Masters Degrees in Fashion, United Kingdom

This course is designed to allow students to explore and produce creative strategies for fashion and retail brands, re-equipping them with the skills necessary to excel in the global fashion industry. The course merges practical skills, with leading academic research surrounding areas such as business, marketing, consumer behaviour, branding and fashion theory – giving a solid platform for graduates to move into the industry or progress in their chosen career path.

MA Fashion Retail is designed to accommodate a range of student backgrounds, from those already within employment looking to add to their existing skills, to design graduates looking to expand their knowledge of branding and retail strategy, or even those seeking a change in career. Learning activities will focus on the needs of individual students, allowing them to focus projects on their area of expertise or future career ambitions.

The course has been developed to meet global fashion industry demand for graduates with both creative skills and business acumen, particularly surrounding multi-channel retailing, digital and social media strategies, brand management, retail design, marketing and communication. The course will take an international focus, to ensure graduate relevance across global markets.

If you choose to study on a creative postgraduate course at the University of South Wales, you will also benefit from being part of a vibrant international student community.

See the website http://courses.southwales.ac.uk/courses/1557-ma-fashion-retail

What you will study

Students will benefit from an immersion into the contemporary fashion industry, with modules addressing both the creative skills and theoretical application necessary. The course will combine a creative focus with the acquisition of technical skills and professional expertise via experiential learning and the strategical application towards live and industry simulated briefs.

Selection of Modules include:

- Academic and Professional Practice for Fashion
This module is design to cater to students individual learning needs, whether that be focused on research into the fashion industry or towards research and academic skills required for Masters level study. Students will consider their own personal experience and future career aspirations along with a focus on creative digital visualisation skills and industry standard software.

- Fashion Retail Interactions
This module will explore the landscape of fashion retail to encourage students to engage with contextual understanding, looking into areas such as consumer behaviour, sales management, visual merchandising, buying, multi-channel retailing and marketing communication. Students can choose an area of specialism to produce a visual research book, demonstrating their skills in research and analysis.

- Fashion Retail Space and Place
This module will encourage innovative thinking as students question what retail is and what it could be in the future. Students will use industry standard 3D visualisation software to design their own retail space that will be focused on a specific market and consumer base, considering the store environment, use of multi-platform integration across all levels of fashion retail.

- Fashion Brand Design and Communication
This module will critically explore the nature of branding, with both theoretical understanding and creative and practical application. Students will be encouraged to select an existing fashion brand or retailer, researching fully utilising both primary and secondary research methods, before proposing an opportunity for re-branding or re-positioning of the brand. Students will utilise create software to produce promotional materials relating to their ‘new’ brand concept. This module is designed to run as a live brief with a brand.

- Strategic Fashion Retail Innovation
Students will be asked to think globally, exploring the impact of wider factors on the design of fashion retail strategies for innovation. Students will consider a consumer group in a specific marketplace and produce a strategy for international expansion. This strategy will be accompanied by creative promotional material to enhance students research and analytical skills, as well as their visual communication.

The final semester of the degree will include a 60-credit project, which will develop through one of the above modules. The final major project enables students to focus on their area of expertise, designing their own major project brief (with help from lecturers) that will showcase their advance fashion retail knowledge and design skills. Students will be guided on an appropriate project, before working with tutors to create an outcome that can be used as a discussion point in future interviews or exhibitions. Alternatively, students can choose an extended work placement, or reflection on their own work practice, to utilise work placed learning into their MA Fashion Retail.

Common Modules:
The Faculty understands the importance of a strong grounding in research knowledge and skills, enterprise and innovation as part of a balanced postgraduate education.

We also recognise that each student has different requirements of their postgraduate experience.

You can choose to study one of the following three, 20 credit common modules. Each of these has a different focus, enabling you to select the module that will be most beneficial to you.

- Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship
This module aims to develop your knowledge of the methods to identify, develop and manage enterprise and innovation in the creative sector. It will then help you apply this to your own entrepreneurial project.

- Research and Practice in the Creative and Cultural Industries
The focus of this module is on the development of research knowledge and skills, while also encouraging critical engagement with approaches to creative practice. You will also explore ideas, debates and issues in the creative and cultural industries.

- Research Paradigms
This module focuses on research paradigms and their theoretical underpinnings. It also looks at key conceptual tools drawn from a wide range of subject areas relevant to postgraduate research in the creative industries.

PLEASE NOTE: Modules are subject to change.

Learning and teaching methods

The academic staff have significant fashion industry experience within retail, business, design and marketing and have access to industry to bring guest speakers and attract world-renowned brands for live briefs in order to enhance the learning experience and networking opportunities.

Work Experience and Employment Prospects

This course is suitable for those looking to break into the fashion industry, along with those who are looking to take their current career towards a more senior role. This course would also suit those with a background in a more specific industry function (such as design and PR) to help them to enhance their skill-set and knowledge.

