Fashion – (B.A.)

Contents

Syllabus (11/12*)

Year 1

You are introduced to the fundamental elements of the course and encouraged to experiment and explore personal ideas through research and practice of basic skills. You engage in ideas generation, technical experimentation and design visualisation.

* Introduction to design - this unit introduces you to the language of design and its relationship with Fashion. You will be familiarised with basic manufacturing processes and construction techniques as well as developing your abilities and understanding of research and drawing in the context of garment construction.
* Fabric exploration through design - introduces you to a wide range of man made and natural fabrics and helps you to explore their tactile qualities, their visual and handling characteristics and suitability for a wide variety of applications. You learn to independently research and source fabrics, to make an informed selection of materials for later practical work.
* Mapping the modern: introduction to design, visual and popular culture since 1900 - lecture series
* Design, construction & make - you explore the two and three-dimensional parameters of garment design, encompassing pattern making, drafting and modelling on the stand.
* Portfolio development - consolidate your learning in Stage One by building upon your design and presentational skills.
* Ways of seeing, ways of knowing: introduction to research, analysis and interpretation - develop focused knowledge and understanding of significant themes and causal factors in the history of design, visual and popular culture since 1951.

Year 2

You select a pathway that supports your chosen area of fashion specialism. You build upon the foundation of creative, technical, theoretical and critical skills, which you have gained in year one. You are encouraged to develop your own personal vision and set this into the framework of the fashion industry. Depending on the pathway you choose some of the below units are optional.

* Fashion industries exploration - you conduct market research and plan and design a range.
* Design for innovation - challenge conventional ways of understanding, designing and construction of garments such as the jacket. You will be provided with a project brief which explores design problems within the context of fashion innovations and fashion enterprise relating to specialist fashion markets.
* Design for enterprise - introduces fundamental principles and strategies to engage with the role of the fashion designer within described Market areas.
* Pathway exploration (Innovation) - an integrated and flexible experience in reflective practice alongside the experience of working in a selected area of the Fashion industry. The unit is also structured and positioned to facilitate student exchange with comparative international Fashion Institutions.
* Pathway exploration (Enterprise) - an integrated and flexible experience in reflective practice alongside the experience of working in a selected area of the Fashion industry. The unit is also structured and positioned to facilitate student exchange with comparative international Fashion Institutions.
* Style & consumption - explores theories of style by examining methods of self-presentation and the management of the body.
* Gender & identity - an interdisciplinary approach to consider a number of issues relating to constructions of gender, sexuality and the body, drawing on cultural, gender and film studies. The unit addresses the historical shifts in representation of gender and identity, and uses contemporary case studies as a focus for analysis.
* Communication and media theory - introduce methods for studying how communication works through visual language and considers verbal language as a useful comparison.
* Image & space: art, design & culture in a postmodern age 1970-2000 - familiarise you with key concepts and debates of postmodernism, through key texts and visual examples.
* Digital cultures - explores the history of technology and media up to our digital present.
* Music and culture - provide a critical introduction to the social function of popular music and consider its impact as a global cultural phenomenon through historical, economical and political issues.
* Popular culture - the focus of these sessions is the theories and perspectives - such as Mass Culture and Society; Commodity Fetishism; the 'Culture Industries', Structuralism and Semiotics, Marxism, Feminism and Post Modernism - that have been offered as methods of analysis of the varied forms of popular culture.

Year 3

You specialise in one of two pathways. These are the Enterprise Pathway, which engages the designer with the challenges of the fashion industry and commercial practice - you design creative solutions for the contemporary market. The Innovation Pathway offers the opportunity to explore new concepts in design and challenge conventional methods of pattern cutting, fabric manipulation and construction to achieve them. Depending on the pathway you choose some of the below units are optional.

* Fashion industry (innovation pathway) link - building the skills of current professional practice within the fashion industry.
* Major project: concept and development (innovation pathway) - you produce a major body of work which will provide substantial evidence of your abilities.
* Major project: collection creation, and organisation (innovation pathway) - you create a collection from the design proposal and strategy developed during the previous unit.
* Personal promotion -this unit gives you the opportunity to explore innovative ways to launch yourself into the next stage of your career (be this employment of post graduate study) through a series of self-promotional exercises and portfolio presentations.
* Fashion industry (enterprise) link - building the skills of current professional practice within the fashion industry. Through development of CAD, range planning, illustrative and promotional skills, the aim is to maximise the marketability of students ready to embark on an Enterprise placement.
* Work placement and client report (enterprise) - self-initiated unit which enables you to undertake a legitimate work placement opportunity, regarded by you and your unit leader as an appropriate and unique professional experience.
* Client design brief and promotion (enterprise) - you design a range for your study company, taking into consideration the findings from your company report, particularly your study company's design philosophy, image and target market. You present illustrations and technical drawings with colour options, fabric features and an indication of your promotional ideas for the range
* Dissertation - a period of self-directed research on a subject that is related to the historical, theoretical, critical concerns of your discipline or professional area.
* Visual & critical analysis - provides you with the opportunity to contextualize an aspect of your practice.

* Please note the syllabus content is for the academic year indicated and is provided as a guide. The content of the course may be subject to change.