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Postgraduate

MA Fashion


College
Central Saint Martins
Start date
October 2024
Course length
17 months full-time (45 weeks)

MA Fashion has an international profile second to none. With extensive industry links, its graduates practice at the forefront of fashion.

Applying for more than 1 course

You can apply for more than 1 postgraduate course at UAL but we recommend that you apply for no more than 3. Find out more in the Apply Now section.

This postgraduate course is about leading not following. It offers four pathways: Womenswear, Menswear, Knitwear and Textiles for Fashion. It is part of the Fashion programme.

Scholarships, bursaries and awards

MA Fashion has a number of scholarships and awards available for first and second-year students who meet eligibility criteria.

MA Fashion at London Fashion Week

View show galleries from 2006 to 2018 on Vogue.com:

2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006

Why choose this course at Central Saint Martins

  • Engaged design: MA Fashion places emphasis on developing individual abilities and analytical skills within each specialist pathway. It promotes the idea that progressive design is not solely a creative endeavour. It must also engage with markets, the industry and society in general and therefore be the result of an informed point of view.
  • Critical debate: You will be involved in debates generated by academics, professional speakers, projects and inter-pathway critiques.
  • Pathway structure: MA Fashion allows you to study on one of four separate, but interrelated pathways: Womenswear, Menswear, Knitwear and Textiles for Fashion.
  • Communication skills: The course focuses on presentation and communication alongside design-led skills. You will learn not only how to create the right product for market, but how to promote and articulate your ideas.

Open days

There are currently no open days scheduled for this course, please check back at a later date.

Louise Wilson MA Fashion Fund

Donate
Support MA Fashion – The Louise Wilson Fashion Fund [PDF, 3.6MB]

CSM Fashion Fund

Find out how to support fashion's global future at CSM [PDF, 2MB]

Course overview

MA Fashion at Central Saint Martins has an established reputation for preparing students with the experience and confidence needed to practice professionally at the forefront of fashion. While holding a consistent track record for its entrepreneurial culture as one of the foremost incubators of emerging design talent worldwide, the MA Fashion also leads to continuing study for research degrees and those pursuing careers in academia.  

  • We are committed to supporting pluriversal approaches to teaching and learning where students from diverse, social, and cultural identities are brought together as one community of multiple voices.   
  • Our students share and gain knowledge within a project-based environment that focuses on transformative experience and expanding learning, aims, and development within Fashion Design practice as the core subject of study.   
  • We see authenticity and accountability at the core of our student engagement. The programme of study will actively encourage you to be responsible and resourceful with the processes and materials you choose for your project work and to support UAL's climate emergency work through upcycling whenever appropriate and to consider minimising costs wherever possible. 
  • As our student, the dialogue you will enter with your peers, tutors, and practitioners will define your understanding of learning and un-learning and support you to reflect on, strengthen, and trust your values, perspectives, and identity in practice.   
  • Commitment to enquiry and exploring themes, fields, and collaborations that nourish your development is encouraged. You will demonstrate research activity sustaining exploration and development and dig deeper into fields of interest, specifically your proposed specialist area. Your awareness of societal changes, the physical and digital contexts in which your work can exist, and how you produce garments, and source and generate materials, will spur opportunities for originality and innovation.  
  • You will team up with peers independently or for curriculum-embedded interactions and live briefs with other disciplines in the College and external partners. These provide common grounds to create and exchange knowledge to (re) imagine shared and better futures.  

In the Central Saint Martins Fashion  Programme, we work to be at the heart of debate about the future of fashion. Teaching is our core purpose and our research and, industry and external relationships enrich our approach. We are committed to reflecting and influencing the sustainable transformation of the industry.  Social, racial and climate justice are our core values and we believe in a fairer world for all. Our outlook is international, inclusive and diverse, reflecting the global nature of our community. We believe we must constantly challenge ourselves to shape ethical opportunities in fashion. We believe in the power of cooperation, collaboration and partnerships through both analogue and digital experiences.  

We are committed to developing ethical fashion practices. To achieve this, we are working to embed UAL's Principles for Climate, Social and Racial Justice into the course.

Course units

The MA Fashion course provides learning and teaching structured around the specialist subject of fashion.  

Throughout four course units, you will be expected to question your approach and commitment to personal work and conduct intensive and in-depth research and enquiry.  

Project-based teaching is delivered through a combination of individual tutorials, workshops, seminars, group critiques  and peer reviews. These will help you refine  self-critical judgement and thinking, from exploration and contextualisation, through experimentation and development to finally communicating your ideas   and outcomes.  

Emphasis is placed on creativity, identity, and professional development, supporting authentic, sustainable solutions and accountability in design practice. Digital learning will also enable you to experiment with using emerging technologies for application in design development and communication, and wholly digital outcomes will be possible alternatives for project and unit assessments.

Unit 1: Knowledge and Skills 

This initial unit consists in learning through dialogue in practice. Projects are designed to make you reflect on your knowledge, skills, and abilities. Discussions question your assumptions with the aim of broadening your perspective on fashion as the core subject of study.  

Individual and group tutorials and critiques will allow you to discuss your approach to research, development processes, making and communication of responsible design. Workshops and seminars will facilitate learning and discuss design and identity, accountability, and planetary justice. These sessions encourage discussion of shared ground and differing concerns and help you think through and formulate your ideas. 

Unit 2:  Collaborative Practices for Common Good 

Unit 2 provides opportunities for inter- and cross- disciplinary research and practice co-operation with other postgraduate courses at Central Saint Martins. 

You will undertake this collaborative unit during the Spring term. This collaboration is designed to offer a robust framework for developing practice across the College in relation to the University’s social purpose ‘to change society through our knowledge and creativity’. 

