Associate Degree in Fashion Design and Technology

at EduCo - RMIT University - Brunswick Campus Australia

You’ll work to real and simulated industry briefs and learn how to provide an individual or business with creative styling solutions for areas such as personal styling, image consultancy, social media content, fashion editorial or styling for television.

Using a combination of RMIT’s state-of-the-art studios and virtual learning spaces and guided by real practitioners with strong connections to industry, you will learn the skills and knowledge to set up your own consulting business, work for a company or simply continue exploring other areas of fashion.

To be industry-ready for a successful career in fashion styling, you will:

• Build your knowledge of body shape, colour and personality
• Gain an understanding of marketing and consumer behaviour
• Develop the skills required to establish a freelance business  
• Learn to create and execute photoshoots for fashion 
• Be able to identify current local and global fashion trends
• Have the skills to create, plan and manage an event 
• Develop technical knowledge including photography, sewing and it
• Build networks within the fashion industry.

The Associate Degree in Fashion and Textile Merchandising has been designed to help you develop the high-level business acumen and creative thinking required to succeed within the fast-paced fashion industry.

In this intensive, industry-led associate degree, you will learn to research, analyse, interpret and transmit solutions to unpredictable and complex problems in the fashion and textiles industries. Building skills in teamwork, autonomy and work-readiness, you will connect theory and practice with hands-on projects in marketing, product ranging, distribution, product development, and more.

As a graduate of this course, you will be able to develop, analyse and launch successful strategies for products, brands and retail, and navigate buying and merchandising practices to find your place in this global and competitive industry

The Master of Technology (Fashion and Textiles) by Research program enables you to develop an advanced body of knowledge that you may apply to a range of stimulating, real-life research contexts.

These research areas reflect the School’s research supervisors’ expertise along with the available resources and collaborative relationships with industry and other research organisations.

The program may be undertaken by thesis mode.

The program is directed towards candidates taking a scientific approach to conduct research into advanced textiles and material science such as protective, medical and forensic textiles, comfort, performance and sport apparel textiles. Or a social science approach to conduct research into an aspect of the fashion and textiles system such as fashion enterprise, business practices, global supply chain or ethical practice.

Fashion entrepreneurs provide leadership while continuously questioning the status quo to create value for brands and businesses.

This graduate diploma will extend your skills as a creative and business-minded thinker, to recognise opportunities, understand risk, be resourceful, be passionate, and understand your capacity within your industry.

This course is designed for local students who are interested in entering the fashion industry, or those who are already working in the field and are looking to build on their existing knowledge.

The content you will cover in this graduate diploma is aligned with the first two semesters of the Master of Fashion (Entrepreneurship), giving you the opportunity to explore graduate study in this field under flexible circumstances. You also have the option to learn and partner with industry to gain practical, current skills and experience.

This diploma will equip you with the skills and knowledge to bring products from conception to market.

We are the makers, the sketchers, the inventors, the experimenters, the idea generators, the thinkers and tinkerers. We are product designers.

This is your hands-on pathway to the world of design. This diploma allows you to imagine, explore and create objects that people will manufacture, buy, use and appreciate. You will gain the skills and experience you need to work in small or large design companies or as an independent designer.

Through your studies you will learn to create designs for consumer products, experiences and systems. You will present your ideas through a combination of skills in visual and verbal communication, 3D models and computer software.

The curriculum looks at all aspects of design, including:

• Aesthetics
• Technology
• Ergonomics
• Usability
• Sustainability
• Materials

You will learn cutting-edge product development techniques, starting from a project brief, and find solutions to design problems using the latest industry tools and practices. You’ll become familiar with new consumer product development processes for a variety of products, resolving practical, manufacturing and sustainability/environmental issues.

You’ll use industry standard software and gain in-depth knowledge of the design process to work in areas of visual and graphic design.

As a graphic designer, daily activities may include:

• Creating logos and artwork for products such as packaging or cafe menus
• Focusing on graphics used for websites, digital and online platforms.
• Creating graphics for clients to sell a product or service. This may be through print or digital publications such as newspapers and magazines or outdoor signage.

This diploma provides you with a strong technical focus that develops your technical expertise in digital design, print production and typography, along with a thorough understanding of design concept development and the design process.

You will explore many forms of visual and graphic communication, including illustration, digital design, typography, calligraphy and lettering, packaging design, books, advertising and publicity material.

You’ll become competent in industry standard software including Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop.

The Certificate IV of Textile Design, Development and Production is a practical, studio-based course that gives you access to state-of-the-art facilities and industry-connected instructors to undertake project briefs.

Learn to create designs for knitted, woven and printed fabrics or textile products for a range of contexts, including fashion, interiors, homewares, craft and other commercial applications. You will develop skills in drawing, painting and illustration, design and concept development, as well as textile history and contemporary practice. You’ll learn how to present your concepts using computer-aided design techniques.

You will build on your skills to create experimental textile samples using a range of materials and processes, including dye technologies, digital printing, laser cutting and fabric manipulation. With a focus on industry-based projects you’ll work with major and independent Australian and international companies, giving you the opportunity to be involved in developing a collection of textiles to technical and market specifications.

Textile designers work across multiple contexts and collaborate with other disciplines, such as fashion, interior, architecture, industrial, automotive industries, as well as developing emerging, custom and niche independent design practices.

Your studies will cover diverse and contemporary practice, including commercial, contemporary and global textile design industry, related fields and emerging markets. You will be able to customise your study when you select a minor specialisation in fashion design, enterprise, and sustainable innovation. As part of this, you’ll be encouraged to create ethical design propositions and use cross-disciplinary design strategies and collaboration to drive global and competitive practice.

Study design, pattern making and cutting-edge technology to produce everything from ready-to-wear through to made-to-measure fashion.

You'll learn to blend theory with practice through a series of industry-driven and live international projects and activities.

Through your studies you will gain the skills required to be industry-ready, developing the knowledge and know-how to secure jobs in the fashion industry – especially in computer-aided design (CAD) and the global supply chains.

You will develop a broad range of skills and study the underpinning theory of the design process, including fashion range development, trend research, specification development, design and production management, and pattern and garment construction skills.

In your studies you will learn:

• Fashion design and drawing
• Computer-aided design
• Patternmaking and grading
• Computer-aided patternmaking and grading
• Fashion trend research
• Production planning
• Specifications
• Garment construction
• Supply chain management
• Sustainability

You will also work on design briefs from local and international companies such as Alpha60, Cotton On, Denimsmith, Etal, Bizwear and Nobody Denim, working to specifications relating to demographic, colour, fabric, trends and budget.

These experiences will provide you with the skills and knowledge you need to work locally or internationally as part of a design team or to start your own business.

As a student, you’ll be encouraged to create ethical design propositions and use cross-disciplinary strategies to drive global and competitive practice. As a graduate, you will have comprehensive knowledge in fashion design, preparing you for a wide range of existing and new industry contexts, jobs of the future, or further study.

RMIT students and graduates receive national design awards, scholarships, and invitations to participate in national and international showcases, events and exhibitions, including:

• Virgin australia melbourne fashion festival (vamff) national graduate showcase
• Melbourne fashion week (m/fw) student collections runway
• Graduate fashion week (gfw) london international catwalk
• Id dunedin emerging designer award
• Design institute of australia (dia) graduate of the year award (gotya)

The RMIT School of Fashion and Textiles is globally recognised, and ranked among the Business of Fashion’s The Best Fashion Schools in the World, Undergraduate Fashion Design Programs in 2019.