Design schools are reporting a near-record surge in applications, requiring deans and faculty to reexamine how to prepare a new generation of designers to enter a field that may not need -- indeed, may not even want -- them.

The question of how to train aspiring fashion designers is in no way new: Design schools have built their reputations on particular approaches to education, from a freethinking, conceptually based curriculum (as with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago) to a technically focused one that underscores marketability (the Academy of Art University and Parsons The New School for Design, among others). But with jobs rapidly disappearing for industry veterans — let alone freshly minted graduates — and stores glutted with clothes, both art- and commerce-centered programs are scrambling to reevaluate themselves.

Take, for instance, Walter Van Beirendonck, the director of fashion at the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts, a school noted for promoting an experimental and intellectual design aesthetic. "I have started to add [in the graduate program] several new topics to create a more fluent step into the fashion world," he says. Those "new topics" include workshops in networking and business development with professionals Van Beirendonck has recruited, including graduates like Dries Van Noten and Ann Demeulemeester, as well as milliner Stephen Jones, set designer Bob Verhelst and stylist Olivier Rizzo. Van Beirendonck says that these workshops have been prompted by the specter of fewer jobs and start-up funds available to students, but insists the school's overall approach to teaching will not change.

Of the more than 200 fashion labels that will begin showing their fall collections in New York next week, at least half came into existence only in the last decade. A full quarter of them are less than five years old. This season alone, during the worst economic environment in decades, no fewer than 10 new companies are vying for fashion’s spotlight. The age of the young designer, however, may be coming to an end.

As stores reduce orders by 20 percent or more for fall, the toll on small fashion businesses, many without independent financial backing, is likely to be severe. In the last month, two promising designers lost the support of their investors and face uncertain futures: Peter Som, who makes ladylike sportswear; and the Obedient Sons and Daughters collections, quirky takes on tailored clothes made by the husband-and-wife team Swaim and Christina Hutson.

And among designers, there is fear that the fallout will be far worse after the shows, once orders for fall clothes are confirmed. The more stores that close, the more designers will follow. "To be honest, we're writing this whole year off," said Andrew Buckler, the designer of a seven-year-old collection called Buckler. "We're just trying to survive."

Like most of those companies started in the last decade, Buckler is small, with sales less than $10 million. But the line, originally based on jeans, was growing; and two years ago, Mr. Buckler sold a minority of his business to a Turkish manufacturing company, Hey Group. The investment enabled him to open four stores, including two in Manhattan, and to have runway shows for a collection that looks like weekend wear for James Bond. Six months ago, the Hey company said it would pull back its financing. "We knew things were getting really tough out there," Mr. Buckler said. "But it's still a bitter pill to swallow."

"We're very excited to be doing our first open-sees at Bloomingdale's," said Stephanie Solomon, vice president of fashion direction. "Giving young talent the opportunity to present to our fashion office broadens our scope beyond market visits. We're hoping to find the next great, emerging designers."

Henri Bendel has held open-sees for designers for more than 40 years. More than 500 aspiring designers have been known to camp out for hours at Bendel's open-sees for a chance to have their collection carried in the store. Bendel's legendary chief Geraldine Stutz was the first to start screening unproven talent in the Sixties. Over the years, Todd Oldham, Anna Sui, James Purcell and Colette Malouf were among those whose careers were launched by turning up with designs in hand at the Fifth Avenue flagship. Bendel's next edition will be held March 30.