Fashion Design

Fashion design is a discipline that sits at the intersection of art, craft, and commerce. It requires creative vision and the practical skills to realise it, combining an understanding of fabric and construction with awareness of the cultural, historical, and commercial contexts in which fashion operates. Good fashion design is responsive to how people live, what they need, and what the moment demands, as well as being driven by an individual aesthetic perspective that develops through practice and critical reflection.

This four-year full-time programme at the University of Chester includes a foundation year, which provides an additional year of preparatory study for students who are developing their design portfolio and creative foundations before the main degree begins. The foundation year is designed to build the drawing, making, and analytical skills that fashion design training requires, and to give students who may be coming from less specialist backgrounds more time to develop their creative practice before tackling the degree-level curriculum. With a typical tariff of 120 points, the programme is accessible to students who demonstrate creative potential and commitment rather than requiring a highly polished portfolio from the outset.

You will develop skills in garment construction, pattern cutting, draping, textile knowledge, illustration, and portfolio development alongside a broader understanding of fashion history, current industry trends, and the design process from initial concept to finished garment. The four-year structure gives you more time to develop your practice and your creative voice than a standard three-year programme, and the foundation year ensures that the technical foundations are in place before the more advanced design work begins.

Graduates from fashion design programmes move into careers as fashion designers, pattern cutters, costume designers, buyers, visual merchandisers, and textile designers, as well as roles in fashion styling, editorial, and retail. Many build portfolio careers that combine several of these directions, and some continue to postgraduate study in fashion design or related creative disciplines.