Masters Degrees (Garment Technology)

Introduction

Develop yourself as an innovative pattern cutter or garment technologist able to provide companies with creative technical solutions through focused research that will advance the commercial fashion industry.

Content

Please note that for this MA course applicants will apply to one of the two pathways: either MA Pattern and Garment Technology: Creative Pattern Cutting, or MA Pattern and Garment Technology: Garment Technology

This new course, MA Pattern and Garment Technology, offers a unique experience in fashion education at postgraduate level. The course develops innovative pattern and garment technologists who will be able to provide creative technical solutions to current and future problems within the fashion industry. You will acquire strong 2D and 3D technical skills and will become aware of the challenges currently facing this sector of the industry. The opportunity to work collaboratively with a company in order to research into and develop new processes and techniques that advance current practice will be a feature of the course.

You will experiment with a range of digital and manufacturing technologies and techniques, materials and components in order to achieve your goals. Individual research, experimentation and analysis will be supported by a programme of workshops, lectures, team-working activities and industrial visits that will allow you to develop a comprehensive understanding of techniques applicable to your own research or advanced knowledge.

As well as developing conventional and creative pattern cutting techniques, you will become conversant with digital pattern technology and you will explore digital pattern development through using 3D sampling software. You will also be encouraged to set up work placements which give you the opportunity to further your skills and knowledge and make valuable contacts within the industry. Your Masters Project will give you the opportunity to research and develop an initiative that breaks new ground in the field of pattern and garment technology. This project will be supported by extensive documented research, experimentation and analysis before the final outcome is achieved.

For this course we are looking for students who have gained a good degree from a fashion design course and have particular interest and skills in creative technical processes. Other routes to the course will be for pattern and garment technologists already working in the industry who want to expand their skills, or creative fashion designers seeking to develop their technical skills to advance their practice.

Structure

15 months 3 terms level 7 180 credits

Block One: September to February

You will study two units plus a third option unit:

Creative Technical Skills (core skills) (20 credits)

Either Creative Pattern Design (option unit) (20 credits), or
Pattern Design and Garment Technology (option unit) (20 credits)
Research Methods (20 credits)

Block Two: February to June

You will study one unit plus two option units:

Either Technical Analysis (option unit) (20 credits), or
Sustainability and Fashion (option unit) (20 credits)

Either Technical Development (option unit) (20 credits), or
Consumer Behaviour and Psychology (option unit) (20 credits)

Collaborative Unit (20 credits)

Block Three: June to December

Masters Project (60 credits)

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Course summary

If your interest is in the technical construction of garments, the engineering of fashion products and a career at the heart of the fashion industry this course is for you.

You will already have experience of garment construction and in this course you will be able to further refine your areas of interest and expertise. From CAD to couture you will have a range of choices before you as to how you develop your skills base and portfolio. You will also be encouraged to collaborate with industry and define a clear career path for yourself.

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Introduction

This intensive one year programme allows you to develop your skills in creative fashion design technology, which will facilitate progression to MA study or into employment.

Content

Please note: This course will run at Level 6, which is equivalent to the final year of a BA Honours degree, and is a preparatory course for students who want to study at postgraduate level, but currently need further knowledge and skills before being eligible for postgraduate study.

The course is also suitable for graduates who would like to further their knowledge and skills before moving into industry. It covers design for menswear and womenswear, product development, garment technology and pattern cutting.

The course encourages creative thinking and innovative design approaches, and emphasises that 3D realisation is key to understanding the process of design and manufacture.

Specialist staff and facilities cover a range of new and established technologies that give students an insight into manufacturing and design in the fashion industry. Students from the Graduate Diploma are part of the postgraduate community in the design hub at Mare Street, and many students find this course helpful in preparing them for progression to MA study.

Other graduates move straight into the international fashion market. Students are encouraged to think about fashion in the wider sense and use their time at LCF to proactively forge industry links. Many alumni have gained employment within the industry.

Structure

One Year level 6 120 credits

Terms One and Two: Fashion Language and Context (20 credits)

Term One: Fashion Analysis (40 credits)

Term Two: Fashion Development (20 credits)

Term Three: Final Realisation (40 credits)

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The complete Masters (MSc) course in Technical Textiles enables you to develop a high level of understanding of modern technical textiles, preparing you for a career in the textile or related industries as a manager or researcher, or for an academic career.

