In the fashion industry, outsourcing means using outside workers or professionals to help designers create their collection. Fashion design students often outsource to help with the basic skills that many designers tend to not be good at, such as sewing.
Parsons’ BFA Fashion Design program lifted the restraints on how much of a student’s thesis collection could be outsourced in May 2017.
Before the 2017-2018 academic year, students were allowed to outsource up to 33% of their thesis collection.
Under the new rule, an entire collection can be outsourced. That means that students are free to hire professionals not only to sew minor details such as pockets and zippers, but also create their full garments based off the designs the students create, as long as it is approved by their professors.
The rule reversal for fashion majors came for a variety of reasons. After interviewing eight Parsons students, all said the teachers lacked the ability to monitor and enforce the old rule, and in one interview, they said that some students with the money to outsource did so behind professor’s backs. Several professors believe that it was difficult to determine what “33%” entailed. “The big difficulty before [the new rule] was judging what was 33%. Or 30%. It was so hard,” said Brigitte Conti, a thesis professor at Parsons.
“[To outsource an entire collection is] insane and I don’t think it’s fair at all,” said Kara Moss, a class of 2018 Parsons graduate. “There were people in my year who outsourced their entire collection.”
Mikki McCann, a sophomore at Parsons fashion design, likes the rule change because she believes that her work should be based off of her designs and not her ability to sew. “[I] struggle in the sewing department and so I try super hard but I’m also not studying to be a seamstress. So, I don’t think my final product should be judged based on my craftsmanship because that’s not what I’m here to do,” McCann said. That said, she still can’t afford to produce collections of top quality because of cost. “That’s a big issue for me. I’m considering taking a gap year off just so I can save money to outsource. We also need so much money for fabrics, too.” McCann plans to save at least $3,000.
Some fashion design students believe outsourcing a senior thesis only takes away an opportunity to learn and improve one’s skills. Kara Moss did not outsource her final thesis, not because it was expensive, she says, but because of the learning experience she gained. “I don’t think you learn anything [by outsourcing]. I think you’re robbing yourselves, ” Moss said. Moss, who now works at Tommy Hilfiger, believes that learning how to construct garments is key to a career in fashion. “At my job, when I design something, I have to write down everything. Every step and how to make the garment. I have to know exactly what to do. If I would have gotten everything outsourced then I wouldn’t have known how to make it,” Moss said.
While students are now free to hire people to work on their collections, signing them into the university premises is forbidden. “Students are not permitted to bring outside contractors onto campus at any time- this is in violation of university policy and raises issues of liability in terms of non-authorized use of machines or equipment,” according to the Y4 Outsourcing Guidelines. Y4 refers to the 4th year fashion students who are undergoing thesis work.
McCann said that she’s seen outside contractors working on campus. “I took my cousin to the main fashion studio of Parsons and there was a fifty-year-old woman working at the table,” she said, “I was like ‘That’s a seamstress, that’s definitely not a student.’”
Kara Moss said she saw students bringing in different kinds of help for their collections. “I’ve seen people’s mom sew for them in the Parsons building, which is a little more acceptable,” Moss said.
“But I’ve seen students that are bossing these seamstresses around in the sewing rooms.”
Maya Valladares, an associate director of Parsons Making Center, said via email, “Contractors brought in by students who are working in the sewing construction rooms or open studios would be asked to leave.”
The policy against outside contractors is technically a university policy, and not enforced at the Parsons level, said Parsons School of Fashion’s co-program director Brendan McCarthy via a separate email. And while the university as a whole is required to take action when it comes to outside contractors using facilities in the school, according to McCarthy, Parsons would “work immediately and closely with New School Security and the Making Center to address the matter with the student and ensure the contractor stops working and leaves the building safely.”
Brigitte Conti, the thesis professor at Parsons, believes that outsourcing is actually helpful because it allows students to focus more on their creative drive and opportunity to collaborate. “To tell you the truth, the way we’re guiding the student [was] always, all the very time-consuming thing, outsource. Even the pocket, things like that, just outsource and keep going. Because [they’re] supposed to know how to do it. But you want to do it perfectly,” Conti said. As long as outsourcing is done professionally and within the knowledge of the thesis professor, Conti believes that outsourcing is not as bad as one might think.
“I think that the faculty has a big role in that. To show exactly that outsourcing is a good tool, but you have to use it with full attention,” she said.
Jihan Basyah is the social media editor for the New School Free Press. She started off as a reporter covering fashion, arts, and culture. Currently, Jihan is studying Journalism + Design, with a minor in Fashion Communication, at The New School.
