Fashion Designer-Entrepreneur: Brand, Design & Studio

Fashion Design, Branding and Entrepreneurship

The BA (Hons) Fashion:
Design, Branding, and Entrepreneurship is a future-focused, design-led and highly practical course that has been carefully created to prepare ambitious students for entrepreneurial careers within the contemporary fashion industry.

Designed with enterprise creation as a central distinctive feature, students on the course will establish themselves as freelancers or micro-SMEs and will be encouraged to develop their commercial ambitions from the outset. Key to our approach is the delivery of practice-based education in which you will be professionally ‘incubated’ as an aspiring fashion entrepreneur and to develop your craft in our Mayfair professional studios.

With a focus on contemporary and luxury fashion, this distinct and highly innovative programme takes a learner-centered approach that is grounded in professional design practice, delivered within a boutique specialist incubation environment to help you grow and succeed. Pioneering in its approach, the course seeks to prepare and transform motivated fashion students for entry into the global fashion industry as emerging, professional, designer-entrepreneurs.

This course will help you develop an in-depth understanding and practical application of design and garment construction, creating contemporary fashion collections, advances and future trends of the fashion industry, and a hands-on knowledge of what it takes to make a fashion brand a success. Practical studio-based craft, fashion design, and conceptual creativity is taught alongside entrepreneurship and enterprise skills. Course modules are designed to enable you to professionalise your learning, and assignments are geared towards identifying markets, developing suitable brand opportunities, and of crafting beautiful collections.

Assessment is contextual and applied and is intended to follow your personal area of continuing practice and subject specialism.
Assessment is 100% through coursework. You will receive feedback throughout each module and will be awarded a grade. Depending on the module, you may be assessed through:

• 2D visual research and design development work
• 3D development, garment construction and fashion collection
• Practical and digital portfolio work
• Marketing reports, visual essays, and enterprise plans
• In person and visual presentations
• Exhibition and Catwalk.

There is a strong thread of practice-based and work-related learning throughout the course and our professional and higher education incubation environments are the vehicle for truly immersive learning, practical design development and entrepreneurial growth. Based in our professional design studios, you will study and develop your craft in the same place that you will practice and develop your career. This progressive engagement will include training in industry standard software, commercially sponsored ‘live’ project work, industrial visits, competition entries and professional practice-based reflection.

Industry partners, experts and on-site practitioners will further help cement knowledge with real-world experiences.

This course will cover fashion materials, technical drawing and pattern cutting, visual communication and brand development, fashion industry, enterprise and trend prediction. Your collections will be developed through the entrepreneurial and iterative lens of preparing to launch as a fully independent fashion professional.

BA (Hons) Fashion:
Design, Brand and Entrepreneurship graduates will view their educational experience as a creative enterprise in which they were developing themselves as emerging, professional designer-entrepreneurs. In addition to fashion design, brand and enterprise skills, the Academy will prepare graduates with the tools they need to establish themselves as fully fledged fashion freelancers, small luxury brand operators, or even to pursue more global ambitions.

• FASHION IN CONTEXT ONE
• FASHION FUNDAMENTALS *
• FASHION MATERIALS & TECHNOLOGIES *

• CREATIVE FASHION INDUSTRIES *
• FASHION DESIGN & MAKE *
• FASHION COMMUNICATION & BRAND DEVELOPMENT *

The Level 4 modules of the BA Fashion course are designed to establish the foundational skills and knowledge that will be built upon in later stages of the programme. In the first year, learners will engage with critical and contextual research, fashion design fundamentals, materials and technology, fashion design and production, communication and brand development, as well as explore the broader creative fashion industries.

This year provides a comprehensive introduction to key concepts and practical skills essential for advancing in the course.

• FASHION IN CONTEXT TWO
• CONTEMPORARY FASHION COMMUNICATION *
• FASHION INCUBATION *

• ENTREPRENEURSHIP & CREATIVE PRACTICE *
• FASHION COLLECTION *
• FASHION INCUBATION *