Graduates of this programme are expected to understand the whole process of converting fibrous materials into the end product and to be able to identify and analyse the appropriate material and production route for a specific end product. You will also have developed the expertise and skill to conduct quality evaluation of textile products.

The complete MSc programme is made up of taught course units and a research dissertation. The taught course units are delivered through a combination of lectures and practical laboratory work.

Special features

The Masters programme in Technical Textiles enables you to develop a high level of understanding of the advanced Technical Textiles sector, preparing you for a career in the textile or related industries as a manager or researcher, or for an academic career.

After successfully completing the programme, you will have gained a thorough grounding and understanding of the whole process of converting fibrous polymeric materials to the end product. This successful delivery to the Technical Textiles sector involves materials performance, Computer Aided Design (CAD), 2D/3D product design and specification, sustainability, effective supply chains and an understanding of diverse product sectors such as textile composites, protective wear, filtration, sportswear, medical textiles and the integration of electronics into textile structures.

Coursework and assessment

You will be assessed by a combination of exams and coursework. The coursework supports the development of your transferable skills such as literature review and report writing. You will complete your MSc programme with a dissertation project. Your dissertation is an opportunity to apply your learning on a five-month technical textiles project. It also enables you to further develop your knowledge and skill in your chosen field. Your choice of topic, in consultation with your personal tutor, will range in purpose from investigatory and problem-solving work, through studies of state-of-the-art technology and current practice, to experimental and analytical research.

Course unit details

 The taught units are:

• Textile Materials and Performance Evaluation
• Yarn Technology
• Applied Manufacturing Processes
• Advanced Manufacturing Techniques
• Technical Textiles
• Advanced Coloration and Performance Evaluation

Textile Materials and Performance Evaluation

This programme unit provides a wide range of topics in textile materials science, performance enhancement and testing that are fundamental for effective functioning in a technical capacity within any textiles or materials related organisation. 

• Nature of man-made and natural fibres.
• Characteristics of fabrics and fabric mechanical properties. Yarn and Nonwovens Technology
• Principles and applications of KES-FB and FAST fabric evaluation systems. Comfort in garment microclimates.
• Dimensional stability, surface modification techniques, oil/water repellency, waterproofing, coating, lamination, flame retardants and smart materials.
• Microscopy and surface analysis.

Yarn and Nonwovens Technology

This programme unit introduces the technologies of producing yarns and nonwovens from staple fibres and continuous filaments and provides knowledge in the quality and quality control aspects of yarn production. 

• Fibre preparation, ring and other modern spinning technologies, texturing, yarn quality control, fancy yarns, composite yarns and yarn preparation.
• Nonwovens web forming technology including dry laying, air laying, wet laying, spun-bonding, melt-blowing. Nonwovens consolidation/bonding technologies; mechanical and chemical bonding; thermal bonding; applications of nonwoven products.

Applied Manufacturing Processes

This programme unit provides a working knowledge of the weaving, knitting and joining processes, types of machinery used, types of fabric structures and associated properties of the product fabrics.

• Fundamentals of weaving. Shuttle and shuttleless looms; multi-phase weaving machines and other modern developments in weaving technology; warp preparation; technical weaving and braiding.
• Classification and analysis of knitting techniques and knitting cycles; patterning and shaping; flat bed, circular, Tricot and Raschel knitting machines; modern knitting techniques; cycle of high-speed circular knitting machines; machine performance; yarn performance and properties in knitting; quality and the dimensions stability of the fabric.
• Fabric joining techniques.

Fundamental Technology and Concepts for Industrial Manufacture

This programme unit provides a working knowledge of concepts of `production for profit', `economy of scale', the importance of the Supply Chain in Textile manufacturing, the importance of pre-competitive research, Design of Experiments(DoE), prototyping and technology transfer and the basics concepts of textile engineering & machine mechanics.

• The fundamentals of engineering & machine mechanics in order to deal with the Technical Textiles end users in Aerospace, Automotive and other industries, sustainability and recycling issues in manufacturing and design.
• The nature of the global traditional and technical textiles industry and concepts relating to successful manufacturing and supply chain. Nature of engineering & chemical industry as opposed to the textile industry. Certification requirements (e.g. Aerospace, Automotive, Healthcare, Sportswear), product development in real industrial context, Design of Experiments, quality & inspection, product lifecycles, Sustainable Design. The nature of the research and production environment, individual and team R&D activities.