The course will give you rich knowledge of the fashion industry and a broad range of transferable skills. The skills and experience gained will allow you to go on to decision-making roles within fashion, in areas such as retail design, buying and merchandising, marketing, brand strategy, creative branding and management.

Assessment methods

The course is 100% course work and will include innovative and research informed teaching practices. Modules will include live project briefs from well-known fashion and retail brands to give you experience that reflects industry practice.

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Elevate your business career in the world of fashion

If you are passionate about a career in fashion and keen to become a leader in this dynamic industry, the online Master of Business Administration (MBA) with Fashion Management from Nottingham Business School will equip you with the skills necessary to turn these aspirations into reality, without having to set foot on campus.

Designed to give those with or without fashion business exepreince the means to develop a senior, strategic role in the fashion industry, this course will give you the edge over your peers in the eyes of fashion recruiters.

Flexible and engaging online learning

NTU is committed to offering highly relevant courses, tailored to fit around your lifestyle and career. The online MBA course provides a flexible and engaging way to learn.

Through the online modules, you will cover a breadth of management subjects, with exposure to lecturers, guest speakers and students from a host of industry sectors. You will also participate regularly in business simulations and case study projects, helping you understand the challenges of managing an organisation.

Find out more here: http://landing.online.ntu.ac.uk/mba-fashion-management?utm_source=I-%20FindAUniversity&utm_medium=Listing&utm_campaign=Basic

Course curriculum

Nottingham Business School’s online MBA is a modular course, completed over three years. The MBA course consists of 10 core modules worth ten credits each, a project module worth 40 credits, plus four additional modules in Fashion Management (total 40 credits).

Course modules:
• Responsible Leadership
• The Values-Led Organisation
• Global Marketing Management
• Operations Management
• Organisations and People Management
• Financial Management
• Business Information and Decision Making
• Strategic Change Management
• Business Research Project
• Professional and Leadership Development

Fashion Management modules:
• Fashion Branding and Communications
• Fashion Buying and Merchandising
• Fashion Forecasting
• Fashion Sourcing and Supply Chain Management

Career outlook

With the fashion industry rapidly evolving, employers need smart business minds behind the scenes. The fashion world is now embracing the business world like never before, with brands, designers and fashion businesses as a whole all requiring the expertise of MBA graduates.

The MBA with fashion management offers a smart way to break into the world of fashion and our graduates have found employment in a wide range of fashion management careers, including fashion buying, design development and fashion marketing and branding.

For more information visit http://landing.online.ntu.ac.uk/mba-fashion-management?utm_source=I-%20FindAUniversity&utm_medium=Listing&utm_campaign=Basic

Start your journey with NTU today

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This innovative and exciting MA Fashion Business & Management course brings creative thinking and innovation to the forefront of fashion management. It is the ideal course for those looking to excel in business within management positions in the fashion industry. The course is global in its focus and works closely with fashion industry professionals and fashion organisations.

You’ll build a portfolio of skills and knowledge that will give you a strong grounding in fashion business practices and the application of innovative thinking in a commercial context.

This new MA builds on the success of the BA (Hons) Fashion Management & Marketing course at UCA Epsom and provides a learning environment where you can develop both creative and strategic skills in fashion business, management and marketing.

You’ll be taught the core principles of fashion business and management through a range of approaches, including lectures, seminars, tutorials and workshops, and will undertake both formative and summative assessment including reflective personal blogs and journals.

The course will support you in developing your practice through relevant research, a deep understanding of how the fashion industry operates, and engagement with global fashion brands, in order to plan and produce a major project that is unique to you.

Running throughout the course is a strong emphasis on both independent research and participatory group work. If you’re a full time student, you’ll have scheduled teaching for up to two days a week, as well as access to workshops and studios for a further three days (as agreed with your tutor). You’ll also have access to the industry lectures and workshops that form part of the wider postgraduate programme around the culture of design, fashion and business.

Our Masters course will help you to develop the skills needed to work at a high level in fashion brand management and operations management, as well as within entrepreneurial fashion business ventures.

Our Postgraduate programmes share a dedicated MA base room and ample workshop spaces. The course also offers both a nurturing learning environment and a strong business-facing culture, enriched by our close connections with the fashion industry, and you’ll develop the skills needed to work at a high level in fashion business and management when you graduate.

Facilities

The MA courses at UCA Epsom share a baseroom with networked computer facilities and you also have access to our extensive range of campus facilities, including: print studios with both screen printing and digital printing facilities, photography studios and darkrooms, 3D workshops, media store for borrowing film and photography equipment.

Careers

Graduates will be able to work at a high level within:

-Fashion brand management

-Operations management

-Fashion business entrepreneurs.

Virtual Media Space

Visit our Postgraduate Virtual Media Space to find out more about our courses, see what it's like to study at UCA and gain access to our campus virtual tours.

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Introduction

A Fashion has an outstanding reputation sustained over more than three decades and is the only course that shows at London Fashion Week on the official London Fashion Week schedule The profile of its alumni as design directors internationally and as own label designers is unrivalled.

