Masters Degrees (Millinery)

There are four separate areas of design specialisation that may be studied: knitwear, footwear, accessory design and millinery. Specialism students follow the Fashion Menswear curriculum and have teaching and technical courses in their specialist area.

Technical courses relevant to the discipline and specialisms are integral elements to this process. Professional presentation and portfolio development focus on communication skills and the ability to present work coherently. Profile analysis and marketing clarify the students’ aspirations through product, positioning and use of the media. Our aim for students is that they fulfill their potential and exert a creative influence on the future of menswear.

In the first year, students undertake a series of workshops, lectures and projects including fabric and fibre technology, fitting and tailoring, drawing and illustration. Students also undertake the Critical & Historical Studies lecture and seminar programme, culminating in the submission of a dissertation at the start of their second year.

External, industry-set projects provide students with the experience of working professionally, and are timetabled in both first and second years. Recent projects included IFF, Brioni, Manolo Blahnik, Bill Amberg. These professional contacts frequently lead to sponsorship, international placements and freelance design work for our students.

In their second year, students are expected to work more independently, developing a pre-collection and a final collection. Every student will have the opportunity to show their work at the end of their final year. In addition, selected students will have the opportunity to show their final collection in the catwalk shows.

Critical & Historical Studies

The RCA provides a unique environment for postgraduate art and design students to reflect upon their own practice, and to engage with students from their own and other disciplines. The role of Critical & Historical Studies (CHS) is to support the studio programmes in enabling these critical engagements to take place. The courses offered by CHS to first year studio-based MA students propose an intellectual framework within which they can begin to establish a coherent relationship between theory and practice.

In the autumn and spring terms there are a series of College-wide seminars and lectures. The autumn term series will relate to your particular discipline (though it is possible to elect to join a series being offered to students on other programmes) whereas the spring term series will be more broad-based and cross-disciplinary in nature.

In the spring and summer terms, a CHS tutor will give you individual tutorials to support the development of a dissertation which is submitted at the start of the second year. The dissertation should be between 6,000–10,000 words in length – this is a major piece of work and you will be not be able to submit for the Final Examination until you have passed this assessment.

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The Womenswear programme encourages the development of students’ individual design identity through the translation of their personal research into design. Within the discipline there are four areas of separate design specialisation, including: knitwear, footwear, accessory design and millinery.

During the programme, students are given the opportunity to develop their individuality and creativity through concentrating on the following subjects: research and development of design ideas, colour, fabric and yarn sourcing, dedicated technical workshops relevant to the specialism selected, drawing and portfolio presentation.

Professional presentations and portfolio development focus on communication skills and the ability of students to present their work coherently and intelligently. External, industry-set projects are selected primarily to provide students with the experience of working professionally, and are timetabled in both first and second years. These professional contacts frequently lead to sponsorship, international placements and freelance design work for our students.

Students also undertake the Critical & Historical Studies lecture and seminar programme, culminating in the submission of a dissertation at the start of their second year.

In their second year, students are expected to work more independently, developing a precollection and a final collection. Every student will have the opportunity to show their work at the end of their final year. In addition, selected students will have the opportunity to show their final collection in the catwalk shows.

Critical & Historical Studies

The RCA provides a unique environment for postgraduate art and design students to reflect upon their own practice, and to engage with students from their own and other disciplines. The role of Critical & Historical Studies (CHS) is to support the studio programmes in enabling these critical engagements to take place. The courses offered by CHS to first year studio-based MA students propose an intellectual framework within which they can begin to establish a coherent relationship between theory and practice.

In the autumn and spring terms there are a series of College-wide seminars and lectures. The autumn term series will relate to your particular discipline (though it is possible to elect to join a series being offered to students on other programmes) whereas the spring term series will be more broad-based and cross-disciplinary in nature.

In the spring and summer terms, a CHS tutor will give you individual tutorials to support the development of a dissertation which is submitted at the start of the second year. The dissertation should be between 6,000–10,000 words in length – this is a major piece of work and you will be not be able to submit for the Final Examination until you have passed this assessment.

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This exciting programme of study for students wishing to develop the craft and philosophy of costume design for live performance, screen or site-specific installation is unique in its approach.

Our students develop their concepts and creativity by interpreting a text or exploring a theme, thinking about character, movement and the performance environment. Instruction in the skills of pattern cutting, textile manipulation, millinery, puppetry, set design, computer aided design, welding, knitting, illustration and life drawing help students expand their skills base.

Students work on developing a comprehensive understanding of fabric, costume design and cutting, while exploring the historical and dramatic perspectives of the discipline and the process of performance.

This creative freedom and the combination of the practical developing alongside the conceptual, provides our students with a wide range of skills and a flexibility valued and highly respected by the industry.

Postgraduate students are ideally placed to study the interaction between costume and the other arts such as fashion, textiles, jewellery, film and TV, animation, illustration, installation, music and dance, and to take part in collaborations inside and outside of the University.

Thanks to our extensive national and international links with theatre, dance, film, television and opera companies, plus our network of freelance designers, you’ll be supported in sourcing work experience and other hands-on opportunities that will give you real-world skills and experience.

Programme structure

This programme is assessed by the production of a body of practical and written work on an agreed, self-initiated topic which can take advantage of the many local and international performance-based opportunities.

This programme is project-led. Your project could be led by narrative, theme, performance medium. It should offer scope for sustained research and design development for costume design. Study will combine practical studio work with theoretical and written studies, including professional practice elements to prepare you for employment in the industry, and a lecture/seminar series which will examine the wider context of your studies.

Career opportunities

Postgraduate studies in performance costume open up access to a wide range of work for the stage and screen. You will benefit from the superb reputation of this programme and may find employment within the spheres of drama, opera, film and television.

Our graduates have an outstanding record of success within the industry, most recently including a costume designer for British television series Downton Abbey, and costume workers on TV series Game of Thrones, Outlander, Poldark, Endeavour and The Halcyon, and on films Star Wars and Doctor Strange.

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