The BA Fashion Design Technology Fashion Textiles course is situated in the School of Design and Technology and is for students who want to be textile designers for the fashion market. You will learn how to design for fashion textiles through print, embroidery and knit construction, with an emphasis on both traditional craft methods and digital technology, so that you will be able to produce innovative textile designs for markets ranging from couture to high street fashion. The principles of pattern cutting are taught to enable you to understand the ways in which your textile designs for fashion work in 3D rather than 2D, but you are not expected to design and make finished garments on this course, as you are training to be a textile designer, not a fashion designer. Through this course you will develop the core skills of researching and designing, together with an intellectual appreciation of textiles and fashion and their place in society, and the visual and verbal skills necessary to be a successful designer. You will undertake a range of projects, many of which are in conjunction with specific labels or companies, or are for a particular sector of the market. This wider involvement with industry and society is invaluable to your development as a designer, as is the opportunity to enter national design competitions and take part in collaborations across the College on specific external projects. The short work placement will enable you to experience the reality of working within a particular company, together with the chance to make useful contacts for your future career. In your final year you will have the opportunity to collaborate with a final year womenswear, menswear or bespoke tailoring student, where the textiles produced by one are incorporated into the final garment range of the other. You will be encouraged through the course to develop your individual identity through your work, by a fusion of your design direction and the excellent craft skills and knowledge of technological developments that you have acquired.

BA Fashion Design Technology Fashion Textiles is based at Lime Grove in Shepherd’s Bush, just west of Holland Park and Notting Hill. The area, which is rich in cultural influences from across the world, is home to Shepherd’s Bush Market and the many fabric shops lining the Goldhawk Road, which sell a good variety of fabrics, including silks, at extremely competitive prices. There are many restaurants, cafes, delis and food stores, as well as the market, which reflect the many cultures of the people living there. Nearby is the Shepherd’s Bush Empire, an excellent venue for live bands, and the Westfield Shopping Centre, one of the largest retail complexes in Europe. Holland Park with its Orangery and Leighton House Museum are both worth visiting.

UAL statement on learning and teaching

Courses in UAL span a broad range of art, design, communication, business, media, science and communication subjects. So the ways in which you learn and how your time is used will vary according to the specific course you are studying; this may be in studios, labs, classes, involve working alone, learning from peers in pairs or groups, or with external partners. Most importantly, no matter which course you enrol on, you will learn not only about your subject but also about how you learn and how to increase your knowledge base.

Our courses will guide you to take increasing responsibility and ownership of your work and your learning. We do this so that you will be ready and able to take full advantage of the full range of opportunities offered by the creative industries in the global economy.

UAL statement on assessment methods

Assessment always sounds austere and foreboding, but it is not. We see assessment as a very real part of learning, rather than just a means of looking back at past work and measuring achievement; we believe that assessment helps you plan future work and develop new ideas.

Your work will be assessed through projects or portfolios, with written papers or research journals, and, on some courses, examinations. You will be graded according to a set of marking criteria that relate to such things as research, subject knowledge, methodology, and your capacity to analyse and reflect on your achievements. So don’t be afraid of assessment - it is the way to progress.

Course Units

Year One     Stage One     Level 4     120 credits 

Term One: Introduction to Study in Higher Education (20 credits); Fashion Print (20 credits);

Term Two: Introduction to Cultural and Historical Studies (20 credits); Fashion Knit (20 credits)

Term Three: Fashion Embellishment (40 credits);

Year Two     Stage Two     Level 5     120 credits

Term One: Cultural and Historical Studies (20 credits); Introduction to Professional Practice (20 credits);

Term Two (or Three): Research Methods (20 credits); Placement and Professional Brief (20 credits);

Term Three (or Two): Professional Brief (40 credits);

Third Year     Stage Three     Level 6     120 credits

Term One: Design Project Report (20 credits);

Terms One and Two: Final Major Project (60 credits);

Term Three: Negotiated Portfolio Project (40 credits);

Course Outline

Year One

In the first term you will study two units.

