Summer College/Adult

Half-Day Course

SUMMER 1: June 4 – 26, 2021 (courses begin June 7 and end June 25)

3 U.S. credits recommended
Language of instruction: English

This course is an immersive introduction to fashion industries and their management strategies. Students explore the relationships between innovation, design, production, and marketing. The course also provides an overview of the Parisian high-end fashion market and its key actors, from designers to retailers. Through visits to Paris luxury stores and showrooms, students gain an overall understanding of today’s fashion business.

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All-Day Studio Course

SUMMER 2: July 1 – 24, 2021 (courses begin July 5 and end July 23)

3 U.S. credits recommended
Language of instruction: English

This course introduces students to drawing as both a fundamental part of the design process and an integral tool for media arts of all kinds. Students approach drawing as a way of thinking, a critical tool, and a means for observation, storytelling, and representation. Traditional and nontraditional methods, media, and theories of drawing are all explored.

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All-Day Studio Course

SUMMER 2: July 1 – 24, 2021 (courses begin July 5 and end July 23)

3 U.S. credits recommended
Language of instruction: English

This course introduces students to painting as both a fundamental part of the design process and an integral tool for media arts of all kinds. Students learn basic concepts of painting such as color theory and composition and techniques for using water-based paints. Drawing is also taught as a means for observation and representation. Traditional and nontraditional methods, media, and theories of painting are all explored. Time will be set aside for students to develop a personal project.

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Half-Day Course

SUMMER 2: July 1 – 24, 2021 (courses begin July 5 and end July 23)

3 U.S. credits recommended
Language of instruction: English

In this course, students focus on a practice-based project that will expand their knowledge of art direction, fashion branding, and communication strategies, exploring the challenges of constructing a brand identity. Through case studies of Paris-based brands, students learn and engage with pragmatic concepts behind fashion communication practices and fashion brand challenges. Students also engage with fashion professionals exploring the multiple fields of art direction in fashion, from fashion design to fashion photography, styling, and publishing. The class consists of seminars, talks with practitioners, and visits to concept stores and leading agencies in the field of Paris fashion. Through the concepts and practice of art direction, this course emphasizes the relation between products, images, and communication.

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All-Day Studio Course

SUMMER 1: June 4 – 26, 2021 (courses begin June 7 and end June 25)
SUMMER 2: July 1 – 24, 2021 (courses begin July 5 and end July 23)

3 U.S. credits recommended
Language of instruction: English

This course introduces students to various approaches and techniques involved in the design process for fashion products. Students are encouraged to experiment as they research and find inspiration for a fashion collection and devise innovative 2D and 3D production methods for their fashion pieces. Working on projects individually and in groups, students develop fashion concepts for which they draw on the unique resources of Paris and explore how fabrication methods and color affect collections. Students are also introduced to branding and merchandising basics used to identify and create work for targeted markets and consumers.

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All-Day Studio Course

SUMMER 2: July 1 – 24, 2021 (courses begin July 5 and end July 23)

3 U.S. credits recommended
Language of instruction: English

This course combines theoretical and practical approaches in an effort to guide students in acquiring an understanding of fashion images and how to create them.

Students learn how to analyze fashion photography using interdisciplinary tools ranging from history to sociology to semiotics. In parallel, students experiment with practical photography techniques at a professional level in order to produce a fashion shoot from the preliminary research stage to the final realization in collaboration with a model. Workshops, field trips, and exhibitions are also proposed during the course.

The course explores photographic methods that enable students to see and interpret the meaning of style. Paris is the historical capital of haute couture and luxury fashion, but students also learn to appreciate it as a city of fashion subcultures in which appearance can express social and political claims.

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Half-Day Studio Course

SUMMER 1: June 4 – 26, 2021 (courses begin June 7 and end June 25)

3 U.S. credits recommended
Language of instruction: English

This course focuses on the creation of contemporary fashion imagery following a professional brief. It offers an introduction to various fashion media and sheds light on the sequences that lead to a strong fashion editorial concept and to the creation of an original narrative and its visual translation. Students become familiar with cutting-edge fashion stylists, photographers. and editors in the Paris fashion scene. They learn to select models, choose and assemble garments and accessories, and prepare professional shoots. The course concludes with the creation of a personal stylist portfolio.

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All-Day Studio Course

SUMMER 2: July 1 – 24, 2021 (courses begin July 5 and end July 23)

3 U.S. credits recommended
Language of instruction: English

Students learn to approach management as a strategic process that combines design innovation and business knowledge. In collaborative projects, they develop problem-solving skills and familiarity with design strategies through the application of research methods, prototyping, and quantitative analysis. Emphasis is placed on understanding a European setting and perspective and the way entrepreneurs, business innovators, and designers operate at the intersection of design and management. Students engage in design thinking and business strategy exercises, applying these approaches in a broad range of enterprises and real-world business contexts.

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All-Day Course

SUMMER 2: July 1 – 24, 2021 (courses begin July 5 and end July 23)

3 U.S. credits recommended
Language of instruction: English

This studio course is an introduction to the design and construction of jewelry objects and collections and a survey of the fundamentals of jewelry design, focusing on key contemporary methods and materials. It offers a full overview of the techniques, practices, processes, and opportunities that characterize this important sector. In the studio, students design and develop a line of jewelry, engaging in a professional design process, from field research to the sourcing of materials and from the initial experimentation with materials and creation of sketches to the development and presentation of a prototype.

