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Doctoral Studies Program in Fashion Design (DFD).

Doctoral Studies Program in Fashion Design (DFD)

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The Doctoral Studies Program in Fashion Design (DFD) is a practice-based program developed by IFM in collaboration with Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, in Paris.
Interdisciplinary in nature, this unique PhD program focuses on research through fashion design, combining practical work, theoretical investigations and applied projects with a strong forward-thinking perspective.

Audience

A strong ambition fed by a mature and engaged professional vision is required. Candidates must show excellent competencies in research and in fashion design methodology, matched with solid artistic and technical skills.

A Master’s level degree is a core requirement for a PhD application. Candidates should have graduated in fashion design or in any other project-based specialization, such as knitwear design, accessory design, jewelry design, textile design, furniture design, industrial design, product design or architecture, before applying.

Practical information

Type:
PhD
Format:
Full time
Duration:
3 years Full time or 5 years Part time
Next intake:
October 2025
Language:
English
Location:
IFM campus

75013

Audience

A strong ambition fed by a mature and engaged professional vision is required. Candidates must show excellent competencies in research and in fashion design methodology, matched with solid artistic and technical skills.

A Master’s level degree is a core requirement for a PhD application. Candidates should have graduated in fashion design or in any other project-based specialization, such as knitwear design, accessory design, jewelry design, textile design, furniture design, industrial design, product design or architecture, before applying.

Program

This new doctoral program responds to the increasing demand for highly skilled designers who can think critically, create innovatively, and operate as researchers exploring the complex relationships between humans, materials, technologies, and the environment across all areas of luxury and fashion innovation.

The Doctoral Studies Program in Fashion Design offers a unique opportunity to integrate academic research with creative practice. It encourages you to merge design exploration, theory, and writing in a meaningful and interdisciplinary way. As part of the program, you will develop a significant design project that serves as both a site for experimentation and a source of knowledge, alongside a thesis rooted in rigorous theoretical research.

The full-time doctoral program consists of an intensive Doctoral Training and a 3-year Doctoral Project and Thesis. The part-time option can be considered within a duration of 5 years.

The studies consist of 2 simultaneous sequences: the Doctoral Training and the Doctoral Thesis.

The Doctoral Training provides 30 ECTS while the Doctoral Thesis provides 150 ECTS for a total of 180 ECTS.

The Doctoral Training consists of a mix of lectures, research seminars, workshops, one-day conferences and mentoring sessions held at IFM and in other locations. It emphasizes individual and interdisciplinary group activities, as well as open discussions, serving as a stimulating catalyst for the doctoral research.

It is composed of 3 sequences:

  • Required research seminars and workshops (6 ECTS in Year 1)
  • Elective seminars and courses (6 ECTS in Year 2)
  • Doctoral Portfolio (18 ECTS over 3 years of doctoral studies)

The study plan is customized according to each doctoral student’s practice-based research topic, methodology and objectives.

The doctoral thesis combines an exhaustive and original fashion design project with a written thesis that contextualizes and articulates the design experience, process and findings within a cohesive research framework in relation to one or several scientific perspectives.

The doctoral advisors guide students through the 3 years of research and design work, holding regular meetings with them until the completion of their doctoral degree.

The language of instruction of the doctoral program is English. However, French-speaking students can choose to write and discuss their doctoral thesis in French.

Status & Funding

Being a DFD doctoral student requires one of the following types of status and conditions:

1. Doctoral Assistant

The doctoral student has the status of doctoral assistant.

The full-time contract does not exceed 3 years.

Once selected, the doctoral assistant operates at IFM within the Doctoral Program and Master Programs in Fashion Design.

The administrative contract of the doctoral assistant is signed with CNAM.

The doctoral assistant works as a researcher with the IFM academic team and participates in teaching and tutorship activities within the Master of Arts pathways. The mission also involves potential contributions to the organization of symposia, conferences and other events.

The assistant activity cannot be combined with any other regular professional activity, be it as employee, freelancer or designer within one’s own fashion brand.

The yearly gross salary of the doctoral assistant is €42,000 for a maximum of 3 consecutive years. It is financed by the European Research Grant "Confluences".

Only 2 positions of doctoral assistants will open in October 2025.

Applying for this position requires an independent research proposal that is not specifically developed with and within a luxury and/or fashion company.

2. Doctoral Student employed by a Third Party or awarded an International Research Grant

The doctoral student is not employed by IFM or CNAM.

