The Approach of Didactic Laboratory in Fashion Design Education: A Comparative Case Study

With the rapid rise of globalization over the past several decades, fashion as a structurally diverse global industry is being forced to re-assess its role in response to these changes. The pace of change in the global fashion industry also requires us to re-evaluate our international fashion design education. During the 20th DMI conference held in the US in 2016, scholars have discussed the challenges that international fashion design students, especially Chinese international students encountered when experiencing unfamiliar teaching approach of the didactic laboratory. This paper illustrates a case study conceived as a parallel investigation, showing how Chinese fashion design students respond to different teaching approach of their own, and how the approach of didactic laboratory could help to improve and cultivate fashion design students competencies. We hope that this case study could provide a basis for reflection and critical discussions for the future works.