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⇱ Fashion as Design: Silhouettes and Icons | Coursera

Fashion as Design: Silhouettes and Icons

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Fashion as Design: Silhouettes and Icons

This course is part of Fashion As Design Specialization

2,327 already enrolled

Included with

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Beginner level

Recommended experience

7 hours to complete
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Beginner level

Recommended experience

7 hours to complete
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

  • Gain design literacy by analyzing how silhouettes in fashion serve as a springboard for contemporary innovation and self-expression.

  • Engage with the insights of world-class makers and historians to understand the intersection of fashion, design, photography, and history.

  • Participate in prompts that challenge you to deconstruct and reimagine the functional and symbolic value of your own wardrobe.

  • Develop a sophisticated vocabulary around how a garment’s shape and silhouette can project power.

Details to know

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Recently updated!

January 2026

Assessments

2 assignments

Taught in English

Build your subject-matter expertise

This course is part of the Fashion As Design Specialization
When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.
  • Learn new concepts from industry experts
  • Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
  • Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
  • Earn a shareable career certificate

There are 4 modules in this course

Every garment we choose is a deliberate act of design. This course offers a deep dive into the iconic silhouettes that have defined the last century, shifting your perspective from seeing clothes simply as products to understanding them as social and cultural blueprints.

Through exclusive access to The Museum of Modern Art’s network of designers, historians, and photographers, you will analyze how specific shapes and designs have been used to project power, navigate gender, and redefine the self. Whether you are a student of design, a professional in a creative industry, or a lifelong learner curious about fashion, you will develop a sophisticated vocabulary for the evolution of style. Career Application: This course transforms the study of silhouettes into a professional competency in visual storytelling and cultural trend analysis. By developing a sophisticated vocabulary around how garment shapes project power and navigate identity, you acquire the critical insights necessary to lead high-impact creative direction in marketing, forecast consumer aesthetics, and produce authoritative cultural commentary.

In this course, examples of silhouettes and iconic garments from the 20th century to today serve as a springboard to consider how we use clothing and accessories to project, aspire, and shift our sense of self.

What's included

2 videos5 readings1 assignment

2 videos•Total 3 minutes
  • Preview Fashion as Design•1 minute
  • Curator Paola Antonelli on Crocs•2 minutes
5 readings•Total 50 minutes
  • Welcome to the course•10 minutes
  • First Look: This Course in Three Garments•10 minutes
  • Items: Is Fashion Modern?•10 minutes
  • Optional Readings & Resources•10 minutes
  • Optional Prompts for Discussion & Reflection•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 20 minutes
  • What does fashion mean to you?•20 minutes

When we get dressed, the shape our clothes create—a silhouette—is influenced by everything from shifting trends in fashion to what looks and feels good. In this module you will explore how clothing shapes the body and how our ideas about the body shapes the clothing we wear.

What's included

5 videos13 readings

5 videos•Total 16 minutes
  • Dressing Mannequins with Tae Smith•7 minutes
  • Rei Kawakubo. Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body–and Become One. 1997•2 minutes
  • Curator Paola Antonelli on Spanx•3 minutes
  • Curator Michelle Millar Fisher and Fashion Historian Francesca Granata on Premaman•3 minutes
  • Designer Richard Malone on the Jumpsuit•2 minutes
13 readings•Total 130 minutes
  • Welcome to Module 2•10 minutes
  • In the Museum•10 minutes
  • Shape•10 minutes
  • Look Book: Shape•10 minutes
  • Augment•10 minutes
  • Look Book: Augment•10 minutes
  • Free•10 minutes
  • Look Book: Free•10 minutes
  • Fashion Historian Lauren Downing Peters and Co-Founder of Universal Standard Alexandra Waldman on Non-Sample Size Clothing•10 minutes
  • Review of Module 2•10 minutes
  • Optional Readings & Resources•10 minutes
  • Optional Prompts for Reflection & Discussion•10 minutes
  • Optional Mid-Course Survey•10 minutes

What makes a garment iconic? Sometimes it’s the power of the wearer’s personality, or a person’s role—from an athlete to the military—that elevates an ordinary item to fashion’s mainstream. In this module you’ll consider how the clothing we wear reflects who you are and what you want to become.

What's included

4 videos11 readings

4 videos•Total 16 minutes
  • On Site in Los Angeles: Recreating Bruce Lee's Tracksuit•8 minutes
  • Curator Stephanie Kramer on Sports Jerseys•2 minutes
  • Pushpamala N. The Navarasa Suite, from the series Bombay Photo Studio. 2003•2 minutes
  • Designer Ruth E. Carter on Afrofuturism•4 minutes
11 readings•Total 110 minutes
  • Welcome to Module 3•10 minutes
  • In the Studio•10 minutes
  • Legacies•10 minutes
  • Look Book: Legacies•10 minutes
  • Iteration•10 minutes
  • Look Book: Iteration•10 minutes
  • Futurity•10 minutes
  • Look Book: Futurity•10 minutes
  • Review of Module 3•10 minutes
  • Optional Readings & Resources•10 minutes
  • Optional Prompts for Reflection & Discussion •10 minutes

Reflect on your journey through Fashion, Silhouettes, Icons and complete a final assessment.

What's included

4 readings1 assignment

4 readings•Total 40 minutes
  • Conclusion to Fashion as Design: Silhouettes and Icons•10 minutes
  • Optional End-of-Course Survey•10 minutes
  • Optional Prompt for Discussion & Reflection•10 minutes
  • Continue Learning with MoMA•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 20 minutes
  • What does fashion mean to you now?•20 minutes

Earn a career certificate

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Instructors

The Museum of Modern Art
4 Courses•17,826 learners

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Frequently asked questions

No prior knowledge of fashion, design, or art history is needed to complete this course.

Coursera currently provides certificates of completion, but MoMA does not offer additional accreditation at this time. 

This course will show you how to decode the underlying social signals of clothing. It also provides insights into production systems and the socio-cultural impact of garments and the clothing industry.

The Museum of Modern Art looks at garment histories from all over the world and from a variety of perspectives—ranging from pencil skirts to Tabi boots to Afrofuturism.

No prior design background is required to complete this course! The optional creative prompts and final project focus on design literacy and critical analysis, making it highly accessible whether you are a student of design, a professional in the industry, or someone just looking to think more about what you wear.

While the course grounds itself in 20th-century and early 21st-century landmark garments, it heavily features current makers to look at where the industry is moving next.

To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.

When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.

Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.

Financial aid available,