Fashion Design
The Fashion Design degree will extend your study beyond the university, we educate non-conformists and change-makers Our graduates make a difference through their work. They use fashion to address real issues, such as disability, politics, racial inequality, garment workers’ rights, and environmental issues..
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Key Course Details
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UCAS Code
W230
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Start Date
September
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Location
Cardiff
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Campus Code
B
Fees
Home students
£9,000*
International students
£14,950*
- Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.
-
Start Date
September
-
Location
Cardiff
-
Campus Code
B
Fees
Home students
£740*
- Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.
-
UCAS Code
W231
-
Start Date
September
-
Location
Cardiff
-
Campus Code
B
Fees
Home students
£9,000*
International students
£14,950*
- Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.
Our Fashion Design degree is designed to push you, helping you grow into a professional designer who can thrive in the global fashion industry. You will learn new ways to think, make, draw, and promote yourself, so that you are ready to respond to working in this exciting and demanding industry.
DESIGNED FOR
This course is for those who are creative and interested in making the world a better place, especially the world of fashion. We believe in an anti-elitist and inclusive approach to fashion. We challenge the problematic elements of the industry, while honouring fashion’s potential to be radical, thought provoking and innovative, embracing the full spectrum of the human condition.
Career Paths
- Fashion Designer
- Product Developer
- Production Co-Ordinator
- Pattern-Cutter
- Buyer
Skills taught
- Digital Fashion Design
- Fashion Communication – communicating ideas and concepts through images and text
- Pattern Cutting and Garment Construction
- Research and Design Development
- Trends and Forecasting
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Course Highlights
Module Overview
Your degree begins by building a solid foundation in core Fashion Design skills including researching, drawing, designing, sewing, pattern cutting and garment construction. These skills are an essential component to your career as a fashion designer. You will be equipped with the tools to become an innovative designer. You will learn how to reflect on WHY and HOW you are approaching design, not just what you are designing.
Fashion Engineering 1 – Fashion Introduction
Garment construction, industrial sewing techniques, pattern drafting and cutting, technical documentation, and project management.
Fashion Design 1 – Fashion Design Methods
How to innovate using the design process, fashion design techniques, design methods, and project management.
Fashion Engineering 2 – Sustainable Production
Sustainable sewing processes, zero-waste and sustainable pattern cutting techniques, and draping.
Fashion Design 2 – Circular Fashion Design
Sustainable design methods, circular fashion design, design for disassembly, and upcycling.
Fashion Cultures 1 – Fashion Studies
Design history, fashion history, gender studies, sustainable design theory, fashion ethics, and academic research skills.
Fashion Communication
Digital Visual Communication skills using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and InDesign. Traditional hand- rendered figure drawing and contemporary digital fashion illustration techniques.
In the second year of the course, you will begin to connect with the industry through partnerships and external live projects where you will push yourself into the digital realm of fashion, looking at the future of the industry and the exciting potential that is possible. Within year two, you will start to push the very boundaries of fashion and create designs within an innovative digital landscape.
Fashion Design 3 – Experimental Digital Fashion
Experimental digital fashion processes to push the very limit of what is possible in fashion design. A mix between fashion, gaming and computer animation.
Fashion Engineering 3 – Digital Fashion
Using digital fashion as a starting point this module will turn the virtual into the real. Taking your digital designs and making them physical.
Fashion Cultures 2 – Fashion and Society
Critical perspectives on fashion in relation to identity, ethics, media cultures and industry practices, and research methods in preparation for your final year dissertation.
Fashion Design 4 – Collaborative Design
This module focuses on the skills needed to work as part of a collaborative design team with experts like; other designers, marketeers, promoters, photographers, and models.
Fashion Engineering 4 – Advanced Pattern Cutting and Materials
This module acts as an accelerator giving you a range of skills to push your understanding of materiality and pattern cutting techniques. This module focusses on cutting edge industry techniques for production.
Fashion Industry Preparation – Industry Skills and Experience
Preparing yourself for the industry via Personal branding, portfolio preparation, CV development, professional skills and short work placements.
Within this optional sandwich year spent in industry, you will build your skills and gain valuable work experience trying out a range of industry job roles and sectors in work placements. This year is all about trying a range of job roles that should enable you to focus on an area of interest within your final year.
Your final year is a creative playground, where you will explore, experiment, and develop as a designer in preparation to launch your collection. Towards the end of the course, you will have successfully combined traditional media with innovative technology, whilst acquiring the skills to confidently develop a portfolio of creative and contemporary work that will support you to display and highlight your talent and skills as you enter the industry as a professional designer.
Critical Research in Fashion
Developing a contextual research base in preparation for your graduate collection.