Technical Textiles - Industrial Applications

This programme unit introduces industrial applications for technical textiles and covers the production and application of textile composites, architectural textiles, geotextiles, automotive textiles, and industrial filtration.

• Composites: Basic concepts, classification, manufacturing techniques-from fibre to composite, textile composites, composite applications, reuse & recycling; geotextiles: basic classification, main functions of a geotextiles, applications; Architectural textiles, concepts of tensegrity structures.
• Automotive Textiles: requirements on automotive textiles including tyre cords, air bags, seat belts and seat fabrics, carpets, trims.
• Principles of filtration, industrial filtration in textile, chemical, food and metallurgical applications.

Technical Textiles - Personal Environment

This programme unit introduces the production and use of technical textiles in human related areas including medical, smart, protective, sportswear, space applications.

• Medical textile materials and structures; application of compression bandage technology for medical care; integrating electronic sensors into medical textiles; knitted electro-textiles.
• Protective Textiles: Bullet proof, stab proof vests. Impact protection: impact mechanism and cellular textile composites. Ballistics and body armour.
• Technical clothing, sportswear, spacewear, sailing equipment.
• Medical and Smart Textiles

Accrediting organisations

Accredited by the Institute of Minerals, Materials and Mining (IOM ³ ) as meeting the Further Learning requirements for registration as a Chartered Engineer.

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The Fashion and Textiles MA at DMU offers a practice-based, design-led experience across the following four distinctive pathways:

• Contour Fashion – specialising in the study of intimate apparel, including jersey wear, lingerie, swimwear, corsetry, loungewear and bra design

• Fashion Design – with the opportunity to specialise in womenswear, menswear and fashion knitwear

• Footwear Design and Accessories – with options including women’s, men’s and children’s footwear and accessories for sport, leisure or fashion

• Textile Design – for fashion, interiors and lifestyle, with the opportunity to specialise in print, construct and mixed media

Prior to enrolling onto the course you will choose one of the pathways which will provide the focus of your design practice. The promotion of creative, technical and intellectual knowledge, alongside a critical, contextual understanding will be a key focus. This is complemented by teaching and learning across the pathways to consider design communication, portfolio development and promotion.

The course will prepare you for a variety of careers. Graduates from the School have gone on to work in roles ranging from design, product development, buying, and garment technology to working freelance or starting up a small business. They have also gone on to work for national and multinational companies such as Agent Provocateur, Courtaulds, Abercrombie and Fitch, Tommy Hilfiger, Superdry, Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, French Connection, Jigsaw, Next, H&M, Kurt Geiger, L.K. Bennett, Clarks, New Balance, Tesco, Joules, and Primark.

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Introduction

A dynamic menswear course with an international reputation for challenging the conventions of fashion design, nurturing and refining talent to produce some of the most forward thinking creatives in menswear design today.

Content

MA FDT Menswear at London College of Fashion has built an international reputation for design that asks questions and presents unexpected solutions to the mainstays of fashion design and garment construction. It is a course where innovation and craft intersect at the crossroads of modernity to produce pioneering menswear designers.

Students investigate their own practice to define design methodologies that encompass key concepts of fabric, cut and silhouette. Based on rigorous research and analytical thinking, the course encourages fresh perspectives in menswear design.

Students come from a wide range of backgrounds bringing a breadth of experience to their peer group and discipline. Emerging from a diversity of practice and theory based undergraduate studies, including Womenswear, Fine Art, Architecture and Semiotics, they are able to explore the potential of their transferable skills and knowledge into menswear design methodologies.

Alumni have gone on to set up successful design labels, work for international brands or continue their research to PhD level. This is the course where menswear talent is nurtured and refined to produce some of the most forward thinking creatives in menswear design today.

Structure

15 months level 7 180 credits

Term One

Creative and Technical Innovation (40 credits)
Research Methods (20 credits)

Term Two

Collaborative Unit (20 credits)
Technical Analysis and Development (40 units)

Term Three

Masters Project (60 credits)

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Wearable Futures is a cross-disciplinary umbrella programme for designers who are interested in the cluster of technologies and experiences that have the human body and its covering as their centre of focus.

The course offers a holistic environment based on the integration of creative computing, digital craftsmanship and material cultures, while also incorporating the technologies and advances in hardware that are impacting on manufacturing techniques and associated applications. Wearable futures has come about as part of Ravensbourne’s current commitment to become creative leader in the field of wearable applications and body-centric design. Ravensbourne's digital research culture is contributing significantly in this context.

