The business of fashion is a global, cultural and economic force shaped by creative professionals who share a passion for innovative customer-centric solutions. The fashion marketplace requires senior managers who can seamless bring together material resources, human capital, and commercial vision to produce a personalised customer offering.
This programme, which has been designed in conjunction with leading fashion retailers, represents a new direction in the integration of fashion retail management, fashion marketing, international consumer behaviour and supply chain planning. Its unique structure allows you to study at both the internationally renowned School of Design and Leeds University Business School, one of the top departments of its kind in the world. This means you'll have the opportunity to gain the varied knowledge and skills needed to for a managerial career in the exciting, dynamic and internationally-oriented fashion sector.
We have plenty of facilities to help you make the most of your time at the School of Design. You’ll be able to develop your practice in well-equipped studios and purpose-built computer clusters so you can build your skills on both PC and Mac. There are computer-aided design (CAD) suites with access to the latest design software and some of the latest design technology, such as digital printing and laser cutting facilities, and colour analysis/prediction labs, EEG/eye-tracking technology and digital photography.
We also have an impressive range of resources you can use for research. We house the M&S Company Archive including documents, advertising, photos, films, clothing and merchandise from throughout Marks & Spencer’s history, offering a fascinating insight into the changing nature of our culture over time.
These are typical modules/components studied and may change from time to time. Read more in our Terms and conditions.
COMPULSORY MODULES
Fashion Marketing 15 credits
Dissertation Global Fashion Management 60 credits
Managing Global Logistics and Supply Chains 15 credits
Operations and Supply Chain Management 15 credits
Consumer Behaviour Across Cultures 15 credits
OPTIONAL MODULES
Fashion Industry Analysis 15 credits
Sustainability and Fashion 15 credits
Textile Consultancy and Management 15 credits
Textile Product Design, Innovation and Development 15 credits
For more information on typical modules, read Global Fashion Management MA in the course catalogue
This programme employs a variety of learning and teaching methods including lectures, seminars, tutorials and group discussions. The modules will utilise methods of learning, teaching and assessment which are appropriate to Masters level study, such as group discussions, presentations, and report writing. Although a proportion of the contact time will be spent in teaching, emphasis will also be placed upon the use of group and independent learning. Discussion and interactive sessions will encourage you to critically examine key elements of fashion retail and management further. You will have the opportunity to hear from external academic and professional speakers from the fashion and retail business world, and it may be possible to participate in retail colloquiums.
You'll be assessed by a variety of methods. Assessment on the programme is designed to be an integral part of the learning process, allowing you to enhance and confirm your knowledge and practice. Formative feedback will be provided through a combination of self-reflection, peer group and tutor feedback. Summative assessments will provide a measure of the extent to which you have achieved the learning outcomes of the modules.
Assessment within the modules will take various forms including: coursework assignments, reports, group work, presentations, examinations and the dissertation. You are encouraged to consider and discuss your work in tutorials using multiple assessment criteria related to modules Including, originality and appropriateness of concepts and treatments, communication strategy, project management, organisation, comprehension and professionalism.
The multidisciplinary nature of this programme means that you’ll have the chance to develop a unique blend of skills including management, analytical tools and customer marketing techniques. This will allow you to understand and shape global retail operations by managing multinational fashion organisations, international retail, foreign market entry, and global supply chains and value chains.
On graduating you'll be equipped to thrive in either further study or a diverse range of career paths. The knowledge you’ll have gained will make you especially employable in careers throughout the fashion value chain, including fashion buying, fashion marketing, fashion public relations, merchandising and logistics management, management of the product development process, retail or brand management, product sourcing and supply chain management, and e-commerce.
Careers support
We encourage you to prepare for your career from day one. That’s one of the reasons Leeds graduates are so sought after by employers.
The Careers Centre and staff in your faculty provide a range of help and advice to help you plan your career and make well-informed decisions along the way, even after you graduate. Find out more at the Careers website.
