If you’re a high school student interested in fashion, design, or creative expression, fashion summer programs can be one of the most exciting ways to explore that interest more seriously. They give you the chance to move beyond personal inspiration and begin understanding how fashion connects creativity, technical skill, culture, and industry in a more structured setting.

Imagine spending your summer attending design workshops, learning about textiles, experimenting with garment construction, or developing your own fashion concepts. Picture collaborating with peers, receiving feedback from industry professionals, and exploring how ideas move from sketches to finished collections.

How do you choose the right fashion summer programs for high school students?

With many options available, it’s important to identify programs that offer meaningful hands-on learning rather than just theoretical overviews. Some focus on design and garment-making, while others explore areas like fashion marketing, styling, or business. Thoughtful research ensures you find a program that aligns with your interests and creative goals.

Fashion summer programs may include workshops, studio sessions, group projects, and portfolio development. You might sketch designs, work with fabrics, create mood boards, or present your ideas in a final showcase that reflects your personal style.

You’ll learn from experienced designers and instructors, collaborate with peers who share your passion, and develop key skills such as creativity, attention to detail, and visual communication. Along the way, you’ll gain a clearer understanding of what studying fashion at the university level might truly involve.

To help you get started, we’ve curated a list of 15 Fashion Summer Programs for High School Students. They’ve been selected for their creative environments, hands-on learning opportunities, and ability to inspire the next generation of designers and innovators.

If you’re interested in art as well, you can check out summer art programs for high school students.

15 Fashion Summer Programs for High School Students

1. NYU’s High School Summer Art Intensive: Curating Fashion

Location: New York University, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York City, NY
Cost: $2,600
Dates: July 5-25
Application deadline: April 15th
Eligibility: High school students worldwide ages 15-18 entering grades 10-12

At NYU, this program approaches fashion as something to be studied, interpreted, and displayed rather than designed. The curriculum is built around the process of curating an exhibition, so your work involves researching garments, developing a narrative, and making decisions about how pieces are presented in a gallery setting. As you move through the program, you examine how historical context, social meaning, and ethical considerations influence the way fashion is understood.

Faculty from the Costume Studies program guide discussions, while guest speakers introduce professional perspectives from museums and exhibitions. Visits across New York City connect classroom ideas to real curatorial spaces. The program concludes with a group exhibition that reflects your collective research and design decisions.

Why it stands out: It frames fashion as an academic and curatorial discipline, which is especially relevant if you’re considering fields like museum studies, art history, or cultural research.

2. Immerse Education’s Fashion Summer School

Location: Columbia University, New York
Cost: Varies according to program. Summer school scholarship available through our bursary programme
Dates: 2 weeks during the summer
Application deadline: Multiple summer cohorts with rolling admissions
Eligibility: High school students worldwide aged 15-18 

Immerse Education’s Fashion & Design track in New York is a 2-week residential program centered on understanding fashion through both creative and industry-focused perspectives. You participate in project-based learning, professional workshops, and site visits to fashion-related studios, showrooms, and workplaces across the city.

The program includes individual career coaching sessions, where you receive feedback on your interests, goals, and profile. Coursework encourages you to analyze trends, business decisions, and design processes rather than focusing only on aesthetics. The experience ends with a presentation of your project or findings to industry professionals.

Why it stands out: It is intentionally designed as a pre-college experience, helping you test your interest in fashion within an academic and industry-informed framework before making future academic choices.

3. Vogue Summer School

Location: Conde Nast College of Fashion & Design, New York City, NY
Cost: Residential: $7,695 | Day: $6,195
Dates: Varies by course; Multiple sessions available in June – July
Application Deadline: April 10th (Round 2)
Eligibility: High school students around the world aged 15-18 entering grades 10-12 or recently graduated

Vogue Summer School is one of the most media-focused fashion summer programs for high school students, placing fashion within the broader context of branding, publishing, and communication. The program is structured around short courses that examine different parts of the industry, including styling, editorial work, and business strategy. Learning is shaped by industry professionals, so sessions often draw from current practices and case studies rather than purely theoretical material.