Content

MA Fashion has extensive international links, and graduates practise professionally at the forefront of the international fashion industry.

MA Fashion is fast moving. Students build up momentum in their design work which replicates working practices in the industry.

This postgraduate course is about leading not following, accepting criticism, learning and moving on. It is not a hobby. It has an international profile second to none.

MA Fashion is offered in four pathways that are interrelated and structured around the core subject of fashion. It is part of the Fashion programme.

With an emphasis on research, market intelligence and industry awareness, MA Fashion believes that truly relevant, innovative design is not purely a creative activity involving designers in the artistic process – it also recognises the ability to analyse markets, the industry and society in general. Designers or journalists must not only be conversant with the broad fashion context; they must also be able to diagnose markets accurately and to communicate with colleagues and management.

MA Fashion emphasises presentation and communication skills. Students must not only create the right product for the market but also be good communicators capable of convincing colleagues that their ideas are based on a mature understanding of markets and competitors.

You’ll get involved in the debates generated by our Professional Speakers Talks, related projects, and the inter-pathway critiques that help you develop your critical and communication skills. These activities, together with the range and reach of staff connections with the industry, bring excitement and breadth to the course.

Structure

MA Fashion lasts 45 weeks full-time, structured in two units over five terms (which may vary in length) commencing in late October.

A feature of the course is the interrelated nature of the five pathways offered. You will have the opportunity to work collaboratively with other disciplines just as you need to in the professional world.

MA Fashion benefits from the special atmosphere created by students from a wide variety of disciplines, backgrounds and nationalities – all of them committed to fashion – working together in close proximity.

Students study one of four pathways:

Womenswear Fashion

Menswear Fashion

Knitwear Fashion

Textiles for Fashion

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Introduction

The Graduate Diploma in Fashion is a one-year programme for fashion graduates, aiming to prepare sophisticated designers for the next stage of their careers. Created for International students, the course is now open to Home/EU applicants. You’ll specialise in Womenswear, Menswear, Fashion Design with Knit or Fashion Design with Textiles. The course has excellent rates of progression to leading postgraduate fashion courses including CSM - MA Fashion (Womenswear and Menswear) and MA Textiles Futures; RCA - MA Fashion (Womenswear, Menswear, Menswear Knit, Footwear and Accessories); Parsons, New York - MA Fashion (Womenswear and Menswear); LCF - MA Fashion (Womenswear, Menswear, Footwear and Accessories), MA Digital Fashion, MA Fashion Marketing; Chelsea - MA Textiles; Arnhem - MA Fashion (Womenswear); Goldsmiths - MA Design and Environment and Westminster University - MA Fashion.

Content

The Graduate Diploma in Fashion offers a one-year Higher Education programme for international and, for the first time in 2014, graduate students. It aims to produce mature and sophisticated designers equipped to work in and design for the international market.
The course offers students with a background in fashion design or a closely related discipline the opportunity to take a fresh view of their work and their creative direction.

The course’s learning and teaching philosophy emphasises creative freedom and offers you the opportunity to explore and experience London as an international fashion design centre and a rich resource for research, providing invaluable insights into progression to postgraduate study or employment in the International fashion industry.

The learning and teaching are project-based and offer you the freedom to experiment and find or re-define yourselves within a creative environment. The course emphasises breadth as well as depth of research and an innovative approach to design development.

The Graduate Diploma in Fashion begins with staff-directed and / or industry projects aiming to support you in identifying and further developing your strengths and addressing your weaknesses. This enables you to develop your work in consultation with staff on an ongoing basis.

Fundamental to the course is the commitment to support your creative development with appropriate design, technical (pattern cutting / garment construction) and professional skills to help you to take advantage of the benefits and challenges that studying in London provides.

Later projects are negotiated with course staff and self-directed, offering you the opportunity to demonstrate independent learning in the context of your final project.

The curriculum also introduces you to the potential of a range of different approaches to the visual communication and articulation of design ideas. Personal and professional development emphasises the skills and aptitudes required in designing for a specific market, researching and taking account of current trends and, in particular, the personal presentation skills required to support application for entry into postgraduate study and / or employment in the international fashion industry.

You leave the course with a portfolio and realised design work that will effectively support access to postgraduate study and / or entry into employment in the fashion industry.

Structure

Unit One

Diagnostic: Research and Creative Development:

Introduction / Induction
Portfolios (as submitted for application)
Design Inspiration Project
Design and Make Project
Industry Project
Muse Project
Portfolio Preparation
IT for Presentation
Research and Cultural Awareness
Fabric and Fibre Awareness

Unit Two

Final Project and Portfolio: Development and Resolution

Final Project Development
Final Project Realisation

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Content

The Postgraduate Certificate in Fashion Visual Merchandising provides a highly focused and vocationally-orientated period of full-time study at advanced level in the field of Fashion Visual Merchandising. It is designed both for graduates (or equivalent) and those with appropriate industry experience, who wish to develop their career in the highly competitive fashion and creative industries. The course is suitable as a preparation for higher level postgraduate study, for example one of the Master’s Degrees within the LCF framework.

