines
Students learn how to pin fabric from a teacher
modeling at the culminating fashion show
a student looks through the microscope in the textile science lab
a student models at the culminating fashion show
students work on math problems on their calculators
students work on textile designs in the computer lab
students dance in the studio at the University Center for the Arts
Students watch the digital textile printer
students work in the computer lab on textile designs
3 students work on their crochet projects
students work on their crochet projects
a student works at a sewing machine
a student poses in the culminating fashion show
a student poses with HABIC dog volunteers
students work on cooking class
a student poses in the culminating fashion show
students play in the pool and rock wall at the REC center
students showcase their t-shirts from textile science class
a student poses for the culminating fashion show
A student works on store design at their computer

Scenes from Summer 2021

See what it’s like to participate in the program! Read more on the College of Health and Human Sciences SOURCE news page.

Audio Described Version of Middle schoolers visit CSU to participate in 2021 Fashion FUNdamentals STEM enrichment camp (best experienced in Chrome)

2021 Hands-on Fun

Students enjoy technical and social programming over the two weeks of the camp.

Student burning a piece of a textile for a textile science experiment
Student writing in a binder in a lab
An instructor showing two students a lesson on the computer
A student works on a design on the computer
A student interacting with a dog from the Human-Animal Bond in Colorado program
Three students in a kitchen preparing a fruit dish
Four students on the floor in a dance studio
A student works with fabric
A student works at a sewing machine
An instructor helps a student with a sewing project
Students examine items in the Avenir Museum
Students looking at historic dresses at the Avenir Museum