Introduction to Study in Higher Education gives you an understanding of your personal and professional development at university, with three core purposes: to introduce you to the necessary learning skills for undergraduate study; to show you where you are situated within the College and the University; and to help you understand what you will learn on your course and how you will develop your skills.

The Fashion Print unit introduces you to research for design, design development and the realisation of your textile designs. Through demonstrations and studio-based practice, you will acquire a knowledge and understanding of various print techniques, which can then be used creatively to develop your work. You will learn about how to achieve the visual communication of your ideas, through documenting and presenting your work in a visually stimulating and informative way.

In the second term you will study two units.

Introduction to Cultural and Historical Studies introduces you to key concepts and ways of thinking about fashion and its context in society and culture. You will attend lectures, seminars and workshops, and do a significant amount of reading of academic texts in order to complete a formal academic essay for assessment.  Completion of this unit will allow you to make an informed choice of subject for study in the second year Cultural and Historical Studies unit.

Fashion Knit builds on the skills acquired in the first term and introduces you to machine knitting and hand knit processes. The translation of your ideas into two and three dimensional form in relation to contemporary fashion knitwear will be explored, together with the further development of your drawing and presentation skills. You will realise the importance of the use of colour, the choice of yarn and knit construction, proportion, silhouette and detail through your response to the project brief.

In the third term you will do the Fashion Embellishment unit where you will continue to develop your skills through the demonstration and use of pattern cutting and specialist embroidery equipment. Drawing and presentation skills will be further developed and you will realise a garment prototype incorporating your textile design. In addition you will develop your skills in applying CAD to fashion textile design, technical drawing and presentation.

Year Two

In the first term you will be able to study a Cultural and Historical Studies unit of your choice that will broaden or deepen your learning of areas relating to your interests in your chosen field. You will have the opportunity to participate in lectures, seminars and workshops with students from other courses within your School, and will read relevant academic texts and complete a formal academic essay for assessment. 

Also in the first term, the Introduction to Professional Practice unit gives you the opportunity to experience working to a brief set by an external client. This may be actual or simulated, and in either case you will learn how a company operates its business, the role that marketing plays in fashion textiles and its effect on the design process. You will be expected to use all that you have learnt to date in order to respond to the brief, and will learn how to establish independent working methods to identify and solve problems, as well as developing a critical awareness of the overall quality of your response. Recent collaborations have been with the V&A and English National Ballet, Marvel Comics, Abercrombie and Fitch, and with the embroidery company Hand & Lock. This year the students have worked with Core Spirit. You will develop your skills of communication, particularly in the areas of negotiation and presentation, and will produce your answer to the brief through your chosen specialisation.

In the second term the Research Methods unit provides a broad overview of the different critical and methodological approaches to research and introduces you to a range of research methods. You will learn the role of research in design and technology and this will prepare you for later projects where research skills are needed to underpin your work.

Also in the second term, the Placement and Professional Brief unit gives you the opportunity to further develop your skills learnt on the course and apply them within a professional working environment. The placement company may be in the UK or abroad. You will have the opportunity to observe and understand at first hand how the textile and fashion industries work, and what pathways exist for your career progression. You will complete a report detailing your experience, which will include a profile and analysis of your company together with a personal reflection of your experience on placement. The Fashion Business Resource Studio will provide a series of Career Management and Enterprise Skills lectures, workshops and group activities to prepare you for your industrial placement.

In the third term the Professional Brief develops your ability to work effectively as a member of a team. This is an important skill in the industry, as even very small business enterprises require teamwork. Networking, communication and presentations skills are essential for anyone working in the creative industries, and this unit requires both individual and group responses to the client brief through research, analysis, design development and realisation and final group presentation.

Terms Two and Three will be reversed for some students to ensure that all students have a placement in industry.