The programme builds upon strengths already developed within the college including staff expertise, specialist facilities and close industry links, to provide a suitable learning environment for this specialist study. It is designed to meet both local, regional and international needs for vocational education in aspects of the fashion and creative industries which have a high concentration of activities in London. London College of Fashion is situated in the heart of the fashion district in London, with sites in the West End on Oxford Street, West London in Shepherds Bush and the East End in Shoreditch, a centre for manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, and increasingly for young designers.

The course has been established to extend the post graduate provision at the college, and has been developed in conjunction with the Fashion Visual Merchandising industry and specialist staff. The Course leader has appropriate specialist expertise and professional experience and staff continue to engage in professional practice and new developments. In addition to the course leader, teaching staff will be drawn from specialists in the appropriate fields, either from within college or as visiting lecturers from industry.

This is a fashion business course with a vocational focus on Fashion Visual Merchandising. It combines a post graduate level academic experience with the vocational realities of Fashion Visual Merchandising. The content includes application of Fashion Visual Merchandising, branding, technology to case studies and a combination of individual and collaborative work. The course provides a range of vocational knowledge and skills for those seeking or looking to develop and further their career in Fashion Visual Merchandising.

Distinctive features include strong links with the Fashion Visual Merchandising industry and the practical emphasis on the application of skills including the final project.

Structure

Weeks 1-5: Visual Merchandising and the Brand Experience (20 credits, level 7)

Weeks 5-10: Collaborative Project (20 credits, level 7)

Weeks 2-15: Futures and Innovations Project (20 credits, level 7)

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Introduction

Investigate fashion, dress and style in culture and society. Examine the evolving relationship between fashion and film.

Content

MA Fashion Cultures offers a unique experience in fashion education at postgraduate level.

The course has two specific but interrelated pathways: History and Culture; and Fashion / Film. On this course you will have the opportunity to study fashion and dress within its historical, social and cultural contexts. A dynamic in-depth exploration of theoretical and methodological perspectives will give you a grounding in the history of fashion and an underpinning of social and cultural theory for both pathways. You will then undertake more specialised study on your chosen pathway. On the History and Culture pathway you will investigate fashion as object, representation and practice through an interdisciplinary approach from both historical and contemporary perspectives. On Fashion/Film you will investigate the ongoing changing relationship between fashion, costume and forms of film as well as the relationship between cinema and consumption within a global context. While you will choose one pathway, you will have the opportunity to attend the lectures for the other pathway if you wish to, so you can gain the fullest possible understanding of a variety of disciplines and their impact upon visual and material cultures.

The pathways are led by renowned experts in their respective fields, and they are supported by research fellows, professors, authors, curators and historians who contribute to the course. Based in one of fashion’s most important cities, our students benefit from access to the special collections and archives of many leading institutions in London, including the V and A, Museum of London and the British Film Institute. You will also have the opportunity to work with other graduate students from the Culture and Curation Programme on some units of the course.

We attract students from a wide variety of academic and industry backgrounds, some of whom have completed theory-based first degrees, while others come with practice-based backgrounds. After completing their Masters studies, some students from both former courses have progressed to higher level research degrees, and others have established themselves in a number of related fields including curation, visual merchandising, styling, archiving, fashion buying, lecturing and research.

Structure

Block One September to January

Social and Cultural Theories (20 credits) (both pathways)
Fashion Histories (20 credits) (both pathways)
Research Methods (20 credits) (both pathways)

Block Two February to May:

Cycles of Fashion (20 units) (History and Culture pathway), or
Fashion, Stardom and Celebrity Culture (20 credits) (Fashion / Film pathway), or
Sustainability and Fashion (20 credits) (either pathway)

Gendering Fashion (20 credits) (History and Culture pathway), or
Film Concepts, Global Cinema (20 credits) (Fashion / Film pathway), or
Consumer Behaviour and Psychology (20 credits) (either pathway); Collaborative Unit (20 credits) (both pathways)

Block Three May to September: Masters Project (60 credits) (both pathways)

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This course will equip you with the strategic decision-making, leadership and problem-solving skills you will need to become an entrepreneurial and visionary fashion business leader of the future. It continues the University’s fashion tradition of a commitment to excellence in developing highly effective, talented and committed professional fashion graduates.

Working closely with fashion industry professionals, role models and mentors, you will receive a relevant, well-grounded, high-quality education and skill base that will enable you to have a wider, clearer understanding of the business you are already involved in. The course offers inside knowledge of industry strategies and cultures on a global basis, combined with key business skills and essential fashion industry management knowledge.

Course content

This course equips you for a business management career in the domestic or international fashion industry. Delivered by a teaching team with a wide range of experience both in industry and academia, the course offers an innovative and relevant fashion business curriculum that focuses on preparing your entry into senior roles in business and management within the industry.

