Course overview

The vibrant and exciting fashion and textiles industries contribute significantly to the national and global economies. They affect our daily lives, allow us the opportunity for self-expression and define how we are perceived.

BA (Hons) Fashion and Textile Design is a unique and forward-thinking course, that offers you the opportunity to develop a broad knowledge of both fashion and textile design. This is supported by creative thinking and entrepreneurial practices, which are embedded throughout the course.

The focus of the course is on developing multi-skilled, highly employable, adaptable graduates, who understand the relationship between fashion and textiles, and are equipped for the working methods and pace of the fashion and textiles industries.

You should be enthusiastic, motivated and self-disciplined. An inventive, enquiring and experimental approach to research and a creative ability are essential qualities for success on this course. Some experience of pattern cutting, garments construction or textile printing is beneficial but not essential, as these skills will be covered.

Please see our course blog for current and past examples of the kinds of work and activities we engage with.

Application process

As part of the entry requirements, you will be invited to submit an electronic portfoilo and as a result you may be asked to attend a small group interview with your portfolio. Whilst your portfolio is reviewed, you will be asked to complete a short questionnaire to focus your mind on the sort of areas that will be discussed during your interview, this will also be considered in the decision-making process. In your interview you will be required to explain, clarify and elaborate on your work and previous experience, and generally communicate your enthusiasm and excitement for fashion and textiles. You will then have the opportunity to look around our School and ask questions. It is extremely beneficial to have visited the School prior to making your application so that you are clearly informed about the course and why you are applying.

Suggested portfolio content

Your portfolio can be produced as part of a formal course of study or anything you have produced independently. Work created on your own will be an asset to your portfolio, as it conveys your own individuality and interests.

Your portfolio should include sketchbooks and work in progress as well as finished items. It is important to show the development of ideas and themes as well as completed products. It should contain a wide range of drawing styles in a variety of media, textural experiments exploring the possibilities of material manipulation, and contextual and historical research into fashion and textiles.  

We are always interested to see fashion or textile products that you have made – especially if you wear them yourself – but it is not a requirement for your application. Your portfolio should be named, clearly organised and well-presented.

Course content

Year one

Your first year focuses on the development of manual and digital skills through a variety of workshops and other related activities. These centre on key areas such as:

• drawing and mark-making
• colour
• motif and pattern development
• screen printing
• pattern cutting
• sewing and construction techniques
• use of specialist IT

You will also learn the value of good visual and verbal presentation.

In parallel to the workshops, you will apply your practical knowledge to create fashion and textile designs in a series of design-led briefs. You will also be encouraged to become aware of the range of employment and further study opportunities available to you, supported by personal development planning activities as well as within specific units.

Units

• Visual Research
• Digital Media
• Fashion and Textiles Core Skills
• Design Research and Development
• Design Resolutions
• Introduction to Visual Culture

Year two

You will enrich and expand your knowledge of fashion and textiles design in your second year, so that you are able to produce well-considered fashion and textiles collections that are professionally presented. The industrial focus of the year is reinforced by units set by industry/live competitions, which will challenge you to achieve professionalism in your design work.

Enterprise units will enable you to develop, manufacture, promote, market and retail a range of fashion and textiles products. Setting these units within the studio and creative process will give you an understanding of business and industry practice in relation to your employability and ambitions.

You will also develop a clear understanding of the technical construction of garments and textile designs, supported by relevant construction, sampling, print design, suitable fabric selection and other supporting work. By the end of this year, your work should be working towards a professional graduate standard.

Units

• Enterprise Planning and Retail
• Enterprise Production and Manufacture
• Live Project, Design Research and Development
• Design Resolutions
• Visual Culture

Year three

In your final year you are expected to take on the role of creative director and project manager in the design and production of a professional standard fashion/textiles collection. This year is primarily self-led and will reflect your individual interests and areas of expertise, allowing you to  direct your learning towards your career ambitions. As a result, you will produce a professional, innovative and imaginative portfolio that shows market and trend awareness, and which matches your personal career ambitions and the needs of industry.

Units

• Self-Initiated Briefs
• Employability
• Professional Practice and Portfolio
• Design Research and Development
• Design Resolutions
• Dissertation

Teaching and assessment

You will be taught by a team of highly qualified staff, whose research informs their teaching practice. They also maintain contact with the industry to ensure that the professional practice elements of our course are in line with current industry trends.

A variety of learning and teaching methods are used on this course. You will be taught in groups through workshops, lectures, critiques and seminars, as well as individual tutorials. You will have formative assessments to ensure that you are progressing appropriately. There are no exams in this course and learning becomes more independent over the course of the programme.

There are many extra-curricular opportunities from trips and visits, running workshops for schools and colleges, to joining craft meetings, as well as lots of opportunities to showcase your work in exhibitions and fashion shows.

Career prospects

This course focuses on developing multiskilled, highly employable graduates with adaptable creative thinking in fashion and textile design. You will be well equipped to work in a variety of contexts from small and medium-sized enterprises to multinational corporations. You will gain the creative, intellectual and communicative skills to respond to the changing patterns and demands of contemporary working environments and practices.

Graduates from this course have been successful in finding work with the following companies:

•      Burberry
•      Marks and Spencer
•      Swarovski
•      TopShop
•      Fat Face
•      Primark
•      BHS
•      Jasper Conran

They are working in a variety of roles such as fashion and textile design, buying, styling, visual merchandising, fashion promotion and marketing, and teaching.

Alternatively, the enterprise element of this course has enabled our graduates to set up their own creative design business and trade successfully, selling work through a variety of outlets. Our graduates have also gone on to postgraduate study such as Master's and research degrees programmes.                                                   

 

Facilities and features

The course benefits from:

• design studios and a seminar room
• print workshops
• a pattern cutting and garment construction studio
• digital print and embroidery facilities
• industry-standard IT 
programmes

Links with industry are diverse and our students have had the opportunity to work on projects with practising designers.

A variety of subject-specific books and journals, DVDs and trend prediction periodicals are available from  the library.

Take a look at our facilities using our Virtual Tour.

Entry requirements

View all the entry requirements for BA (Hons) Fashion and Textile Design for the academic year 2013/14 (opens in new window).