The main conceptual framework for the course will be provided by theories of digital craftsmanship, body-centric technologies and phenomenological readings and speculative philosophy. These will form an important research foundation for building Ravensbourne’s critical reach and will assist in helping you to sift and prioritise the current trends and thought relating to fashion and discussion around the body within data informed spaces. An interdisciplinary field of study will include interaction and experience design (UX), “making” and open source culture, design innovation and applied philosophy. You will be introduced to philosophical trends and these will tie in with your practice and help you to develop a critical view incorporating design fiction and other emerging theories. You will engage with research methods such as participatory, user study and user-centered design.

"One of the exciting things about the design industries today is that boundaries of former categories such as fashion, product or experience design have been broken down" - Alexa Pollman, Subject leader, MA Wearable Futures.

The course is a platform for investigation, dissemination and analysis around contemporary theory and practice in the wearable industries. The course’s core role will be to foster your understanding of this market and to identify latent demand within the commercial sphere and to highlight future applications and directions. The aim will be to help you to influence the decision makers so that wearable solutions will be accepted and meet the cultural and ethical expectations when designing for the human body and the garment-industry. You are expected to consider the cultural and social role inherent to fashion as a part of wearable futures.

Wearable futures students will focus their investigations on the key flashpoints of the body as an interface for what is a symbiotic, physical and digital exchange. As part of the design methodology of the course, you will be asked to develop future scenarios and narratives in order to help you and your clientele to understand the concomitant social, environmental or cultural challenges of designing for a matter as delicate as the human body.

"At the moment we’re still very much in the “task” piece of wearable computing, not in the symbolic “how do we make sense of it” piece. I think in the wearable space we are still bringing all the old metaphors of computation with us and still interpreting them in a somewhat literal way—that they are a smaller smartphone, or a little computer. It will become much more interesting when we let go of that and work out the promise that wearable computing will make to us." Genevieve Bell, Anthropologist at Intel

Get to know the subject leader: Alexa Pollman

- Tell us about yourself

For me, garments are social reactors and I like to challenge the current notion of ‘wear’. I have experienced the industry from different angles: my original profession was in fashion design, but I have also worked as a creative consultant and spent my fair share of time in showrooms, for both – big and small brands.

I completed the Design Interactions Programme at the Royal College of Art, and collaborating with various disciplines has enriched my perspective as a designer.

Luckily, I have been awarded different grants that have allowed me to pursue my own work - Peut-Porter is my design consultancy agency and platform which researches and provides forecasts on wear and fashion. Currently, I am Designer in Residence at the Design Museum London and will have new work on show from September 2015.

- What's your opinion on the current state of wearable futures?

We currently find a variety of opinions on wearables and truthfully spoken, I see a lot of problems occurring with their application. This is why it is important to train specialists who can engage with the topic in a much broader sense than is currently being done by the industry. Our wearable futures students will be asked to be highly innovative but at the same time engage with the cultural and social impacts of body-centric design. We need them to bridge the gap between artisans and material or textile specialists and the tech world.

The fashion system successfully uses technology in many experience-based ways and this seems like a very natural process to me as the narrative, experience-based aspect seems inherent to fashion. Wearable futures will not only produce gadgets and devices, it will help to define our relationship to technology when it enters our personal spheres, it will look at the moral and ethical side of data-capturing as well as its technological possibilities and ask students to research and design future aspects and needs of wear.

- Is this course right for me?

This course will focus on body-centric design – a topic which is currently being explored in a massive range of disciplines. We will ask for an extremely flexible mind, someone who is eager to work with various media and collaborate with science, engineers and artists to create their own definition of wearables.

Studying an MA should allow a student to find his or her very own position, strength and reason to design. Whether their work will have a technological, experiential , future or fashion focus will in the end be very much up to what they have decided to explore in the process. We want students to become ambassadors who understand not only the technological aspects and applications of wear but the medium that they will most closely be working with – the human body.

- Why are you so passionate about this course subject?

I think the course has potential to become a wake-up call – what are we doing to ourselves and our bodies? How much more obsessed with data capturing and monitoring will we become? We can’t ignore the trends and tendencies but we need to discuss and open up the field, get some creative minds together and talk about the cultural meaning of ‘wear’ and how that can work intriguingly when paired with technology.

