Fashion Design (Professional Placement Year)

This is the 4 year course which includes a Professional Placement Year.

A fast-paced, dynamic and demanding course for determined and ambitious individuals who want a career in fashion.

• A reputation for producing highly individual, award-winning designers and practitioners.

• Member of the British Fashion Council Colleges Council and Graduate Fashion Week.

• Unique partnership with the world famous Fashion Museum – students have access to an unrivalled collection of fashion.

The course offers a comprehensive design education for dedicated and ambitious individuals looking for a specialist career in the fashion industry. Our philosophy is to develop students as individuals to become innovative and creative designers with a design aesthetic relevant to the contemporary fashion industry.

There is an emphasis on ideas, creativity, and developing your own personal design philosophy underpinned with strong pattern cutting and product development skills. We aim to take the fear out of the ‘technical’ side of fashion by combining the ‘technical’ and ‘design’ into one creative endeavour. We look for highly motivated students with a strong creative focus and a clear determination to enter the highly competitive world of fashion.

More about the Professional Placement Year
A Professional Placement Year (PPY), traditionally known as a sandwich year, is where a student undertakes a period of work with an external organisation for between 9-13 months. The placement occurs between the students' second and third years of undergraduate study. Students can engage in up to 3 placements to make up the total time and are required to source the placement(s) themselves with support from the Careers & Employability Team.

Year 1 -
This level covers the core fundamentals of fashion design disciplines including 2D and 3D practice; design, drawing, fashion illustration, CAD, construction, pattern cutting, ideas research and trend research as well as fabric sourcing and development; the relationship between fabric and design. You’ll develop two-dimensional presentation skills investigating ideas through drawing within a sketchbook to inform your three- dimensional work and may use the Fashion Museum as a key resource for research. Tailoring is also covered at this level.

We’ll introduce you to fashion history and context.

Year 2 -
In your second year you’ll be encouraged to develop a more personal design style and to develop ideas through research, design development, and design translation using drape and modelling on the stand. You’ll develop your drawing and fashion illustration skills and learn to communicate your ideas and design process within a fashion portfolio, as well as participate in a live project brief offering the chance to be selected for a paid internship in San Francisco. You’ll also undertake an external brief. Year 3 - Professional Placement Year.

Final Year - At this level you’ll develop a more strategic perspective and negotiate a body of work that reflects your personal practice as a designer, drawing together your academic experiences and personal interests to develop a highly professional contemporary fashion collection. You’ll work as a designer in industry working with external companies or collaborating with other disciplines as necessary. As part of professional contexts you’ll enter national design competitions, develop a strong fashion portfolio and self promotional materials, as well as greater knowledge of business and roles within fashion to help you develop an employment strategy.

Students will have a presence at Graduate Fashion Week in London that is attended by industry and press from the UK and overseas, as well as showcasing work in Bath at the Bath School of Design degree show.

At this level you’ll also undertake a written thesis.

Continuous assessment: 84% main study modules, 16% historical and critical studies. There are no written exams.