Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Design

at University of Southampton - Winchester Campus United Kingdom

The MA Fine Art degree at Winchester School of Art (WSA) offers you the opportunity to embrace new challenges in your art. Our course draws students from across the world to study and develop their art in the beautiful surroundings of the historic city of Winchester.

"... one of the UK's most dynamic and relevant postgraduate fine art degree programmes." - Anthony Luvera, artist and external course moderator, 2016-2019

This programme captures the diversity of the world's contemporary art and values all types of art practice. You will develop your work, in practice and in theory, exploring key ideas and issues that inform contemporary art today.

You will work in purpose-built studios with a wide range of technical and academic facilities, with the freedom to explore your ideas through a single medium or across multiple art forms, including:

• Painting and drawing
• Sculpture  
• Video and digital media
• Photography and printmaking
• Performance art

You’ll gain insights into life as a working artist and will develop your own individual profile through:

• Weekly guest lectures by leading practitioners
• Creating a portfolio for your final project and to exhibit
• Learning how to approach galleries, use social media, and build networks
• An arts-related professional skills module

Other benefits of this art master's include access to purpose-built studios with the latest photography, video, 3D printing and laser cutting technologies, a gallery on campus, and close links to London and regional galleries. You'll also have the opportunity to display your work for the public at the annual MA Degree Show. View recent, and earlier, MA Fine Art Degree Exhibition documentaries, here.

Winchester Centre for Global Futures in Art Design & Media will also give you the chance to attend conferences and receive tutorial support from internationally celebrated professors.

Develop essential career skills and industry knowledge on this master’s degree in Fashion Marketing and Branding course at the University of Southampton. You’ll gain in-depth understanding of the modern fashion world and learn from our academics’ research excellence and knowledge of the sector. You’ll be based in an art school, so you can put your skills into practice through collaborative projects with fashion design students.

This UK master’s course is ideal if you’re a business, management or marketing graduate who wants to specialise in fashion. It’s also a great opportunity if you’ve studied a creative subject and want to build your business skills. If you’re already working in the industry it could help you gain new specialisms to advance your career.

On this MA you’ll develop knowledge of issues and trends in the modern fashion world such as:

• Globalisation
• Technological advances
• Fast fashion
• Sustainability

Our professional links and proximity to London mean you’ll benefit from industry exposure right from the start , with guest lecturers from famous brands and study visits to London fashion events.

Optional modules allow you to personalise your course to suit your interests or career ambitions. An individual project and report will give you the chance to demonstrate your research skills and industry insights.

We place a strong emphasis on employability, with lectures and workshops aimed at helping you move into your chosen job role. After completing this course you’ll be in the perfect position to enter the global fashion marketing and branding industry, or follow your research interests at PhD level.

Our graduates have gone on to careers with major high-street brands, in journalism, and in international advertising.

Discover your own creative identity while developing essential fashion design skills on this UK master’s in fashion degree. On this MA Fashion Design at Winchester School of Art, you’ll benefit from our tutors’ industry experience, preparing you for a career in the competitive industry of in fashion.

MA Fashion Design encourages you to pursue your creative ambitions through practice, personal research and critical evaluation.  

Working in purpose-built studios, you’ll explore topics including:

• Sketchbook development
• Visual research
• Sustainability and design
• Construction techniques and materials
• Cad (computer-aided design)
• Fashion portfolio skills

You’ll learn from tutors with years of professional fashion design experience and strong industry connections. They will work closely with you to help you develop your individual strengths, build your fashion designer qualifications and to enhance your employability.  

You’ll benefit from professional skills workshops, exposure to industry through live briefs and guest lectures, and the opportunity to showcase your work in Winchester and London. The teaching team can also facilitate internship opportunities with leading fashion companies to support your career ambitions.  

Our facilities include:

• Bespoke pattern-cutting tables
• Industry-standard machines
• Traditional print and textile facilities  
• The latest technical and 3d printing technology 

Be part of a distinctive, energetic flagship art programme, tailored to your needs on our fine art degree. Develop an outstanding individual fine art practice in a contemporary, cutting-edge discipline built on centuries of tradition. Address the pressing issues of today and tomorrow. Learn clarity of thought, teamwork and project management through ambitious collaborative projects. Reflect, refine and resolve in our spacious, purpose-built studios and excellent workshop facilities.