For me, one of the big pluses of Ravensbourne is the fact that it doesn’t have a ‘traditional’ fashion orientation but instead is very interested in the digital and technological aspects of education. I especially feel that our MA courses have a lot to offer in terms of a general interdisciplinary approach, more so because they take in a small amount of people. Designers need one another to work and explore their role and as the MA’s share the same space, we will surely see a lot of cross overs with the other courses. Also, we have had quite some interest from big industries and I think we will see some exciting collaborations happening here in the future.

Course structure

1. Technology Issues – will ask you to engage and experiment with technologies used in the body-centric design sector. The three provided project briefs will explore such fields as data-capturing, 3D Printing and alternative production methods or sensory technology. You will work with fellow students and develop quick mock-ups to understand the mediums at hand and create wear with a focus on experiences.

2. Business and Innovation – will help you understand the business and innovative practices used in the creative industries. Could your idea become a successful product and how can you find a niche to place yourself in? Wearable Technology is one of the quickest growing markets of the industry and your contribution to the field could have manifold impacts.

3. Concept & Prototyping – will allow you to develop your personal design method and introduce you to an holistic design-strategy. You will be asked to present your concepts employing various media and design speculative, narrative and plausible futures in order to challenge and understand the needs, hopes and dreams related to wearables.

4. The Research Process – will help you to investigate and strengthen your concepts and ideas by teaching you the skills and methods needed to ground you personal project in an academic context.

5. The Major Project – represents the culmination of the design work and the research you conducted in your studies. In this unit, you will forge a specialist project and work self-managed and practice-based, seek advise from specialists outside the college and present your personal take on the future of wearables.

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Develop your existing knowledge and experience as a fashion designer, exploiting our significant research expertise to enhance your own design and research skills to a new level.

We place emphasis on personal research, giving you the chance to develop your own interests and ideas in a challenging and supportive environment. Our aim is to help you to become a creative, imaginative and versatile fashion designer who can operate independently or as a member of a design team.

You can pursue a wide area of investigation when developing your designs. Your course tutors include fashion design specialists in areas including innovative pattern cutting, CAD and fashion technology, fashion marketing, fashion entrepreneurship, fashion craft and sustainability. As well as helping develop your creative design skills, they also help you to identify and shape your future career direction.

There are opportunities to participate in study trips and visits to design conferences and debates.

Project-based course

You choose your own project content and this is supported by lectures and seminars dealing with professional practice issues and reviewing your progress. You also take part in regular group and individual tutorials.

Your final major project is the culmination of your research and studio-based design practice. It demonstrates that you can deal with difficult contemporary questions and take a leading role as a design professional.

Research-led expertise

We are one of the oldest established art and design institutions in the UK, renowned for producing internationally recognised research. Your projects are supported by lecturers who are fashion design specialists.

Vibrant and supportive learning environment

During the course you regularly take part in constructive critical debates about your own work and that of your peers. You need to communicate your research, ideas and designs in ways that are appropriate to professional leadership.

You study alongside MA and MFA Design students for part of your course and benefit from a vibrant, international, collaborative and supportive postgraduate environment.

Excellent facilities and creative resources

We have professionally equipped design studios and fashion workshops that house digital garment manufacturing equipment, pattern-cutting software and flat-bed cutting equipment. As well as specialist fashion design facilities, you can a use the University’s wider creative facilities including professional photography studios, printing facilities, and laser cutting technology.

You can also access our award-winning learning centre featuring a specialist art, design and media library and extensive online resources.

MA and MFA study

MA and MFA students complete the same modules during the course except that MFA students complete an extra project module. The MFA project encourages you to develop professional skills that help you to identify, instigate, and deliver projects with external partners, such as communities, galleries or businesses. You find a project partner, agree a brief and then deliver the project to a professional standard.

We are normally asked to shortlist applicants before recommending a small number to apply. If this happens, we consider your interview, portfolio of work, academic qualifications and learning aims. We aim to pick people whose abilities and aims are relevant for the company and who are most likely to be successful in a competitive interview.

This course is part of the Sheffield Institute of Arts (SIA), an amazing, diverse community of makers – where staff, students and partners work as equals to deliver real innovation and creativity. SIA opened in 1843 and is one of the UK's oldest Art and Design Schools. We have recently moved into the Head Post Office, a redesigned Grade II listed building. It includes state-of-the-art workshops which provide you with a unique studio-based learning environment in the heart of the creative community.