Year Three

In the first term you will do your Design Project Report. This unit give you the opportunity to explore and evaluate the research you are doing for your Final Major Project. This research is focussed on your chosen concept or theme and should include both primary and secondary research. Analysis of the context of your work is essential, and the Design Project Report should communicate the reasons why you have chosen to do your Final Major Project on this concept or theme.

The Final Major Project in the first and second term is the culmination of your undergraduate learning experience. You will identify your own design brief, and demonstrate your ability to design, develop and produce an innovative collection of textile designs that expresses your personal design vision. Alternatively, a final year fashion textile student can choose to collaborate with a final year womenswear, menswear or bespoke tailoring student, where the textiles produced by one are incorporated into the final garment range of the other.

In the final term you will undertake the Negotiated Portfolio Project. This gives you the chance to reflect on achievements so far, evaluate your personal strengths, and develop a visually stimulating, professionally presented portfolio of work establishing a clear direction for your future career. This may be an extension of an element in your Final Major Project, or may be a portfolio targeted at a specific career aim.

Learning and Teaching at UAL

Courses at UAL span a broad range of art, design, communication, business, media and science subjects. The ways in which you learn and how your time is used will vary according to the specific course you are studying; this may be in studios, labs or classes; involve working alone, learning from peers in pairs or groups, or with external partners. Most importantly, no matter which course you enrol on, you will learn not only about your subject but also about how you learn and how to increase your knowledge base. Our courses will guide you to take increasing responsibility and ownership of your work and your learning. We do this so that you will be ready and able to take full advantage of the range of opportunities offered by the creative industries in the global economy.

Assessment Methods at UAL

Assessment always sounds austere and foreboding, but it is not. We see assessment as a very real part of learning, rather than just a means of looking back at past work and measuring achievement; we believe that assessment helps you to plan future work and develop new ideas. Your work will be assessed through projects or portfolios, with written papers or research journals, and, on some courses, examinations. You will be graded according to a set of marking criteria that relate to such things as research, subject knowledge, methodology, and your capacity to analyse and reflect on your achievements. So don’t be afraid of assessment - it is the way to progress.

Developing your skills

All our undergraduate courses are concerned with the development of your personal and professional skills. On your course you will evolve from learning basic skills in your discipline through to a position where you are an independent creative thinker capable of making an effective contribution to the relevant sector of the fashion industry. PPD (Personal and Professional Development) skills are embedded in all units on every course. Speaker programmes with contributions from alumni, members of industry and others are a part of many courses, as are work placement opportunities in industry. Where relevant, students have the chance to attend trade fairs, enter industry competitions, visit exhibitions and go on field trips and visits. The central position of our John Prince’s Street site in the West End affords students easy access to all sectors of the fashion retail market. In addition, our position as a constituent College in the University of the Arts London means that our students have access to the wide range of activities and events that occur in all the Colleges and at the University’s centre. Last but not least, being in London gives every student opportunities to explore and be inspired by the cultural, intellectual and social life of one of the great capital cities of the world.

Resources

Our excellent resources for educating our students are two-fold: people and premises. People includes everyone at the College who contributes directly in some way to your education, whether as a subject tutor, a technician, an Open Access Officer, a librarian or a study support tutor. Premises include the buildings and the facilities contained in them, such as specialist machinery, design studios and workshops, lecture and seminar rooms, and the library.

The textile workshops at Lime Grove are excellent and provide you with access to print, knit and embroidery machinery and studio space. These include a range of both craft and digital CAD facilities. The knit workshops have domestic and industrial knitting machines, including Brother 970s, Passaps, Dubieds, and potential access to CAD CAM advanced Stoll knitting technology. You are also able to access the Digital Print Bureau at John Prince’s Street and equipment relating to the production of engineered prints.

Laura Bell  is the Course Leader for BA Fashion Textiles with academic leadership for print, knit and embroidery across this course and the Foundation Degrees in Surface Textiles and Knitwear. She has considerable professional experience across a range of high-end companies in a variety of roles. Her teaching in higher education focuses on all aspects of design for fashion textiles, with a particular interest in encouraging students to realise their full design potential, Research outputs include: ‘Creativity without Limits: Nurturing Talent; Consumerism, Fashion and Food’; and ‘Textile Futures: the Poetic Role of Surface Design in the 21st Century’.