Modules

The following modules are indicative of what you will study on this course.

Core modules, semester 1
-FASHION BUSINESS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
-CREATIVE TEAM BUILDING
-STRATEGIC FASHION BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Core modules, semester 2
-FINANCE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
-FASHION MARKETING AND BRAND MANAGEMENT
-MANAGING CHANGE AND INNOVATION
-MAJOR FASHION BUSINESS MANAGEMENT PROJECT

Industry links

The idea of a Fashion Business Management MA was formulated in discussion with industry leaders. Building on the success of our Fashion Merchandise Management courses and in particular the close collaboration with industry we spoke extensively to senior fashion executives. Many felt that although doing an MA in Fashion Business Management would not ensure promotion, potential candidates who learn how to apply the knowledge they gain from the course can become leaders who can inspire others. Those candidates need to understand the values and culture of the industry and, most importantly, recognise the difference between information and knowledge and have clearly defined goals.

This support from industry is important both for you as a student and for the future development and relevance of the MA. We will continue to foster and maintain these important links with the fashion industry, and ensure that our Fashion Business Management MA stays at the forefront of education for the future leaders in the fashion industry. We will also continue to invite many prestigious and eminent guest speakers from the industry to participate on all the modules, ensuring that the course remains relevant, informed and up-to-date with current industry practice.

Associated careers

The course is designed to attract applicants with a recognised design, retail management or distribution/manufacturing background. With guidance from the academics and professionals in this field it is anticipated that you will go on to enter senior management positions and move up the career ladder.

Our alumni can be found working in senior positions all over the world in many fashion roles and include such well-known brands such as Aldo, Dior, Dunhill, Harrods, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Marks and Spencer, Nordstrom, Prada Hong Kong and many more.

Several of our alumni, have also gone on to study at PhD level and to further academic research. Others have set up their own business or successfully taken over a family run business.

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A UNIQUE, INTERDISCIPLINARY POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMME DESIGNED TO RESPOND TO THE DIVERSE NEEDS OF THE TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED AND CREATIVELY DYNAMIC FASHION AND TEXTILE INDUSTRIES.

Heriot-Watt University's School of Textiles and Design is enagaged in leading-edge international research and our unrivalled facilities, combined with traditional and cutting edge expertise in technology and management, make our graduates highly sought after in these rapidly evolving sectors. Staff knowledge and expertise span the full spectrum from design to manufacture, context to management, technology to creativity and practice to theory.

The School has developed an enhanced postgraduate programme designed to respond to the needs of the global fashion and textile industries, utilising our unique combination of traditional and contemporary expertise in science, technology and creativity. The benefits of our location within Scotland's manufacturing centre of high-end cashmere and textile production and design, are extended and maintained through international links in fashion and textiles. Studying within a school that reflects such high-quality collaborations, research and teaching, positions our graduates highly within these rapidly evolving sectors.

Our taught postgraduate programme aims to develop advanced knowledge and practice through the exploration of concepts and contemporary topics in design, fashion and textiles. The programme content challenges traditional and contemporary uses of fashion and textiles, as well as creating the opportunity, through well-resourced workshops, to promote new approaches and processes in fashion and textiles. The design of the programme also encourages inter-disciplinary projects reflecting the School's strategy of creative collaborations between subject areas to foster design innovation.

The MSc Strategic Innovation Management in Fashion and Textiles attracts applicants from design, product and management backgrounds, resulting in industrial projects that develop and manage innovation in fashion and textiles.

Structure:
Students negotiate with their supervisor to concentrate on an appropriate area of study to acquire knowledge and expertise in an area of fashion and textiles that supports their individual project intended outcome. The areas available across the School reflect the breadth of expertise relevant to fashion and textiles.

Semester 1
Design context
Creative and Critical Thinking: Research principles
Management Studies in Design
Fashion and Textile Practice and Expertise

Semester 2
Design Technologies and Textiles Futures
Reflective Practice to plan the agreed course of study
Industrial placement
Fashion and Textile Practice and Expertise

Semester 3
Masters Project: Digital Marketing project leading to MSc Strategic Innovation Management in Fashion and Textiles.

Objectives:
Challenge traditional and contemporary uses of fashion and textiles, as well as creating the opportunity to promote new approaches and processes in fashion and textiles

Provide students with the knowledge, skills and competencies to meet the diverse demands of the fashion and textile industries

Encourage, in inter-disciplinary projects, creative collaborations between subject areas to foster innovation

Develop an inter-disciplinary understanding of key issues relating to the design, management and innovation in fashion and textiles

Develop competent and confident professionals for the global fashion and textiles industries with an in-depth understanding of the creative process and its management in international and local contexts.

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MA Fashion at Kingston University is a unique and innovative course combining the creative thinking of the Design School core beliefs with a very solid and 'creative' fashion industry focus.