Course structure

FULL-TIME STRUCTURE

Semester one

• project 1 • theory supporting practice

Semester two

• project 2 • negotiated project

Semester three

• major project

Semester four – MFA students only

• MFA project

PART-TIME STRUCTURE

Semester one (year 1)

• theory supporting practice • negotiated project

Semester two (year 2)

• project 1 • project 2

Semester three (year 3)

• major project

Semester four – MFA students only (year 4)

• MFA project

Assessment

Assessment and feedback are vital parts of the learning process in creative disciplines. Most assessment is through individual project work which combines research and creative practice. Assessment calls for both excellent creative work and well-documented research. 

Employability

There are many opportunities for employment or self-employment. We encourage you to take an enterprising approach and to strengthen your ability to develop your own business.

An increasing number of our graduates undertake advanced further study through research degrees (PhD) in our Art and Design Research Centre, which has a leading position in the advancement of creative practice in design.

Sheffield is home to the largest concentration of creative production in the region. Support for creative industries in the city has encouraged home grown talent as well as practitioners relocating here.

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This taught research course gives you the opportunity to carry out in-depth original research into design practice while developing the skills to become an independent, critical thinker and effective design researcher.

The taught modules provide a framework of transferable skills that apply to all researchers as well as those relevant to your chosen pathway subject of Arts, Design, English Literature, History, Social Science, or Media.

You will gain an understanding of research methods while developing expert professional skills in communication, self-management, and project planning. You will devise and deliver a significant research-based project in the form of a dissertation or practical arts based project, to demonstrate your interests and ability to think independently.

Whether you go on to further PhD study, or work as a researcher for a range of public services and professions, this course gives you the research and professional skills for a successful career.

Learn From The Best

Mark Bailey is Director of Innovation Design and leads the University’s partnership with Unilever. He spent 10 years in the Aerospace industry working on advanced passenger and business jet concepts.

After graduating from Northumbria’s School of Design, Bruce Montgomery became a designer for fashion brands including Katherine Hamnett, Moschino and Jeff Banks.

Matthew Lievesley has helped develop improved care-pathways for people with Type II Diabetes in collaboration with Newcastle University Medical School.

Dr Irini Pitsaki specialises in Design Management and Strategic Brand Management with more than 15 years of experience as a researcher and lecturer in higher education.

Dr Mersha Aftab’s current work looks at Role of Design at strategic level in multinational industries. Her passion for teaching led to a full time lectureship teaching Innovation.

Dr Stuart English is a specialist in design led innovation, and the creator of Ideas-lab. He leads a portfolio of postgraduate programmes.

Elizabeth MacLarty has a degree in Fine Art from Leeds University and her research interests include the relationship of theory to practice, particularly in Design Education teaching practice.

Teaching And Assessment

You’ll learn through a combination of discipline-specific and core framework modules that develop your research skills.

You’ll undertake a dissertation or project of 20,000 words (or 10,000 word dissertation in support of a practical project for Arts practice researchers). This can be either a specialist, in-depth study based upon a substantial body of subject-relevant sources or a you can take a broader ranging approach crossing over a number of disciplines.

You will also take two discipline-specific modules that examine the key themes, traditions, and debates in your chosen discipline.

You’ll be assessed by a mixture of traditional and innovative practices, including dissertation (or equivalent project), oral and written presentations, critical reviews, and portfolios of work.

The academic team will help you develop the skills required to plan, manage and review your learning.

Learning Environment

Northumbria's School of Design was named one of Europe’s top design schools by US Business Week magazine and has an international reputation for innovation and creativity.

It has been fitted out with state-of-the-art facilities and the latest in design technology including:

- Dedicated exhibition gallery and outdoor show spaces
- Modern presentation rooms with the latest screening facilities
- Digital photography studio
- CAD suites
- Traditional letterpress and screen printing
- The latest in computer numerically controlled machinery
- Extensive 3D prototyping workshops
- Industry standard textile, printing, knit and garment
- Construction facilities
- Sound studios and recording booths
- Interaction and animation studios
- Mobile laptop facilities
- Postgraduate, research and consultancy suites

Alongside teaching staff with experience as designers, technicians, craftsmen and journalists, you’ll also learn from visiting designers and design professionals.

Research-Rich Learning

Northumbria is in the UK top 10 for research power in Arts and Design. The School of Design hosts three research groups:

Design Issues
This research group addresses complex social and cultural issues from a design perspective. They work on themes such as social care issues with the Carers Centre Newcastle and Alzheimer’s Scotland and socio-economic challenges with Newcastle YMCA and Traidcraft.