Time outside the classroom is used to visit studios, offices, and retail spaces, which helps connect concepts to real environments. You spend part of the program observing how decisions are made across different roles within fashion organizations. Feedback from instructors at the end of the program provides a summary of your engagement and progress.

Why it stands out: It connects fashion to media and publishing, offering insight into roles that sit beyond design, particularly within editorial and brand storytelling.

4. RISD Pre-College Program

Location: Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
Cost: Residential program: $12,495 | Commuter program: $9,595 + application fee (non-refundable): $60
Dates: June 29th – July 31st
Application deadline: Opens November 5th
Eligibility: Open to all students who have completed their 10th or 11th year of high school, are between 16 and 18 years of age, or will be 16 by October 1st

RISD’s pre-college structure makes it one of the most intensive fashion summer programs for high school students, closely mirroring the first-year experience of its undergraduate design programs. Within the Fashion Design major, your time is split between foundation courses and studio work, requiring you to balance technical skill-building with broader design thinking.

Projects move from initial concept development into illustration and eventually garment construction, with an emphasis on how ideas translate into physical form. Critiques and independent studio hours play a central role, reflecting how work is evaluated at the college level. Access to campus resources, including museums and material collections, supports both research and experimentation. By the end of the program, you will have completed a garment that represents your process and development.

Why it stands out: It replicates the structure and expectations of a college design program, making it useful for understanding whether an intensive art school environment is the right fit.

5. OTIS College of Art and Design’s Summer of Art – Fashion Design

Location: Los Angeles, CA
Cost: $2,690
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: July 7-31
Application deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: High school students worldwide in grades 9-12

At OTIS, this course introduces fashion design through a studio-based workflow that moves from concept to finished garment. You begin by studying foundational areas such as fashion history and textiles, then apply that knowledge through sketching, patternmaking, and construction exercises. Much of the learning takes place through hands-on work, where ideas are tested and refined using industry-standard tools and equipment.

Projects often start with mood boards or visual research before being translated into wearable pieces. By the end of the program, you will have produced multiple garments that demonstrate your technical and creative development.

Why it stands out: It prioritizes hands-on garment construction early on, making it a strong entry point if you want direct exposure to studio-based fashion design.

6. LIM College – Summer Fashion Academy

Location: LIM College, New York City, NY, or virtual
Cost: Varies by course
Dates: July 13-16
Application deadline: June 22nd
Eligibility: High school students from all nationalities entering grades 9-12; students must be 14-18 years old by the program start

LIM centers its summer academy around the different functions that shape the fashion industry, from merchandising to media and branding. You choose from short workshops or a longer credit-bearing course, allowing some flexibility in how deeply you want to engage. Each course focuses on a specific area, with projects designed to reflect how that segment operates in a professional context.

The instruction comes from faculty and industry practitioners, grounding lessons in current retail and business practices. Across formats, the curriculum connects creative work to how fashion is marketed and sold.

Why it stands out: It emphasizes the business and retail side of fashion, which can be useful if you’re considering majors related to merchandising, marketing, or brand management.

7. Pratt’s Summer Scholars 

Location: Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
Cost: $395 per course
Dates: July 7-18
Application deadline: Opens April 22nd; First-come, first-served
Eligibility: All high school students 

Pratt’s Summer Scholars course approaches fashion through sustainability and material-focused design. The curriculum centers on how textiles are produced, used, and reused, with an emphasis on circular design and waste reduction. You work through hands-on projects that explore upcycling techniques and alternative material strategies.

Lessons also examine how production choices impact environmental outcomes, connecting design decisions to larger systems. Faculty guide you through applying these ideas within creative workflows. The program encourages you to think critically about how fashion can be redesigned to reduce its ecological footprint.

Why it stands out: It focuses specifically on sustainable practices, making it relevant if you’re interested in environmental approaches to fashion and design.

