Fashionistas and high-tech geeks may not share the same style sense, but they’re getting together these days in a downtown L.A. classroom anyway: The need for jobs overrides otherwise incompatible personality types.

Fashion Business Inc., an educational non-profit organization, has started a free eight-week training course on computer technology for people already in the fashion sector who need new skills to compete for jobs. A grant from Microsoft Corp. funds the program.

The classes cover basic Microsoft Office programs; the Quickbooks accounting program; and Apparel Information Management System, a software package for fashion manufacturing and distribution made by Aims in Santa Ana.

Students run the gamut from recent graduates of design school who haven’t found jobs to people with 15 years experience who’ve lost theirs to former entrepreneurs who suddenly don’t have a company to run.

“There will always be jobs out there, but only for those who have the proper skills,” said Henry Cherner, the chief executive of Aims and a board member for Fashion Business.

Frances Harder, executive director of the non-profit, said the classes are for people with a commitment to the industry.

“They will stay in fashion because we’re giving them more tools to be successful,” Harder said. “If we’re going to be competitive, we all have to keep retraining during our career.”

Students who complete the class receive certification and help finding a job from 24 Seven, a New York recruitment firm that specializes in the clothing sector.

Teachers are computer experts with experience in the fashion industry. The first class of 15 students has already started, and Harder plans two more in the next few months. Eventually, she wants to put the class online to reach job-seekers in cities besides Los Angeles.