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All-Day Course, Monday to Friday

Paris: July 2 - July 17, 2021

Florence: July 19 - July 31, 2021

6 U.S. credits recommended

Language of instruction: English

Parsons Paris has partnered with ​Polimoda,​ a world-ranked fashion school based in Florence, to offer Luxury Design Management, a specialized course giving students the unprecedented opportunity to learn from leading faculty-practitioners in a study program held in two European fashion capitals. The course begins at Parsons Paris, where you focus on high-end industries and the relationship between French heritage businesses, local crafts, design innovation, and strategic management. You examine leading luxury sectors more closely in Italy by immersing yourself in Florence’s robust creative traditions, including the production of finely crafted leather accessories. 

The course combines lectures, seminars, workshops, and field trips to luxury fashion companies and production sites in and around Florence and Paris. During the course, participants receive instructions and tutoring as they work on a research project, keeping track of their process in written and visual form.

Luxury Design Management is taught in English and offered through The New School's affiliated study abroad program provider, API Abroad. To apply, you must be an adult learner or a matriculated junior or senior student in good academic (2.75 GPA) and disciplinary standing in an eligible major for the program. Non-native English speakers must provide TOEFL scores of 79 or above or IELTS scores of 6.5 or above to show proof of English proficiency. 

All applicants must receive academic approval to participate in the program. New School students can discuss their options with their advisor; other applicants can email studyabroad@newschool.edu.

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Half-Day Course

SUMMER 2: July 1 – 24, 2021 (courses begin July 5 and end July 23)

3 U.S. credits recommended
Language of instruction: English

Today discourse about cultural heritage and local patrimony is at the center of a variety of public and private activities involving design and fashion. Fashion houses and ateliers are playing a role in organizing events like Le Journées Européenne du Patrimoine. But the concept of heritage has been recently employed in new and sometimes controversial ways by private and public institutions. In this course, we look at the intersections between heritage, patrimony, and memory in current discourse — with particular attention to their relationship to design and fashion. Through visits to major Parisian fashion archives and talks by experts from private and public museums, the class looks at fashion heritage in Paris and its multiple forms. Starting with UNESCO’s definition of and activities involving cultural heritage, students investigate the tensions between the idea of heritage and patrimony, hierarchies and power in the identification of heritage, and the use of national, regional, and city identity in the construction of personal and collective memories.

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Classes will be held at Parsons Paris, located at 45 rue Saint-Roch in the first arrondissement, which is a short walk from the Louvre and Opéra Garnier. Many classes will also meet in locations throughout the city, ranging from art and design exhibition settings to architectural landmarks and parks, with coursework complemented by excursions and day trips.

$6,920. Fee includes housing, subway passes, insurance, and the cost of excursions.

Parsons Paris partners with Academic Programs International (API), our preferred partner specializing in study abroad, to enroll you and provide on-site support services.

Visit API’s Summer Art and Design page to learn more. There, you can apply by clicking the yellow "Apply Now" button in the top right-hand corner to create an online account and gather necessary materials and complete the application. Required materials include the following:

• Grade report 
• Letter of recommendation
• Course registration form

Within two to three business days of receipt of your application, an API program manager will review your application and then email you to inform you if you’ve been accepted and provide next steps.

Students confirm their participation by submitting a $400 deposit and an Intent-to-Enroll form (ITE). You can register for courses only after your deposit and ITE items have been received.

You have until the final payment deadline to complete your remaining post-acceptance forms and make payments.

College and adult students receive detailed travel instructions upon their acceptance into the program and then purchase their own tickets. Students arriving by air are met at the airport by on-site staff on the program start date. (The cost of travel from Charles de Gaulle is included in the program fee.)

Housing is included in the tuition; meals are not. (Upon arrival, students will be provided with information about affordable local dining options near the Parsons Paris building and their accommodations.

Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. (one-hour break)

For most courses, students can take morning sessions (9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon), afternoon sessions (1:00 to 4:00 p.m.), or a combination of both.

Besides the Parsons Paris campus, many classes will also meet in locations throughout the city, ranging from art and design exhibition settings to architectural landmarks and parks, with coursework complemented by excursions and day trips.

All Summer Intensive Studies Paris students earn three U.S. college credits (or six for Luxury Design Management) upon successful completion of the course.

Participants are strongly encouraged to consult an academic advisor at their home institution before registration to confirm any details related to the approval and transfer of credits as well as fulfillment of graduation requirements.

Transcripts for Parsons students are issued by the Registrar's Office and carry the signature and seal of The New School. A transcript is confirmation of a student's permanent record at the university. Students who complete Summer Intensive Studies in Paris may request that their transcript(s) be mailed to other colleges and institutions by submitting an official request to the Registrar's Office.

Classes are project based and intensive, requiring daily homework and time for independent study. Students provide their own materials and supplies. Instructors will email a list of supplies to students who must bring materials to the first day of class.

Reach out to Kelsey Patton, API Paris Program Manager (Summer College/Adult Programs) with further questions.