The Fashion Promotion pathway investigates the areas of the Fashion industry that support all areas of design. With the support and guidance from industry professionals, you will develop your own personal portfolio of work within an area that could include Fashion Styling, Fashion Photography, Fashion Illustration, Fashion Promotion or Fashion Film.
Course Overview
Our Master’s programme has been designed to support and enhance the skills of art and design practitioners who want to work in the cultural and creative industries. Awarded by Falmouth University and delivered in partnership with Hearst Magazines UK, publishers of ELLE, Cosmopolitan, Esquire and Harper’s Bazaar, together we have designed an exciting and industry-connected Master’s to equip you for the real world.
The 12-month MA supports students across a range of Art & Design specialisms and you will be given the unique opportunity to explore your area within an interdisciplinary global culture. Bringing together students from a variety of disciplines through dialogue, idea-exchange and collaborative activities, the course prepares students for the hybrid and dynamic nature of contemporary creative practice. By enabling the pursuit of specialist subject expertise alongside opportunities to acquire the skills, experience and outlook necessary for professional success, we give our graduates the confidence to take the next step toward building their own creative futures.
The course is open to graduates from any art and design related degree subject and who already have knowledge and experience of a specialist area. Our MA will allow you to enhance your skills within your existing area, taking it in your own direction with support from a subject tutor. We currently support pathways in Fine Art, Communication Design, Illustration, Animation, Photography, Fashion Design, Fashion Communication, Product Design, Craft and Spatial Design.
Alternatively, you may be looking for a Master’s degree, but you are not clear which specialist pathway to follow, this course is designed to support those students arriving from a variety of undergraduate programmes with varying degrees of focus. The scope of the award in Art & Design is flexible enough to provide opportunities for you to experiment and try out new approaches before finding your focus.
Unique Opportunities
This programme offers outstanding specialist tuition combined with extensive academic contact and studio access. As a Master’s student, you will have:
The inter-disciplinary nature of the course and the teaching team, along with the wider staff expertise within the college means that specific tuition can be provided on a ‘bespoke’ basis if and when needs arise. In addition to support from academic staff, you will have regular group and one-to-one access to our Study Skills Coordinator for support with writing, research and academic skills.
Our dedicated Welfare Team are resourced and prepared to support all students. Should you require help with English language, support is available from our in-house provision.
Course Structure
The course is structured to provide you with a wide range of activities in the modules at the start of the course, together with the opportunity to experiment and explore different methods and approaches. As you move through the programme you will then start to focus and identify individual ambitions, and plan and execute your final project.
Semester One
EXPERIMENTAL PRACTICE
Introduces you to new methods and approaches. You will take part in a series of set projects, which will encourage collaboration, experimental practice and creative activity.
THEORY AND RESEARCH
Within this module you will be exposed to a series of lectures and seminars around a series of shared themes that cut across theory and practice. You will be inspired to try out fresh and innovative methods in practice and you will work collaboratively and individually.
Semester Two
FOCUSING PRACTICE
This module will support your development of independent and self-initiated project work in your specialist area. To build your portfolio you will take part in live briefs set by our partners in the creative industries and supported to enter local and international competitions.
ART & DESIGN FUTURES
You will be asked to look ahead by engaging in the issues shaping the professional practice of art and design today. Lecturer talks will introduce you to a diverse range of contemporary art and design practices to inspire and orient your own career pathways. This module also gives you the opportunity to organise and complete a work placement enabling you to gain valuable professional experience.
Semester Three
FINAL MAJOR PROJECT
You will spend the final semester working on a self-initiated project in your area of specialism, underpinned by the cross discipline culture of the course. Your final submission will be a portfolio of work and a written report culminating in a final MA show.
Careers and Employability
With staff and visiting tutors active in the creative industries worldwide as researchers and practitioners, as artists, designers, writers, and curators you will be exposed to issues, debates and challenges that are transforming art and design practice in the 21st century.