Polly Kenny is the Programme Director for Textiles and Menswear and has an MA in Fashion Studies. Her industry experience is extensive and has been through collaborative partnerships with, for example, Broderie Anglaise and Peter Wright Europe Ltd, with clients, including Ronit Zilka and Morris Angels, and at the industry’s textile fairs. She is a member of the Higher Education Academy, the LCF Fashion Education and Research Group, and the Textiles Futures Research Centre at UAL. She is Vice Chair of the London Branch of the Society of Dyers and Colourists, and continues her practice-based textile work focussing on the mark of the hand through digital and craft processes.

Rob Phillips is the Creative Director for the School of Design and Technology and his career started in fashion womenswear, menswear and illustration. He worked at publishers Benjamin Dent as Fashion Editor for International Textiles magazine, and as Creative Director of Fashion Forecast magazine, where his progressive work promoting young fashion talent garnered him much acclaim from industry. Rob continues to nurture talent at LCF across all courses within the School, preparing students to develop their full potential and make their unique contribution to the fashion industry. He furthers the work of the College through many routes, including the recent collaboration between LCF, English National Ballet and the V&A. He also curates the School’s fashion shows and exhibitions, and is fully engaged with all external events and competitions.

Future Careers and Graduate Prospects

Graduates who wish to continue their education at postgraduate level are encouraged to progress to suitable courses within the College, the University or elsewhere. This year two students from the course have got places at the Royal College of Art.

Many graduates prefer to seek employment as soon as they have completed their undergraduate studies. Recent graduates from this course have found positions with Adidas, JoJo Maman Bébé, Louis Vuitton and DKNY. Work from final year students has been featured this year in WASN trend report for AW13, Vogue UK, Tatler Magazine, Fashion156, IDOL Magazine and InStyle.

Enterprise and Employability at UAL

We know what it takes to be successful in your chosen field. Your tutors are professionals in their own right and understand what you need to help you establish your career. Staff in our dedicated Centre for Student Enterprise and Employability Service (SEE) are specialists at supporting you onto the right career path and at helping you to build up work‐relevant skills, knowledge and experience throughout your time here. You will also benefit from our many relationships with industry, which give our students exclusive opportunities and access to networks and funding.

Artists and designers tell us they value UAL’s informed engagement with their career development concerns across a whole spectrum of activities and practice interests and our ability to offer them practical advice, guidance and opportunities across the possible pathways open to them - as entrepreneurs and employees. Staff value the resources and skills UAL makes available to help them deliver effective professional and career development through the curriculum.

Showing your work

All final year students are given the opportunity to profile their work online via Showtime. London College of Fashion can make no guarantee that your work (either in sum or in part) will be shown, exhibited or profiled in any way as part of your course. All student work appearing in College organised events, catwalk shows, exhibitions and other forms of showcase, is selected by a panel of senior staff and, in some instances, external industry judges.

For details of the wide range of careers support provided for students, please visit our Careers Support page.

Entry Requirements and Selection Process

Opportunities for All

We are committed to making university education an achievable option for a wider range of people and seek to recruit students from diverse socio-economic, cultural and educational backgrounds. We are committed to supporting all our students in achieving their potential both during and after their courses.

Course Entry Requirements

Entry to this course is highly competitive: applicants are expected to achieve, or already have, the course entry requirements detailed below.

Foundation Diploma in Art and Design PLUS two ‘A’ level passes at grade C or above PLUS passes in three GCSE subjects at grade C or above

OR equivalent awards

Preferred subjects include Art, Design, English and Maths.

This course requires a minimum 160 UCAS tariff points.