The doctoral student benefits from a doctoral research scholarship awarded by a state or private institution in another country or is employed by a company, an administration or another school or university.

The doctoral student has to provide a signed commitment from her or his employer to prove the availability to study full-time and conduct doctoral research at IFM within the next 3 years or to study part-time within the next 5 years.

In the part-time program, the doctoral student is allowed to keep a partial flexible professional activity during the studies at IFM, ideally as a freelance designer or within her or his own fashion brand, if it does not conflict with the intense pace of the doctoral studies.

The doctoral student can benefit from remote research seminars, courses, reviews and working sessions with the doctoral advisors for no more than 50% of the required sequences indicated in the Doctoral Study Plan.

A yearly fee of €45,000 is required to fund the doctoral studies at IFM.

3. Independent Doctoral Student

The doctoral student is self-funded and not employed by any organization or company.

The doctoral student can choose the 3 years full-time option or the 5 years part-time option.

In the part-time program, the doctoral student is allowed to keep a partial flexible professional activity during the studies at IFM, ideally as a freelance designer or within her or his own fashion brand, if it does not conflict with the intense pace of the doctoral studies.

The doctoral student can benefit from remote research seminars, courses, reviews and working sessions with the doctoral advisors for no more than 50% of the required sequences indicated in the Doctoral Study Plan.

A yearly fee of €45,000 is required to fund the doctoral studies at IFM.

Careers

The doctoral program aims at reconfiguring fashion design practices from multiple angles and at engaging renewed creative collaborations anchored in a holistic research perspective. It supports fashion designers who wish to develop further, contextualize and produce advanced professional initiatives based on forward-thinking methods.

This 3-year program aims at training practitioner researchers who operate in the industry, at the intersection of departments and teams or within an innovation or research team, as new figures whose multidisciplinary competencies meet the growing needs of today’s fashion and luxury companies.

If the industry pathway is not chosen by the students, they can choose to work as freelance researchers, entrepreneurs or designers within interdisciplinary creative agencies, after their doctoral studies.

The program is also intended for creative practitioners who wish to enter teaching careers in fashion design, accessories design, textile design, jewelry design, material research, prototyping or fashion technologies with an emphasis on artistic, craft, industrial, material, technological, social, environmental and sustainable processes and systems.

It therefore enhances academic career perspectives by pushing forward the designers’ research skills and methodologies to enable them to change fashion education’s existing frameworks and to consider a professional pathway at the intersection of pedagogical versatility, practice and theory.

One of the missions of this new doctoral pathway is also to support professional retraining, professional transitions, reconversions and vocational training for experienced fashion designers who want to give a new impetus to their career.

How to apply

To apply you need to submit an application file which includes:

  • A 2,500 to 3,000-word Doctoral Research Proposal that highlights both the fashion design project and the theoretical framework of the practice-based research that could be developed in the context of a 3-year doctoral experience in Paris. The proposal should emphasize the innovativeness, the singularity and the feasibility of the project in relation to the field of fashion design.
  • A detailed recent Curriculum Vitae. The resume should show that a practice-based MA, from a state university or from a private institution with a state accreditation, that includes at least a research module and a written MA Thesis, is required. The candidate's MA curriculum or program will be examined.
  • A design portfolio with a selection of minimum 3 exhaustive fashion design projects among which at least 2 should be recent (designed and developed less than 3 years ago). The projects should encompass the explicit demonstration of a maximum of design skills, from visual research to 2D and 3D work, and from prototyping to mockup development. A short written description of maximum 12,000 signs (including spaces) should be added to explain the concept and design intentions associated with each project.
  • A cover letter that explains the aims, vision, motivations, qualifications and skills of the candidate. The letter should also clearly mention the status and funding envisaged for the duration of the doctoral studies (see Status & Funding).
  • All applicants who are not native English speakers or who have not graduated from a Master program entirely taught in English are required to submit an English Language Test Score Reports that should not be older than 2 years at the application deadline. The accepted test scores are:
    • TOEFL iBT 100
    • IELTS Academic 7
    • TOEIC 900 Listening & Reading + 180 Speaking + 180 Writing - please note: the 4 parts are required
    • CAMBRIDGE 185, with at least 176 on each part of the test

If the application form meets the required standards, you will be invited to an admissions jury with the Doctoral Program Committee.

Application Deadline: May 19, 2025

For further info about the program or the application process, please fill in the following form and share your CV in order to request an appointment.

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