Experiment across all media, and choose the areas you’d like to specialise in, including:

• painting
• printmaking
• sculpture
• digital and lens-based work
• performance

As part of your BA Fine Art you can:

• meet active professional artists at our weekly Talking Heads lecture series
• take advantage of easy access to London for studio and gallery visits
• join our twice-yearly Shared Drive projects, which bring together students from all years of study to participate in ambitious, large-scale, collective projects
• study overseas for a semester at one of our partner universities in Europe, Canada or Asia
• connect with professionals from the commercial and public art worlds at special network events such as our Fine Art Degree Show Review Symposium
• be part of a lasting record of your achievements here in the Shared Drive Fine Art Yearbook  
• enjoy collaborative relationships with organisations such as a space arts, John Hansard Gallery and Hampshire Cultural Trust

This master's in textile design will encourage you to be experimental and will give you the skills for a successful career in textile design. Taught by industry-experienced tutors who are sustainability specialists, and supported by our dedicated technicians; you’ll learn techniques such as print, embroidery and Devore.

This MA textile design course is suitable if you’re a recent graduate or if you want to refocus your career. Whether your interests are in textiles for fashion, interior design or as a medium for art pieces, you’ll develop your skills and apply them to a range of textile media. 

Employability is key throughout this UK Textile Design master’s degree. You’ll graduate with a portfolio that demonstrates your talents and accomplishments, as well as industry knowledge.

You’ll have extensive industry exposure including: 

• Guest lectures and live project briefs  
• Visits to trade events and selling your work at pop-up events
• Designing pieces for external public events and opportunities to showcase your work
• Internship opportunities with leading fashion and textile companies  
• Access to lectures and conferences run by renowned research and special interest groups, such as the winchester luxury research group, in the loop and the fashion and sustainability forum

A supportive and personalised approach to learning; staff will get to know your individual strengths and help you achieve your potential. You’ll also be co-located with MA Fashion Design students in a creative studio atmosphere where you can share ideas and draw inspiration from one another’s work. 

The facilities and equipment you’ll use are outstanding. They include: 

• A Mimaki digital printer, heat-transfer printing and large hand screen-printing tables with adjoining screen exposing rooms and dye labs 
• Computerised Shima Seiki knitting machines across three gauges, a variety of single and doublebed Dubied knitting machines, linkers and manual knitting machines 
• A state-of-the-art jacquard loom, a variety of computerised AVL dobby looms, and manual table looms 
• The WSA library, with comprehensive collections of textiles books, journals and magazines as well as a wide range of other arts-related materials

Put your creative ideas into practice on our fashion design degree. We offer you outstanding studio facilities, a high level of industry exposure, and a future-focused curriculum. You’ll develop your own creative style and gain essential practical and research skills. When you graduate, you’ll join the ranks of our impressive alumni ready for a successful career in fashion design.

You'll specialise in men's or women's clothing, and practise traditional skills alongside innovative digital techniques. You'll benefit from unrivalled studio access and state-of-the-art facilities. You’ll gain an understanding of how and why fashion has developed. You'll also take our innovative Fashion Futures module, giving you insight into emerging issues and innovations in the industry.

You’ll have access to:

• Industry-standard resources, machinery and facilities
• Professionally equipped studio spaces and workshops
• The latest laser-cutting plus 3D and print technologies

As part of your fashion degree you can:

• Take a year in industry in the UK or abroad with our year-in-employment option
• Study overseas at one of our partner universities in Europe or further afield
• Visit studios and gain experience through fashion industry internships

Explore how to curate a compelling and relevant art exhibition within groups and independently. From curating contemporary performance to handling historic art objects, you'll learn how to apply practical skills to a variety of different art mediums and disciplines.

Our Contemporary Curating course gives you the theoretical, research and practical skills to work as a curator anywhere in the world. You’ll get professional experience managing projects in the Winchester Gallery, with unique access to the University’s vast network of practising artists, academics and researchers who will inform and inspire your curatorial practice.

By studying this MA in curating you’ll have the opportunity to:

• Curate compelling art exhibitions based on research across disciplines and discourses
• Develop critical thinking to collate and curate artworks which challenge the audience
• Understand the current concerns and limitations of contemporary curation and culture
• Get hands-on experience from practical workshops in object-handling and setting up exhibitions using lighting and tools
• Attend visits to local and London-based art exhibitions where you’ll question and debate different curatorial approaches

Your learning will take place in the picturesque city of Winchester, where you'll join a thriving artist community with direct access to practising artists from Winchester School of Art.

The Winchester Gallery is based at Winchester School of Art and is open to the public. Your involvement in the gallery will give you real professional experience in understanding the practical and logistical requirements of curating.