More specifically, the modules encourage you to reflect upon the broad and hybrid nature of art and design and the emerging global workplace in which you will ultimately take your next steps. To offer you real-world experience through live briefs and the work placements, we collaborate with both international media and communication organisations (such as our partner Hearst Magazines UK) as well as local creative businesses on our doorstep in Cambridge—one of the UK’s centres of leading-edge creativity and innovation.
Visit the website for full specifications: http://www.csvpa.com/art-and-design/ma-art-design/course-details/about.htm
Click here to apply online: https://www.csvpa.com/apply-online/step1
This exciting degree offers you the opportunity to study one of the major areas in contemporary media and communications – branding.
The unique programme introduces you to the variety of ways in which brands are developed and used, and helps you to understand how the growth of branding – in business, but also in politics, government, sport and culture – has changed the societies we live in.
What happens when the state starts to use branding techniques to communicate with its citizens?
And how does the rise of digital and social media change the relationship between brands and their publics?
What, for example, are the consequences of understanding political parties, artists or sports teams as ‘brands’?
An introduction to contemporary branding debates
The MA in Brands, Communication and Culture aims to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the history and development of brands and branding, and their relationship to contemporary forms of communication and culture. Specifically, you should acquire an in-depth knowledge of the social, political and economic backdrop against which branding has become so important, and an understanding of the key themes and debates surrounding its development and use, including the relationship between brands and intellectual property, and the extent to which branding promotes or inhibits openness and transparency within organisations.
You will also improve your ability to think critically and creatively about contemporary communications and cultural practices. When you have completed the programme you will have at your disposal a range of tools that will enable you to analyse contemporary communications, to make judgments about their significance and value and be able to thoughtfully contribute to contemporary communications.
A unique approach to the study of brands
This MA is not a conventional branding or marketing course. Instead it offers a unique approach to the study of brands. This is reflected in the topics taught on our core modules, which include:
The MA Brands, Communication and Culture is taught across two departments: Media & Communications and Sociology. This gives you access to experts in many fields. In addition to the two core courses you will have the opportunity to customize your degree by choosing from a range of modules from different departments to allow you to explore your own interests and make wider connections.
We welcome students who bring to the course a range of experiences and interests in communication, management, politics, design and the cultural industries.
Recent dissertation topics include:
The programme is made up of two core modules (60 credits in total), between two and four options modules (60 credits in total), and a dissertation (60 credits).
The first core module, Branding I, introduces you to contemporary definitions and theories of branding, its history and development, changes in the role of marketing, promotion and design, and their place in the global economy.
The second core module, Branding II, puts greater emphasis on contemporary themes and issues in branding, and their relationship to wider debates in society, economy and culture.
Throughout the core components of the degree, you will examine the wide range of ways in which branding is currently used, in organisations ranging from large corporations to public sector bodies, charities and other third sector organisations.
For the optional modules, you'll have an opportunity to explore some of the wider contexts for brands and branding by taking up to 60 credits of modules provided elsewhere in Media and Communications or neighbouring departments such as Sociology, Cultural Studies and Anthropology.
Part-time students typically take the two core modules in their first year, and the options modules plus the dissertation in their second year.
Vocational elements
The department offers some practice-based options in areas such as:
Assessment consists of coursework, extended essays, reports, presentations, practice based projects or essays/logs, group projects, reflective essays, and seen and unseen written examinations.
Download the programme specification. If you would like an earlier version of the programme specification, please contact the Quality Office.
Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.
The programme helps students to develop a high-level understanding of contemporary branding and communications techniques and their social, economic and political contexts. You will be encouraged to develop your critical reasoning skills and your understanding of contemporary cultural and media theory, but also to develop greater visual literacy and a capacity for creative thinking. Assessments are designed to ensure that you are able to apply these skills in practical ways.
The programme equips you with the skills necessary to pursue a wide range of careers related to branding and communication in the media and other industries. Students are encouraged to seek work experience and work placements during the programme as time allows. The MA also allows you to pursue further academic research in one or more of the areas covered on the programme.
Find out more about employability at Goldsmiths.