8. FIT’s Summer High School 4-Day Workshops

Location: Fashion Institute of Technology, New York City, NY
Cost: $440 per 4-day workshop
Dates: Multiple week-long sessions in June and July
Application deadline: June 10th
Eligibility: Students around the world entering grades 9-12 as of fall 

FIT’s 4-day workshops are designed as short, topic-specific introductions to different areas within fashion and related industries. Each session concentrates on a single subject, such as styling, journalism, or trend forecasting, allowing you to explore one area at a time. Classes move quickly, with a mix of hands-on activities and guided instruction.

Faculty introduce core concepts that reflect FIT’s academic programs, giving you a snapshot of how those subjects are studied at the college level. You also gain some familiarity with the campus and its location in New York’s Fashion District. 

Why it stands out: It allows you to sample multiple fashion-related fields in a short timeframe, which can help you narrow down specific interests.

9. FIT’s Summer High School 10-Day Workshops

Location: Fashion Institute of Technology, New York City, NY
Cost: $550
Dates: July 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 20th, and 21st (start dates)
Application Deadline: June 10th
Eligibility: Students worldwide in grades 9-12 as of Fall 2026

Spending ten days within a single subject area changes the pace of learning compared to shorter workshops. You remain within one or two focused courses, allowing ideas to develop over time. Each class is designed around a specific theme, such as garment construction, merchandising, or portfolio design, and runs for several hours a day, creating space for sustained work.

Sessions typically move between demonstration, guided practice, and independent development, with time built in to revisit and refine earlier pieces. You can also shape your schedule depending on whether you take one or two courses. By the end of the program, the work you produce reflects not just output, but progression in how you approach the subject.

Why it stands out: It shifts the experience from short-form exposure to more sustained skill development without requiring a full multi-week commitment.

10. TWU Fashion Camps

Location: TWU Denton campus, TX
Cost: $595
Dates: June 8th – July 1st and July 6-10
Application Deadline: Not specified (Opens February 1st)
Eligibility: Students around the world ages 13-18

At TWU, the structure of the week is built around introducing different components of fashion in a steady, day-by-day progression. The program rotates through sewing, sketching, textile work, and design development, allowing you to see how these areas connect. Mornings and afternoons are typically divided into practical sessions where you work directly with materials, alongside more concept-driven exercises like trend boards and color studies.

The instruction is delivered by faculty, with undergraduate students supporting, which creates a mix of formal teaching and peer-style guidance. As the days progress, small exercises begin to link together into more complete pieces of work. The final showcase brings these elements into a single outcome, where participants present what they’ve developed.

Why it stands out: It balances rotation across skills with a clear endpoint, helping you understand both individual techniques and how they come together in a finished piece.

11. Kent State University, School of Fashion – Summer Fashion Academy

Location: School of Fashion, Kent State University, Kent, OH
Cost: $1,650 (all-inclusive: housing, meals, supplies, materials)
Dates: June 14-20
Application Deadline: Opens March 1st
Eligibility: High school students worldwide who have completed their sophomore year, aged 16-18

Kent State’s program is one of the more well-rounded fashion summer programs for high school students, introducing both design and merchandising within a structured, residential format. Over the course of a week, you work on individual and group projects that reflect different stages of the fashion process, from concept development to final presentation. The curriculum includes studio work, discussions on fashion history, and exploration of the industry’s broader cultural role.

Access to specialized labs, such as the TechStyleLAB, allows you to experiment with tools used in product development. Living on campus adds a residential component that mirrors aspects of college life. The program concludes with a fashion show that brings together the work completed during the week.

Why it stands out: It combines creative and business perspectives within a short residential experience, giving you a broader view of how different parts of the industry connect.

12. St. Catherine University – Fashion Summer Workshop

Location: St. Catherine University, Saint Paul, MN
Cost: $300 (standard) | $50 (for families qualifying for free/reduced price lunch)
Dates: July 6 -10
Application Deadline: Not specified (registration opens via parent/guardian email)
Eligibility: Entering grades 10-12 in Fall 2026; Identifies as women, nonbinary, or genderqueer. International students are welcome to apply

This workshop frames fashion through themes of inclusion, sustainability, and representation. Sessions are structured around hands-on activities such as draping, sketching, and upcycling, alongside discussions about social responsibility in design. You work on smaller projects that build toward portfolio pieces, including an upcycled garment.