With a heritage and specialism in womenswear, menswear, knitwear, digital or fashion artefact outcomes, the course combines industry standards with a creative and contemporary approach to fashion design developing a holistic and exciting approach to fashion design and beyond.

Our broad design community and positioning as a progressive and highly-rated design institution means that Fashion can actively collaborate and share ideas with designers in across the post graduate framework.

Key features
-With our well-established industry links and partnerships, the craft and skill of fashion is paramount and is developed through pioneering projects with industry practitioners from our team.
-Interdisciplinary modules give you the unique opportunity to expand your current design thinking and methodology, experiment and transform your medium, and work in dynamic teams to exchange and create ideas.

What will you study?

The fashion-based modules will encourage you to think creatively and will challenge you to apply your ideas and concepts to a series of briefs, some of which will arrive directly from industry sources and practitioners. The outcomes are non-prescriptive and should be driven by your ambitions and approach to fashion.

You will identify design narratives to inspire extensive research culminating in exciting, considered and forward-thinking design developments, challenging you to create new responses for fashion design. Addressing the contemporary culture of fashion, you will engage within important areas of development - social politics, economics, environments, sciences and technology futures - creating a clearer understanding of Fashion context.

The core modules, which explore the fundamentals of design and identify its role in your practice, offer the opportunity to connect and interact with designers from a wide set of creative disciplines.

Assessment

Design projects realised in 2D and 3D outcomes; written submissions supporting your studio practice; presentations to staff, your peers, and creative stakeholders; a major project mastering your practice.

Course structure

Please note that this is an indicative list of modules and is not intended as a definitive list. Those listed here may also be a mixture of core and optional modules.

The Fashion MA course is part of the School of Design's postgraduate programme. The structure – shared with students from Communication Design MA, Product & Furniture Design MA, and Sustainable Design MA – enables you to explore your individual specialist interests in fashion within an integrative learning environment that provides a comprehensive understanding of the value and role of interdisciplinary methods and ways of working. The influences and impact of thinking from other related design subjects on your own specialist study is an important aspect of the identity and the community of interdisciplinary practice at masters level in the School of Design.

This structure is designed to help progress and develop your independent learning, encouraging you to construct and explore projects concerned with areas of particular personal interests. The overarching course philosophy, based upon an emphasis on research, methodology and design thinking, allows individual and personal concerns to be explored through focused study in fashion.
The two shared modules of the School of Design's Postgraduate Framework both commence with a symposium, in which high-profile external speakers present their work and contribute to a debate on a topic of relevance to all courses in the Framework. View the promotional flyers from the following recent symposiums:
-Here and There (PDF) – on the theme of interdisciplinarity
-Creating Futures (PDF) – on the theme of forging a path in the creative industries

Stage 1
-Designing Research
-Fashion Context I

Stage 2
-Fashion Context II
-Creative Futures

Stage 3
-Major Project

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A UNIQUE, INTERDISCIPLINARY POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMME DESIGNED TO RESPOND TO THE DIVERSE NEEDS OF THE TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED AND CREATIVELY DYNAMIC FASHION AND TEXTILE INDUSTRIES.

Heriot-Watt University's School of Textiles and Design is enagaged in leading-edge international research and our unrivalled facilities, combined with traditional and cutting edge expertise in technology and management, make our graduates highly sought after in these rapidly evolving sectors. Staff knowledge and expertise span the full spectrum from design to manufacture, context to management, technology to creativity and practice to theory.

The School has developed an enhanced postgraduate programme designed to respond to the needs of the global fashion and textile industries, utilising our unique combination of traditional and contemporary expertise in science, technology and creativity. The benefits of our location within Scotland's manufacturing centre of high-end cashmere and textile production and design, are extended and maintained through international links in fashion and textiles. Studying within a school that reflects such high-quality collaborations, research and teaching, positions our graduates highly within these rapidly evolving sectors.

Our taught postgraduate programme aims to develop advanced knowledge and practice through the exploration of concepts and contemporary topics in design, fashion and textiles. The programme content challenges traditional and contemporary uses of fashion and textiles, as well as creating the opportunity, through well-resourced workshops, to promote new approaches and processes in fashion and textiles. The design of the programme also encourages inter-disciplinary projects reflecting the School's strategy of creative collaborations between subject areas to foster design innovation.

The MSc in Fashion and Textiles Innovation & New Applications attracts applicants from design, business and engineering backgrounds and results in projects that communicate innovation and new applications for fashion and textiles through collaborative, design-led approaches.

Structure:
Students negotiate with their supervisor to concentrate on an appropriate area of study to acquire knowledge and expertise in an area of fashion and textiles that supports their individual project intended outcome. The areas available across the School reflect the breadth of expertise relevant to fashion and textiles.