Exceptionally, applicants who do not meet these course entry requirements may still be considered if the course team judges the application demonstrates additional strengths and alternative evidence. This might, for example, be demonstrated by: related academic or work experience; the quality of the personal statement; a strong academic or other professional reference; or a combination of these factors.

This course requires portfolio evidence.

English Language Requirements

All classes are conducted in English. If English is not your first language you will be asked to provide evidence of your English language ability when you enrol.

The level required by the University for this course is IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in any one skill.

Please go to: http://www.arts.ac.uk/international/apply/englishlanguagerequirements/

read carefully and look at the relevant documents.

Student Selection Criteria

What We Look For

The course team seeks to recruit students who can demonstrate:

• Strong drawing skills
• A strong interest in fashion and visual imagery and an awareness of technology
• An understanding of the need for a critical and analytical approach to the area of study
• An approach suited to the demands of the course and the projected career futures

This might, for example, be demonstrated by: related academic or work experience; the quality of the personal statement, a strong academic or other professional reference; or a combination of these factors.

Portfolio and Interview Advice

For this course your portfolio should show evidence of: drawing/presentation skills; contemporary fashion/cultural awareness; a level of research, exploration and experimentation; fabric and material selection/knowledge; construction/technical competence; ability to think/work in 3D; and visual communication skills.

Applicants will be expected to demonstrate the following at interview: a strong interest in fashion, fashion textiles and visual imagery; an awareness of technology; a critical and analytical approach; a motivation to succeed on the course; and a motivation for working as a fashion textile designer.

* Please note: this course will not be recruiting students for entry in 2014, therefore the final first year of this course will run in 2013-2014, the final second year will run in 2014-2015, and the final third year will run in 2015-2016. This subject area will be replaced with a new three year Honours degree.

Home/EU Applicants

You apply online through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) at   http://www.ucas.com 

Go to ‘Apply’ from the UCAS home page, where you will be able to register and create a password that gives you unique access as you complete your application form.

The University code is U65.

The UCAS code for this course is W220.

The deadline for equal consideration of your application is 15 January 2013.

Contact us on:

• Telephone: +44 (0)20 7514 7563 / 7582 / 7344
• Course enquiry form

International Applicants

For specific details on how to apply as an international applicant please click on the following link:

http://www.fashion.arts.ac.uk/lcf-international.htm

The International Recruitment Office at the London College of Fashion will help to guide you through the application process and answer any specific questions that you may have regarding our courses. This may include portfolio advice, the application process and fee advice. We offer a ‘drop-in’ facility for applicants who may be in London and wish to obtain further course and admissions information. Please contact us for further information on this facility. We can also arrange a tour of our facilities if we are given prior notice.

Our contact details are: International Recruitment Office London College of Fashion 20 John Prince’s Street London W1G 0BJ.

• Telephone: +44 (0)20 7514 7656/7678/7629
• Course enquiry form 

Deferred Entry

There will be no Deferred Entry to this course, as September 2013 is the final intake. This course will not run in September 2014.

What Happens Next?

All application forms, personal statements and references are read and considered by the course team against the selection criteria listed under What We Look For. Depending on the quality of your application, you may be asked to submit copies of a small number of pieces of your existing work (not more than ten pieces). If the course team wish to consider your application further, you will be invited to a portfolio review where the course team will look at your work. If you are successful at the portfolio review stage you will be interviewed by the course team. If you are successful at the interview stage you will be offered a place. Applicants are not guaranteed a portfolio review or an interview.

Please note that if you are unable to attend the College may not be able to re-schedule.

If you applied through UCAS the result of your application will be communicated to you via UCAS through ucastrack. You will only receive further communication directly from the College if your application has been successful. This will be in the form of a full offer pack including details of accommodation, fees, and other important information.   

Applicants have the right to ask for feedback if their application is unsuccessful. Requests must be made in writing to the Student Administrator, and we will respond within 20 working days. 

Additional Information

Additional Costs

Some courses charge a fee for the bulk purchase of materials and/or equipment used on the course. Further details will be supplied at a later date.