The program also introduces different career pathways through panels and interactions with faculty and alumni. Time spent on campus provides a glimpse into how these topics are studied at the university level. The overall structure connects creative practice with broader social and environmental considerations.

Why it stands out: It centers on inclusive and socially responsible design, which is particularly relevant if you’re interested in how fashion intersects with identity and sustainability.

13. Drexel University – Pre-College Fashion Design Program

Location: Drexel University’s Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, Philadelphia, PA
Cost: $2,400 ($300 deposit due at registration)
Dates: July 12-18
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: High school students worldwide who have completed their sophomore year by July 2026 and are at least 16 years old

Working across both physical and digital methods is a defining part of Drexel’s approach to fashion design. The program introduces traditional studio practices such as illustration, draping, and textile manipulation, alongside digital tools like 3D design software, placing both within the same workflow. Rather than treating these as separate skill sets, sessions show how they intersect in contemporary design processes.

Lectures and workshops expand on this by exploring topics like sustainability, print design, and the role of emerging technologies in the industry. Time spent developing your own work allows you to apply these ideas while building pieces for a developing portfolio. Field visits across Philadelphia bring in an external perspective, connecting coursework to working design environments. 

Why it stands out: It reflects how fashion is increasingly practiced across both physical and digital spaces, rather than focusing on one over the other.

14. NSLC Fashion Management & Design

Location: Columbia University, New York, NY
Cost: $4,595
Dates: July 8-16 | July 20-28
Application Deadline: Seasonal deadlines; NSLC accepts applications until space is available in a program or on a program’s waitlist
Eligibility: Applicants must be between the ages of 14 and 18 and have completed at least one year of high school; international students are welcome to apply

This program centers on the process of building a fashion brand from the ground up. Program sessions move through stages such as concept development, visual identity, and market positioning. Workshops guide you in translating an idea into something more defined, including branding elements and presentation materials.

Alongside this, discussions explore how storytelling and consumer awareness influence the way brands operate. Guest speakers contribute insights from different areas of the industry, adding practical context to the work. Field trips and city-based exploration extend this further by showing how fashion functions within a commercial environment. A parallel leadership curriculum runs throughout, shaping how you communicate and collaborate within your project work.

Why it stands out: It connects creative development with business strategy, making it useful if you’re interested in how brands are built and positioned.

15. ASU FIDM Summer Camps

Location: Los Angeles, CA, and Phoenix, AZ
Cost: Varies per camp, ranges from $1,000-$1,300
Dates: Fashion Design I: June 15-19 | Fashion Merchandising (only in LA): June 15-19 | Fashion Design II: June 22-26
Application Deadline: Varies by camp, June 11th or June 18th
Eligibility: Students worldwide ages 15-19

ASU FIDM organizes its summer camps around distinct pathways within the fashion industry. Each track, whether design, merchandising, or product development, has its own structure, with activities that reflect the workflows specific to that area. This means your experience is shaped early on by the direction you choose, influencing both the projects you complete and the skills you focus on. The experience combines faculty teaching with input from industry professionals, grounding the material in current practice.

Much of the learning takes place through applied work, where concepts are explored through ongoing projects rather than isolated exercises. In locations like Los Angeles, the surrounding environment adds context by connecting the program to an active fashion hub. 

Why it stands out: It allows you to engage with fashion as a set of distinct career paths, rather than treating it as a single, uniform field.

From Fashion Curiosity to Future Careers

Fashion often begins with personal taste, but the moment you start studying it seriously, you realise it connects creativity, culture, business, and identity.

That broader perspective is what fashion summer programs for high school students can offer, turning sketches, ideas, and inspiration into something more informed and purposeful.

By the end, you are not only making things, but also noticing which roles excite you most, from design and styling to branding and buying.

Open our Career Exploration blogs and step into the wider fashion world, where emerging roles, industry pathways, and unexpected opportunities can start to feel real.