Semester 1
Design context
Creative and Critical Thinking: Research principles
Management Studies in Design
Fashion and Textile Practice and Expertise

Semester 2
Design Technologies and Textiles Futures
Reflective Practice to plan the agreed course of study
Industrial placement
Fashion and Textile Practice and Expertise

Semester 3
Masters Project: the communication of an innovation and new application(s)

Objectives:
Challenge traditional and contemporary uses of fashion and textiles, as well as creating the opportunity to promote new approaches and processes in fashion and textiles

Provide students with the knowledge, skills and competencies to meet the diverse demands of the fashion and textile industries

Encourage, in inter-disciplinary projects, creative collaborations between subject areas to foster innovation

Develop an inter-disciplinary understanding of key issues relating to the design, management and innovation in fashion and textiles

Develop competent and confident professionals for the global fashion and textiles industries with an in-depth understanding of the creative process and its management in international and local contexts.

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A UNIQUE, INTERDISCIPLINARY POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMME DESIGNED TO RESPOND TO THE DIVERSE NEEDS OF THE TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED AND CREATIVELY DYNAMIC FASHION AND TEXTILE INDUSTRIES.

Heriot-Watt University's School of Textiles and Design is enagaged in leading-edge international research and our unrivalled facilities, combined with traditional and cutting edge expertise in technology and management, make our graduates highly sought after in these rapidly evolving sectors. Staff knowledge and expertise span the full spectrum from design to manufacture, context to management, technology to creativity and practice to theory.

The School has developed an enhanced postgraduate programme designed to respond to the needs of the global fashion and textile industries, utilising our unique combination of traditional and contemporary expertise in science, technology and creativity. The benefits of our location within Scotland's manufacturing centre of high-end cashmere and textile production and design, are extended and maintained through international links in fashion and textiles. Studying within a school that reflects such high-quality collaborations, research and teaching, positions our graduates highly within these rapidly evolving sectors.

Our taught postgraduate programme aims to develop advanced knowledge and practice through the exploration of concepts and contemporary topics in design, fashion and textiles. The programme content challenges traditional and contemporary uses of fashion and textiles, as well as creating the opportunity, through well-resourced workshops, to promote new approaches and processes in fashion and textiles. The design of the programme also encourages inter-disciplinary projects reflecting the School's strategy of creative collaborations between subject areas to foster design innovation.

The MA in Fashion and Textiles Innovation & New Applications attracts applicants from design, business and engineering backgrounds and results in projects that realise innovation and new applications for fashion and textiles through collaborative, design-led approaches.

Structure:
Students negotiate with their supervisor to concentrate on an appropriate area of study to acquire knowledge and expertise in an area of fashion and textiles that supports their individual project intended outcome. The areas available across the School reflect the breadth of expertise relevant to fashion and textiles.

Semester 1
Design context
Creative and Critical Thinking: Research principles
Management Studies in Design
Fashion and Textile Practice and Expertise

Semester 2
Design Technologies and Textiles Futures
Reflective Practice to plan the agreed course of study
Industrial placement
Fashion and Textile Practice and Expertise

Semester 3
Masters Project: the realisation of an innovation and new application(s) through a prototype

Objectives:
Challenge traditional and contemporary uses of fashion and textiles, as well as creating the opportunity to promote new approaches and processes in fashion and textiles

Provide students with the knowledge, skills and competencies to meet the diverse demands of the fashion and textile industries

Encourage, in inter-disciplinary projects, creative collaborations between subject areas to foster innovation

Develop an inter-disciplinary understanding of key issues relating to the design, management and innovation in fashion and textiles

Develop competent and confident professionals for the global fashion and textiles industries with an in-depth understanding of the creative process and its management in international and local contexts.

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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

Visit our Postgraduate Virtual Media Space to find out more about our courses, see what it's like to study at UCA and gain access to our campus virtual tours.

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A UNIQUE, INTERDISCIPLINARY POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMME DESIGNED TO RESPOND TO THE DIVERSE NEEDS OF THE TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED AND CREATIVELY DYNAMIC FASHION AND TEXTILE INDUSTRIES.

Heriot-Watt University's School of Textiles and Design is enagaged in leading-edge international research and our unrivalled facilities, combined with traditional and cutting edge expertise in technology and management, make our graduates highly sought after in these rapidly evolving sectors. Staff knowledge and expertise span the full spectrum from design to manufacture, context to management, technology to creativity and practice to theory.

The School has developed an enhanced postgraduate programme designed to respond to the needs of the global fashion and textile industries, utilising our unique combination of traditional and contemporary expertise in science, technology and creativity. The benefits of our location within Scotland's manufacturing centre of high-end cashmere and textile production and design, are extended and maintained through international links in fashion and textiles. Studying within a school that reflects such high-quality collaborations, research and teaching, positions our graduates highly within these rapidly evolving sectors.

Our taught postgraduate programme aims to develop advanced knowledge and practice through the exploration of concepts and contemporary topics in design, fashion and textiles. The programme content challenges traditional and contemporary uses of fashion and textiles, as well as creating the opportunity, through well-resourced workshops, to promote new approaches and processes in fashion and textiles. The design of the programme also encourages inter-disciplinary projects reflecting the School's strategy of creative collaborations between subject areas to foster design innovation.