MA Fashion Art Direction will provide the opportunity for practice-based postgraduate study in the creation of innovative visual communication and imagery for fashion end use. Outcomes could be related to print and pattern design, promotion, marketing, branding, visual merchandising, art direction, illustration, publishing or pursuing further postgraduate study.
You will be encouraged to engage with contemporary fashion audiences through the creation of work that explores original approaches to product, concept and/or communication. Your work should demonstrate a keen sense of contextual awareness, knowing where the work fits in the world and how the world might affect it. The programme will emphasise the importance of being digitally articulate and you will be able to combine this with traditional media and design processes should you choose to. Collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches will be encouraged, as will engagement with the creative industries beyond the School of Art.
Based in the heart of the School of Art, MA/MFA Design: Fashion Art Direction is part of an innovative design network — a community of staff and students exploring design ideas in a discursive, cross-disciplinary studio environment. Critically informed practical designers, the group works experimentally, inspired by new insights and possibilities.
While studying towards a particular qualification at MA/MFA level, students experience their subject in the broader context of contemporary design practice.
Dedicated spaces for the postgraduate community have been developed to enable the postgraduate community to flourish. These spaces, for thinking and practice, are located centrally within the School of Art, allowing easy access to an extensive range of workshops where the combination of traditional and state of the art equipment opens up a world of exciting possibilities.
The MA Design: Fashion Art Direction is made up of four units totalling 180 credits.
The programme is designed to help you acclimatise to the challenges of MA level research and practice, enabling you to identify and describe a clear direction for your postgraduate design study.
You will be encouraged to develop design propositions that encompass key design issues and have complexity and ambition, taking full consideration of the relative contextual drivers.
You will also be encouraged and supported to extend your experience in the professional sphere either through a practical project, research context, exchange, work experience, or other negotiated professional set of interactions with an external partner, groups of students and creative industry.
Towards the end of the programme you will undertake a major project to consolidate your past research and practice into fully realised collections, pieces, proposals, business plans, or exhibitions – whatever means is appropriate to the work. You will also have developed a strategy for the continuation of your practice located and contextualised to the profession or discipline.
If you choose to progress to MFA Design: Fashion Art Direction award you will study a further two units of 60 credits each.
This route is focused on the continuation of your practice aligned to the research and selection of appropriate public or professional venues and platforms to disseminate a significant body of work. You will be required to produce work for a public audience in the most relevant and appropriate form along with any implicit publicity and dissemination material.
This course is designed to produce the future leaders of the Public Relations Industry. You will not only learn the practical skills required to embark on a career in PR but also the research and analysis skills that will help you get ahead. You will create campaigns, pitch to clients, stage a press conference and create videos and blogs, as well as write research reports, essays and a dissertation. You will also explore issues affecting the industry, such as professional ethics and the impact of digital media.
The course has close links to the London-based PR industry, and is one of a select few chosen by the UK’s professional PR bodies, the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA) and the Chartered Institute of PR (CIPR) for their University partnership initiatives. These connections with leading PR practitioners help you gain the practical knowledge and understanding you need to work in PR.
The course combines practice skills with analytical tools and is highly participative. You will take part in workshops, debates, seminars, presentations and group exercises including making pitches and presenting creative campaign ideas.
There are no formal examinations on this course. You are assessed on course work including essays, presentations, blogs, group work and your participation in class exercises.
The following modules are indicative of what you will study on this course.
Core modules
Optional modules
The course is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA).
Our graduates come from all over the world. Many return to their home countries to pursue their careers, while others work all in Asia, Europe, Australasia, the US and the Middle East. Many of our alumni work in major international PR agencies including H + K Strategies and Edelman, while others work in-house at organisations as diverse as Lego and the United Nations.
It is not unusual for our students to have started careers in PR even before they have formally graduated. We work closely with the PR industry, offering our students a range of study visits to agencies and in-house departments in addition to a wide variety of guest speakers. We offer details of PR industry graduate schemes, and assist our students in applying. We maintain the relevance of the course curriculum through regular consultation with people working within the PR industry.
