What does it mean to work in fashion today? This course invites first-year students to look past garments and trends, and into the culture, community, and creativity that actually drive the industry. Through hands-on projects and real examples and experience, students explore casting and representation, the importance of identity and storytelling, different approaches to styling and visual narratives across platforms, the rise of second-hand and sustainable practices, beauty’s role in fashion culture, and how technology is changing the way fashion works, including how creative labour, opportunity, value, and visibility are shifting across the industry. This course helps students start building their own vision for a career in fashion — one grounded in who they are, what they care about, where they want to go, supported by a clear understanding of how the industry connects with culture, and that we are in a moment of shift where old ways will not open new doors. By the end, students will understand fashion as a space beyond products, and begin to understand how and where they can take space, for their work and themselves.