The MSc in Fashion and Textiles Design attracts applicants from art and design backgrounds and results in a design collection.

Structure:
Students negotiate with their supervisor to concentrate on an appropriate area of study to acquire knowledge and expertise in an area of fashion and textiles that supports their individual project intended outcome. The areas available across the School reflect the breadth of expertise relevant to fashion and textiles.

Semester 1
Design context
Creative and Critical Thinking: Research principles
Management Studies in Design
Fashion and Textile Practice and Expertise

Semester 2
Design Technologies and Textiles Futures
Reflective Practice to plan the agreed course of study
Industrial placement
Fashion and Textile Practice and Expertise

Semester 3
Masters Project: Design Collection

Objectives:
Challenge traditional and contemporary uses of fashion and textiles, as well as creating the opportunity to promote new approaches and processes in fashion and textiles

Provide students with the knowledge, skills and competencies to meet the diverse demands of the fashion and textile industries

Encourage, in inter-disciplinary projects, creative collaborations between subject areas to foster innovation

Develop an inter-disciplinary understanding of key issues relating to the design, management and innovation in fashion and textiles

Develop competent and confident professionals for the global fashion and textiles industries with an in-depth understanding of the creative process and its management in international and local contexts.

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This programme combines strategic business design, fashion enterprise and social impact to help you become a successful fashion business innovator.

Run by the School of Design and Leeds Enterprise Centre, Leeds University Business School, the programme allows you to view the fashion industry from social and cultural as well as commercial perspectives.

Along with concepts such as consumer behaviour, supply chain structures, branding and marketing, you’ll also study the principles of business and entrepreneurship and how they relate to social enterprise. You’ll also address the challenges of sustainability.

You’ll mix design, business and market-centred innovation to gain a broad base of skills to thrive in a complex, fast-paced and rapidly evolving industry.

Specialist facilities

We have plenty of facilities to help you make the most of your time at Leeds. You will 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 is also a computer-aided design (CAD) suite with access to the latest design software and some of the latest design technology, such as digital printing and laser cutting facilities, clothing engineering and colour analysis/prediction labs.

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 branding and advertising over time. ULITA, an archive of international textiles, is also housed on campus and collects, preserves and documents textiles and related areas from around the world.

Course content

From the very start of the programme you’ll develop a broad base of knowledge. You’ll explore the concepts of entrepreneurship, enterprise and social enterprise as well as different ethical, social and sustainable approaches. You’ll study the challenges faced by social enterprises today and even the process of setting up a new business.

At the same time, you’ll learn about consumer behaviour and the fashion marketing cycle. You’ll research and develop prototype garments to explore how innovative design ideas can meet the challenges of sustainability and ethics, or make the most of emerging technologies.

In addition, you can tailor your degree to suit your interests and career plans with a choice of optional modules on topics such as fashion photography, textile design, fashion industry analysis and sustainability. Throughout the year, as you develop your skills you’ll also gain an awareness of different research methods in cultural studies.

At the end of the programme you’ll be able to demonstrate these skills through your independent project. This can be developed as a traditional dissertation on a fashion related topic of your choice, or a more creative based Professional and Contextual Studies project. In the contextual route you’ll research and develop your own design solution – which you’ll exhibit at the end of the year – supported by case studies and other independent work.

Course structure

Compulsory modules

• Fashion Marketing 15 credits
• Fashion Futures 15 credits
• Cultural Research Methods 30 credits
• Enterprise and Society 15 credits
• Enterprise Awareness 15 credits
• New Venture Creation 15 credits

Optional modules

• Dissertation: Fashion Enterprise and Society 45 credits
• Professional and Contextual Studies 45 credits
• Fashion Communication and Photography 15 credits
• Fashion Industry Analysis 15 credits
• Sustainability and Fashion 15 credits
• Textile Product Design, Innovation and Development 15 credits

For more information on typical modules, read Fashion, Enterprise and Society MA in the course catalogue

Learning and teaching

This diverse degree gives you a wide range of skills, and the variety of teaching methods used reflects this. We use workshops, seminars, presentations, lectures, practical sessions, tutorials, online learning, seminars and group learning sessions. Independent study is also vital to this degree, allowing you to develop your own designs and build your skill set.

Assessment

We use a range of assessment techniques, including presentations, essays, group and individual project work and portfolios of research and practical work.

Career opportunities

This course is designed to give you a broad knowledge base and a wide range of skills to help you become a forward-thinking, market-conscious innovator in the fashion industry.

You will have a lot to contribute to the thriving global fashion industry – as well as other sectors – in a range of social, commercial, marketing, management and enterprise careers. Past students have obtained positions with Harper’s Bazaar China, TJX Europe and the Kuoni Group among others, or they have created their own business.

You’ll also be well-prepared to develop further research projects at PhD level, and several of our graduates have secured funded PhD positions.

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.

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