Professional Practice 1 – Launching collection research
Research and design for launching your debut collection, developing a brief, designing, experimenting, sampling and digital design processes
Professional Practice 2 – Launching collection realisation
Creating and launching your collection, production, and time- management, pattern cutting, toiling, sewing, digital creation, and cross-industry collaboration.
Professional Strategies
Developing your professional profile, building a personal brand, CV development, social media strategy, understanding industry-standard professional behaviour, and career planning.
Fashion Futures
Trend Forecasting, visual research, industry competitions
Professional Portfolio
Developing your professional portfolio, look book, photoshoots, working with models, and launching yourself into the industry. You will learn new ways to think, make, draw, and promote yourself, so you will be ready to respond to working in this demanding industry
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
UCAS points: 96 (or above)
Typical qualification requirements:
- A Level: CCC to include a relevant subject
- BTEC: Merit Merit Merit in a relevant subject
- Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate: C in the Skills Challenge Certificate and CC at A Level with a relevant subject
- Access to HE: Pass the Access to HE Diploma with a minimum of 96 UCAS tariff points.
Additional requirements include:
The University normally requires a minimum 5 GCSEs including Mathematics/Numeracy and English at Grade C or Grade 4 or above, or their equivalent, but consideration is given to individual circumstances.
International applications welcomed:
We welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications of our entry requirements. For more details related to your country of residence please view our dedicated country pages.
English language requirements
International applicants will need to have achieved an overall of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component/TOEFL 72 overall and a minimum of 18 in reading, 17 in listening, 20 in speaking and 17 in writing or equivalent.
Equivalents can be located on our English Language pages.
If you have previously studied through the medium of English IELTS might not be required, please visit our country specific page for further details. If your country is not featured, please contact us.
If you do not meet the English entry criteria please visit our Pre-Sessional course pages.
Contextual offers
We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (where you live and the school or college that you attended for example), your experiences and individual circumstances (as a care leaver, for example). This is referred to as a contextual offer and we receive data from UCAS to support us in making these decisions.
USW prides itself on its student experience and we support our students to achieve their goals and become a successful graduate. This approach helps us to support students who have the potential to succeed and who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university.
We're here to help
Whether you a have a question about your course, fees and funding, the application process or anything else, there are plenty of ways you can get in touch and we'd to talk to you. You can contact our friendly admissions team by phone, email or chat to us online.
Fees and Funding
£9,000
per year*£14,950
per year*£14,950
per year*£740
per 20 credits*Year 1 - Fashion Design Tool Kit:
Garment Construction & Pattern
Cutting items Approximate Costs: £200 - £300
Fashion Illustration Equipment Approximate Costs: £120
Fashion Materials/Consumables (an approx. budget for each year)
Approximate Costs:
Year 1: £200
Year 2: £250
Year 3: £800
(To include materials for final collection, which is at student discretion)
Note: Some students prefer to work digitally, which can include design and final outcomes/collections, this can significantly reduce material/consumable costs.
Field Trips UK: Field Trips will be organised throughout each year and are an important part of your learning.
International Trips: These are not considered compulsory, and any costs will be the responsibility of the individual student.
Approximate Costs: £300 per year
Printing and Exhibition
Approximate Costs: £100-£300 per year
Course Highlights
How you’ll learn
We operate an adaptable delivery system which means that students focus on active and engaging learning while on campus and flexible learning off campus. Sessions are designed to connect with a range of learning styles and allow students to define their own path. Some modules have optional Welsh components, and all modules are student driven. All assessment is coursework and can be submitted through the medium of Welsh.
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Teaching staff
Our teaching team is made up of industry professionals and technical experts. They will guide and push you to develop your own identity as a designer. You will develop all the skills and professional attributes required of an industry leader. You can expect lectures and workshop both online and in-person. Most of all, you can expect to be hands on and working from day one in our busy and active studios.
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Placements
At USW we prepare you for your future career from day one. You'll work with industry throughout your degree, and we'll support you to gain valuable experience through internships, work experience and placements. We have strong links with industry partners that offer opportunities for work experience. Fashion is a global industry and our links with international brands connect USW students to opportunities anywhere in the world. Many of our students have travelled globally to undertake work placements in India, Australia, Europe and the USA.
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Facilities
As part of our Cardiff campus, fashion students benefit from a whole floor dedicated to fashion design, fashion promotion, and fashion business and marketing. These facilities include two design studios with city and Bay views. The fashion floor also features a creative space where students can meet to collaborate, work, host meetings, network and relax. We have a full suite of manufacturing equipment, including every piece of machinery you’ll encounter in the industry. Our students also engage with the latest technological approaches to design. This mix of live and digital design gives our students a unique experience and our graduates an edge.
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