To prospective fashion students in New York looking for a ticket to Paris, LIM has a way.
Or it’s about to. Earlier this month, the private college focused on the business of fashion announced a new bachelor’s degree program in partnership with its French sister school ESMOD.
Starting with the fall 2027 semester, LIM students will be able to earn a BBA in Fashion Design and Business while completing their sophomore and junior years studying abroad at the world’s oldest fashion school founded in 1841 by master tailor Alexis Lavigne.
The LIM and ESMOD Fashion Design and Business BBA banner.
Courtesy of LIM College
In the one-of-a-kind hybrid degree program, freshmen begin their journey at LIM’s Midtown Manhattan campus where they build a foundation in marketing, management and communications, while taking French language lessons. Afterwards, their focus shifts to design, immersing themselves in both ESMOD’s technique-driven curriculum and the endless fount of inspiration that is Paris. Senior year, the students return to New York to complete their studies.
To graduate, students must participate in two internships and present a fashion collection as their capstone.
Ron Marshall
Courtesy of LIM Coillege
According to LIM president Ron Marshall, the dual-literacy afforded by the collaborative program is exactly what fashion and lifestyle companies are looking for in today’s competitive job market. “Great ideas are not enough,” he said, without the design skills to execute and the business acumen to implement them.
“Students no longer have to choose between studying only fashion design or fashion business. They will graduate with knowledge of both, experience in both and global connections within both, learning how great products are created and how successful brands are built and sustained,” Marshall added.
The LIM and ESMOD Fashion Design and Business degree program is part of an ongoing dialogue between the two schools, which began after the former joined the latter under the Japan Educational Fund umbrella last year.
A model at LIM’s 81st annual runway show wearing a look by ESMOD student designer Marion Badin.
Courtesy of LIM College
“This relationship has opened doors to work together in ways not formerly possible,” Marshall said. As an example, ESMOD students contributed looks to LIM’s 81st annual fashion show in April.
“In the future,” Marshall added, “LIM and ESMOD, as well as other institutions within the JEF portfolio, will continue to develop multiple opportunities to create integrated programs that will benefit students around the world in new ways.”
