Palomar fashion students are busy at work this semester, from taking on multiple classes, to trying to prepare for Palomar’s anticipated MODA fashion show in late spring.

Fashion is often seen as an interest instead of a career, but the students in the fashion program at Palomar College will tell you differently. The fashion program focuses on four areas in the industry: fashion buying and management, fashion design, fashion merchandising, and fashion visual merchandising.

First year Palomar student, Maya Howard, has decided to major in fashion merchandising. “I would also like to become a model as well as a stylist and maybe even start my own line of hoop earrings,” Howard said.

Students do not need experience in designing clothes to be in the fashion program. Kelly Gilbearth, 22, has taken nine fashion classes at Palomar so far and has found that her calling is in the business side of fashion.

“I wanted to do something in fashion for a long time, but I didn’t want to do anything technical, like sewing,” Gilbearth said. “There are more business focused classes that I can take and I don’t have to worry about sewing or design.”

Just like any other major, the fashion program offers an associate’s degree and students can transfer to schools with fashion programs such as New York University or FIDM to further their education.

Gilbearth said she hopes with a fashion degree she will be able to work on TV or movie sets and style all the characters.

Unfortunately, not many students know enough about the fashion program, so they would not consider it an option. Palomar student, Dani Eddy, 19, said that the most she has heard about the program is that it exists.

“What does the program do?” Eddy asked. “Are there fashion shows?”

The fashion program does put on an annual fashion show to help the students get an idea of what the industry is like. Students that are interested can visit the fashion programs website. There they will find information on the fashion show, classes, and careers in the industry.

Palomar’s spring fashion show, MODA, has been growing rapidly every year. The show gets a lot of recognition with fashion experts, such as Leonard Simpson and big-time fashion designers, such as Zandra Rhodes attending each show.

Sam Lee, 20, is currently involved in the fashion show presentation class. This class makes all the preparations for the fashion show in the spring.

“It’s a really awesome class,” Lee said. “I love watching all the fashion videos, it gives you a good idea of what the industry is like.”

A perk to the fashion program is that you don’t need to be a fashion major to take the classes. There are many classes offered to students in the program, and some of the classes such as FASH 130, fulfill general education requirements. Any Palomar student can uncover their passion for fashion.