I found this true when I worked in the fashion (menswear) industry, as well. Graduates from the Art Institute were dippy blonde girls driving daddy's Escalade, who went to school to learn to draw. Badly. These people became wives of Microsoft employees. Graduates from the International Academy of Design and Technology (my school) were able to design amazing one-off garments that broke existing clothing expectations. Couture designers. Graduates from Seattle Central could make any piece of clothing quickly, and fit it perfectly (tailoring). Manufacturing pros. Then, when I ran my own clothing company, I threw away resumes from the Art Institute, and I fawned over the amazing and clever stuff the IADT graduates showed me. But I hired people from Seattle Central. Every single one of them that applied. Because they knew how to handle fabric, they knew garment construction techniques, and they could make things fit real human beings.