You’ll consider your exhibition’s profile, including the theme, whether the location is private, or public, and how your audience interacts with the artwork. Your decisions as a curator will be research-led, referring to theoretical art concepts and critically reflecting on your own practice throughout.

We look at digital curation, the way artwork is stored, collected and archived online, considering benefits and limitations of digital curation in contemporary art

MA Communication Design is the study of information and interface design. This course is research driven and combines creativity, critical analysis of contemporary media, with knowledge of the latest methodologies and tools.

A focus on digital media practice and theory sets this course apart from traditional communication design courses, preparing you for an exciting career in a range of design roles. We’ll encourage you to explore systems for the making and communication of text and image while you redefine your own practice through various media formats of experimental publishing and interaction design.

This course is for recent graduates or those with professional experience who wish to extend their creative skills and design knowledge into hybrid publishing, user experience design, and design research.

The core curriculum is practice based, supported by workshops, lectures and both individual and group tutorials. In our modern, well-equipped studios you’ll learn how to develop effective concepts and prototypes for current and emergent platforms, informed by graphic design and user experience design principles.

Throughout this master’s you’ll have opportunities to:

• Build your own tools through creative coding and modular design experimentation  
• Take field trips to London and across Europe
• Use excellent facilities like the Interaction and Prototyping Laboratory, 3D printing and laser cutting as well as traditional design and print equipment  
• Learn from academics with industry experience in graphic design, interaction design and design for experimental media
• Create a portfolio of high-quality design work

Towards the end of the course you'll carry out a practice-led research project, which is an exciting opportunity for you to engage with key debates shaping the communication design field.

Whether you’re interested in textiles for fashion, interiors, or products, our BA Textile Design course will nurture your creative, practical and professional skills. Learn to create contemporary textiles using our first-class digital and traditional knit, print and weave facilities. You’ll learn how to become a textile designer and gain industry experience throughout your studies.

You’ll explore different aspects of textile design in your first year, then choose to specialise in woven, knitted or printed textiles for the rest of your degree. You'll engage with industry and deepen your design practice in the second year, before you define yourself as a designer in your final year.

We have a vibrant, creative art-school campus with superb studio space and equipment, such as:

• 3 Shima Seiki computerised knitting machines and hand operated knitting machines
• An industry-standard Mimaki fabric printer and a screen printing lab
• A variety of looms, including an electronic dobby loom
• CAD software packages
• 3D printing and laser cutting

You’ll learn traditional, manual processes alongside cutting-edge, digital techniques. We also strongly emphasise the future of the textiles industry, by exploring current issues such as sustainability.

As part of this textiles degree you can:

• Take an optional year in employment to gain work experience
• Take part in industry design competitions
• Study overseas at one of our partner universities in Europe, Canada or other international exchange destinations
• Visit studios and attend talks from external industry speakers
• Take part in private views and the degree show at Winchester School of Art, all of which are attended by professionals from creative industries

You'll also have the opportunity to work on live briefs with businesses in the industry. Previous students have worked with:

• Rarethreads
• Blendworth
• Bobble

Combine the creative side of games design with essential technical knowledge. If you want to make unique new games and take your ambitious ideas into emerging games markets, platforms and spaces, this is the programme for you. You’ll cover design, illustration, character creation, animation and storytelling, as well as coding and digital production.

You’ll work in your own studios on campus as part of a vibrant, creative environment designed to mirror the collaborative practices of games companies and the creative industries.

You’ll learn to apply design-thinking to the creation of brand new games and refine them through research-led creative investigation, making, prototyping and user testing.

You’ll explore the full spectrum of gaming, including screen-based (video) games, augmented and virtual reality game-making, alongside the physical production of products such as location-based games, board games, card games and escape rooms. You’ll also cover the emerging fields of purposeful games and serious games, and explore how games can be designed to have social impact and cultural significance.

Throughout your studies you’ll work with your peers in a small, close-knit studio environment. You’ll collaborate and inspire one another, and discover your strengths. You’ll gain a range of skills including illustration, character design and storytelling as well as coding and digital production.

Your course includes:

• pitching your ideas and prototypes to industry
• visits to innovative games studios such as Hello Games, Sensible Object, ustwo games and Sennep games
• visits to game conferences
• workshops and advice on your projects from industry
• live projects with progressive organisations looking to utilise game theory and game design such as National Air Traffic Control, IBM and the Royal Society of Public Health
• showcasing your projects at external events such as our London show and other globally recognised games events
• testing and gathering feedback on your ideas with real players

 As part of your course you can choose to:

• develop your work skills and industry links by taking a paid year in employment
• gain a different cultural perspective on your subject by studying abroad for a year