Program Overview

Fashion Design and Promotion BA (Hons)

Overview

Prepare to launch your career in the rapidly growing and exciting world of the fashion industry. Explore every aspect of fashion, from styling and manufacturing to visual merchandising, buying, and selling. Gain invaluable skills and an understanding of fashion design, fashion promotion, and marketing.

Course Structure

Teaching is almost entirely practical and studio-based, supported by lectures, seminars, tutorials, e-learning, and independent study and research. Assessment is all coursework-based.

Year 1 (National Level 4)

• Introducing Fashion Design and Promotion (40 credits)
  • Develop a core understanding of fashion design and promotion, including understanding of basic fashion and promotion terminology, critical appraisal of briefings, visual and factual research, speculation on potential solutions, selecting and synthesising innovative ideas, developing preferred outcomes, and refining and presenting ideas to an informed audience.
• Design Concept to Production (40 credits)
  • Develop core skills in inquiry and exploration and problem-based learning. Concentrate on underpinning basic pattern-cutting, fabrication, design, and construction processes for fashion.
• Style Icons and Subcultures (20 credits)
  • Apply research and analytical skills to develop and evaluate written and visual material contextualising fashion history within the wider fashion world.
• Fundamentals of Motion Design (20 credits)
  • Develop your ability to convey ideas through moving image, by learning techniques that will allow you to design, plan, edit, and create movies using motion graphics and special effects.

Year 2 (National Level 5)

• Creative Product Development for Exhibition (40 credits)
  • Develop your core practical skills in a commercial design context. Gain practical knowledge of the fundamental skills and technologies that underpin design and manufacture in contemporary fashion.
• Fashion Branding and Producing the Event (20 credits)
  • Work towards two separate projects. Learn how to investigate and analyse different trends and design ideas in order to create a final range plan.
• Commercial Fashion Design and Illustration (20 credits)
  • Develop an advanced understanding of how to use the most appropriate illustration and presentation methods to build upon your growing awareness of designing for a particular market sector.
• Styling for Fashion Editorial (20 credits)
  • Explore the techniques and processes of creative imagery for fashion media.
• Experiencing the Creative Industries (20 credits)
  • Learn essential job search skills and experience a short work placement with an employer, or other experience of working in the creative industries.

Optional Placement Year

• Design: Applied Professional Practice (120 credits)
  • Apply to undertake an optional placement year out in industry between your second and final year.

Final Year (National Level 6)

• Professional Practice and Portfolio (40 credits)
  • Produce content for a professional portfolio, reflecting individual design skills and creativity to prepare for your chosen career.
• Contextual Issues (20 credits)
  • Develop a critical understanding of current contextual issues associated with the creative industries.
• Design Major Final Portfolio (60 credits)
  • In your final project, you get to set your own brief, which will be carefully researched and presented in your Final Proposal.

Facilities

• State-of-the-art workshops
• Project spaces
• Open access Apple Macs and Wacom Cintiqs
• Virtual, true-to-life 3D garment visualization CLO software
• State-of-the-art digital 3D visualisation CAD software
• Industrial sewing facilities, digital embroidery facilities, laser cutter, print studio, and large-scale digital fabric printer
• Student gallery
• You'll also have access to FabLab Sunderland facilities, on campus

Entry Requirements

Our typical offer is:

• Irish Leaving Certificate: 112 UCAS points – Students must have H1-H7 or O1-O4 in Maths & English.
• QQI/FETAC 5: Pass profile overall. For entry, we also require H1-H7 or O1-O4 in Maths and English from Irish Leaving Certificate.

If your qualification is not listed above, please contact the Student Administration team at for further advice.

Fees and Finance

The annual, full-time fee for this course is:

• £9,535 if you are from the UK/Europe
• £16,500 if you are an international student

Career Ready

The UK fashion industry is worth £26 billion to the economy and growing. More than 800,000 people are working in fashion in the UK, and we want you to be part of it.

Students on our course have previously worked with brands such as Barbour, NeuThreads, and have designed the football strip for SAFC Women. This invaluable industry experience will prepare you for work in areas including design, styling, promotion, marketing, manufacturing, visual merchandising, buying, and selling.

Career Options

Graduates from this course have gone into a wide range of careers, from fashion design, pattern cutting, and garment technology to sourcing and allocating, buying, branding, marketing, merchandising, communications, styling, and more.

The professional skills graduates obtain from this course also allow them to build successful freelance careers.

Past graduates have gone on to work for well-renowned design companies such as Abercrombie and Fitch, River Island, Debenhams, TopMan, All Saints, and Matalan.