Design Innovation and Research Methods
This group focuses on innovating and creating value across society by applying design-led innovation and better research methods to support the work of designers in context. Work involves the industrial and commercial sector, such as design's role in corporate innovation and creativity in product manufacturing and service organisations.

Design Making
This research group focuses on materials and the cultural and technology benefits of making in society. Researchers work in product, industrial, interaction, service, textile, craft, fashion and interior design disciplines.

Give Your Career An Edge

This course will give you skills for life-long learning, including critical skills and attitudes, presentation skills, and the ability to reflect and evaluate abilities. These are all attractive traits and in demand from employers.

You’ll be able to demonstrate critical awareness of research and scholarship in your chosen design discipline and show that you are self-motivated, disciplined and possess a thirst for independent learning.

Throughout the course, you’ll build on your undergraduate skills, adding intensity, complexity and depth of study as you also develop communication, time management and highly developed research and inquiry skills.

Your studies have a real world focus and you’ll have the opportunity to work with external partners and industries to develop your experience and network of contacts. We seek to nurture home-grown talent to support and grow the economic, social, cultural and intellectual capital of the region and beyond.

Your Future

Northumbria boasts an illustrious design alumni list including Sir Jonathan Ive, principal designer of the iPad, iPhone and iMac. Rob Law MBE, Founder of Trunki, Nicola Morgan, Designer, Lanvin, Paris, and Tim Brown, Chief Executive, IDEO.

As a graduate you’ll be able to demonstrate critical thinking and judgement and will leave equipped with excellent practical, communication, and transferable skills.

You will become an expert on your chosen research topic and well placed to use this as a platform to excel in your career and contribute to the community and the wider world in which you live.

On graduating, you will have a qualification which may enhance your promotion prospects in the fields of teaching, professional research, museums and archives, public policy, and project management.

There are also opportunities for you to advance your studies further, with advice in writing PhD and funding applications available to support students.

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MA Printed Textiles for Fashion & Interiors offers a practice based, design led experience, which develops your creative vision and redefines your professional practice. You’ll be encouraged to push boundaries and challenge yourself; we provide you with a stimulating and supportive environment in which to do this. You’ll have the freedom to explore and combine traditional, handcrafted design and production techniques with the latest innovations in digital technology, while researching constantly evolving materials and new technologies. You can create diverse design solutions that span a variety of outcomes.

Print for fashion covers: printed textiles collections for fashion, printed samples, experimental print pieces, printed garment prototypes, print design concepts or range plans, and printed fashion related products or accessories.

Print for interiors covers: printed furnishings, fashion led interior print concepts, one off printed textiles, installation or site specific works, printed product prototypes, floor and wall coverings as well as exterior print applications.

Situated within the internationally recognised School of Fashion at UCA Rochester, the MA Printed Textiles for Fashion & Interiors course offers you the opportunity for in-depth exploration and creative idea development in the specialist subject area of printed textiles for contemporary creative and fashion related industries.

This unique course offers you an exciting opportunity to make your creative vision a reality, master your skills, and develop new research methods, exploring innovative, relevant and sustainable solutions for fashion and textiles. Practice based research and theoretical research are integrated throughout the course. This course will help you to develop an individual design philosophy and the research methodology, visual, creative and practical skills you need to work in contemporary practice.

You’ll be challenged to exceed your personal best, gaining in confidence and professionalism throughout the programme through critical debate, seminars, lectures, tutorials, visiting speakers, group critiques, market research and personal research.

A vibrant creative studio culture with your own individual workspace combined with a programme of tutorials, lecturers, seminars and critiques is designed to support the development of your research and practice. As part of this course you will be involved in professional practice, such as a live industry project brief, competition work, industry sponsorship or industry engagement activities.

Facilities

Working in our extensive, well-equipped fashion and textiles workshops, print rooms and studios, you’ll be supported by a team of expert academic and technical staff, who have a wide range industry experience. The facilities at UCA Rochester are second to none. As well as specialist studios, equipment and software it boasts a wide range of industry-standard facilities including state-of-the-art fashion technology.

Industry Partners

As part of this course you will have access to well-established industry connections. These include:

-Alexander McQueen

-Peter Pilotto

-Jonathan Saundrers

-The Victoria & Albert Museum in London

-WGSN

-Erdem

-Preen

-Keeler Gordon

Careers

From day one on the course you start to build a professional portfolio, exploring ways to externalise your practice and create an online presence and ways to present your work to industry. This can evolve through first-hand experience, industry engagement activities and internships, or through working with fashion studios and agents, buyers, shops, galleries and interior designers as well as exhibition, national competitions and online selling platforms. Fashion Textiles graduates from UCA Rochester have secured positions in many fashion and textiles companies including:

-Jimmy Choo

-Debenhams

-Skinny Dip

-Eyefix International

-House of Fraser

The wide range of career opportunities open to our graduates include:

-Print design for clothes, fashion accessories and interiors

-CAD design for printed textiles, fabrics and print products

-Textile designers

-Self-employed designer/makers

-Public art practitioners

-Arts educators and teachers

-Fashion buyers and retailers

-Freelance design/research and tend forecasting

-Artist in residence.

Virtual Media Space

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Introduction

This course looks beyond fashion design as we currently know it. Mixing design practices, innovative thinking and conceptual speculations, along with technology and science, the course finds strategies for the future state of fashion in ecological, cultural and social contexts.

Content

In this ground breaking course, you are encouraged to explore and develop speculative fashion practice and theoretical perspectives in parallel. You will identify new territories for fashion and work in new spaces to communicate ideas in relation to design for sustainability where digital design applications, the interplay of hard and soft sciences, design futuring, fashion design theory, fashion thinking, meta design, ethics, politics, psychology and anthropology are considered.

You will examine a diverse range of methodologies and technologies, including film, audio, digital and online platforms, garment prototyping, publishing, events and performance. Critical fashion practice and reflexive thinking to test, reframe and make responses to existing paradigms, is key to MA Fashion Futures. This will enable you to develop a very personal response to, and a critique of, the current paradigm and the role and activities of fashion.

This course is aligned to and supported by the Centre for Sustainable Fashion and the Fashion Digital Studio.

Structure

15 months level 7 180 credits

September to February

Critical Fashion Practice (40 credits)
Research Methodologies (20 credits)

February to June

Fashion Fictions: Speculative Prototyping (40 credits)
Collaborative Unit (20 credits)

June to December

Masters Project (60 credits)

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Designed to support your professional development within the fashion industry, you will gain a thorough understanding of industry design, technology and commercial practice in an environment designed to support your creativity.

•Course available to study full time (1 year) and part time (2 years)

•Develops innovative fashion practice through guidance with businesses and entrepreneurs involved with the industry

•Interdisciplinary, flexible and modular programme of study

•Extensive opportunities for networking and collaboration within the fashion and related industries

•Additional funding available via Susan Cotton Travel Award and the Michael Pugh Thomas and Julia Carter Preston Legacy postgraduate study awards

Designed to support your professional development, the MA Fashion Innovation and Realisation degree at Liverpool John Moores University will encourage you to push the creative boundaries within fashion design and communication.

You will be encouraged to think differently, innovate and realise appropriate design solutions within a studio culture designed to support your creativity.

MA Fashion Innovation and Realisation offers a blend of theory and practice and will enable you to focus on your own specialist area of design, in disciplines such as fashion communication, editorial, branding, trend prediction, fashion photography, fashion design, garment production, textiles and fabrication development.

Developed specifically for those with a design background or relevant qualification, this modular programme will allow you to develop your knowledge of fashion practical skills and theory, and explore your individual style whilst being challenged to innovate through a series of taught components including studio and collaborative practice before completing a major project around your chosen specialism.  You will also have opportunities to undertake field trips to further enhance your learning experience. You will be part of the School of Art and Design’s thriving interdisciplinary creative community, which brings together students from varied subject areas to promote collaboration, share ideas and expertise.

What you will study on this degree

Please see guidance below on core and option modules for further information on what you will study.

Level 7

-Fashion research methods

-Fashion research project

-Collaborative practice

-Studio practice

-Final major project

Further guidance on modules

The information listed in the section entitled ‘What you will study’ is an overview of the academic content of the programme that will take the form of either core or option modules. Modules are designated as core or option in accordance with professional body requirements and internal Academic Framework review, so may be subject to change. Students will be required to undertake modules that the University designates as core and will have a choice of designated option modules. Additionally, option modules may be offered subject to meeting minimum student numbers.

Academic Framework reviews are conducted by LJMU from time to time to ensure that academic standards continue to be maintained.

Please email [email protected] if you require further guidance or clarification.

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