Unit 3: Independent Projects [Pre-collection; Independent Major Project, Part 1  

–Rationale, Research, and Initial Design Development Portfolio] 

Unit 3 focuses on a combination of independent and industry-led project briefs. 

Individual tutorials and group critiques will allow you to discuss your approach to research, development processes, making and communication.  

In this unit, learning involves investigative methods, risk-taking and critical self-assessment. Pre-collection will allow you to investigate ideas and test solutions in practice. Some will inform the writing of your Rationale (research proposal/reasons and aims) for your Independent Major Project, Part 1 – Portfolio, which will include a substantial body of preliminary research and initial design development.  

Wholly digital outcomes for projects and unit assessment are possible. 

Unit 4: Independent Major Project - Part 2 – Realisation 

The rationale, research and design development produced in Unit 3 will form the basis of this final course unit, which will allow you to focus on the making and realisation of your Major Project. Throughout the unit, you will be supported to plan, develop and complete your self-led development work, receive individual supervision and in-progress feedback during timetabled garment fitting sessions to advance your professional and academic skills to a level that prepares you for post-graduation practices.  

Two substantial outcomes will be required to achieve your MA. These usually include a comprehensive design portfolio and a garment collection demonstrating your specialist knowledge. Wholly digital outcomes for projects and unit assessment are possible. 

Important note concerning academic progression through your course: If you are required to retake a unit you will need to cease further study on the course until you have passed the unit concerned. Once you have successfully passed this unit, you will be able to proceed onto the next unit. Retaking a unit might require you to take time out of study, which could affect other things such as student loans or the visa status for international students. 

Mode of study 

MA Fashion is offered in full-time mode which runs for 45 weeks over 17 months. You will be expected to commit 40 hours per week to study, which includes teaching time and independent study. 

Credit and award requirements 

The course is credit-rated at 180 credits. 

On successfully completing the course, you will gain a Master of Arts (MA degree). 

Under the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications, an MA is Level 7. All units must be passed in order to achieve the MA but the classification of the award is derived from the mark for the final unit only. 

If you are unable to continue on the course, a Postgraduate Certificate (PG Cert) will normally be offered following the successful completion of 60 credits, or a Postgraduate Diploma (PG Dip) following the successful completion of 120 credits. 

 

 

Learning and teaching methods

The learning and teaching methods devised for this course include: 

  • Briefings and briefing documents 
  • Learning through in-depth research / enquiry 
  • Individual and group critiques  
  • Peer learning  
  • Presentations 
  • Collaborative and interdisciplinary activities 
  • Demonstrations 
  • Talks by professional speakers 
  • Independent study 
  • Self-evaluation 

MA Fashion 2023

MA Fashion 2022

MA Fashion Show 2020

Student Perspectives: MA Fashion

MA Fashion 2023 Show programme

MA Fashion stories

  • One of the first sample dips on white cotton. Photo: Fleur Wilson.

    Regenerating print and dye at CSM

    Specialist Print and Dye Technician Florence Hawkins has been developing sustainable and organic dye and print colour systems at Central Saint Martins for students across Fashion and Textiles.

  • l to r: Dhruv Bandil, Gracey Owusu-Agyemang, Dhruv Bandil. Photos: Catwalking.

    MA Fashion Show/Showroom 2024

    Twenty graduating students showed in the Central Saint Martins MA Fashion Show 2024 on Friday 16 February, part of the London Fashion Week schedule.

  • Photography: Cameron Young

    MA Fashion Communication prophesises the future of fashion

    The MA Fashion Communication exhibition returns from 23 to 25 November within the Central Saint Martins King's Cross building. This year marks the 30th anniversary of MA Fashion Journalism, from which the rest of the course has sprung.

  • Photo: Sophie Stalder, BA Fashion Communication and Promotion

    Anna Wintour and Linda Evangelista visit Central Saint Martins

    Vicki Liang, an MA Fashion Communication: Fashion Journalism student, reflects on an afternoon with Anna Wintour and Linda Evangelista at Central Saint Martins.

Facilities

  • A room with people working at computers
    Image courtesy of Central Saint Martins,
  • People working inside the digital print workshop at Central Saint Martins
    Image courtesy of Central Saint Martins,
  • A selection of coloured yarns on spools
    Image courtesy of Central Saint Martins,
  • A student in the print and dye workshop
    © Alys Tomlinson

Staff

PA to MA Course Director: Debbie Lotmore


Womenswear/Menswear Fashion Pathway Leader:
Jane Shepherd
Womenswear Fashion Pathway Tutors: Julie Verhoeven
Menswear Fashion Pathway Tutor: Nasir Mazhar
Textiles for Fashion/Knitwear Pathway Leader: Fleet Bigwood
Textiles for Fashion Pathway Tutor: Birgitte Appleyard
Knitwear Fashion Pathway Tutors: Nicos Efstathiou
All Pathways Fashion Studies Tutor: Reba Maybury

All Pathways Technical Studies Leader: Mark Tarbard
MA Fashion Studio Technician: Sanae Matsunaga

Fees and funding

Home fee

£9,600 for year 1; £5,760 for year 2

This fee is correct for 2024/25 entry and is subject to change for 2025/26 entry.

Tuition fees may increase in future years for new and continuing students on courses lasting more than one year. For this course, you can pay tuition fees in instalments.

Home fees are currently charged to UK nationals and UK residents who meet the rules. However, the rules are complex. Find out more about our tuition fees and determining your fee status.

International fee

£25,630 for year 1; £15,380 for year 2

This fee is correct for 2024/25 entry and is subject to change for 2025/26 entry.

Tuition fees may increase in future years for new and continuing students on courses lasting more than one year. For this course, you can pay tuition fees in instalments.

Home fees are currently charged to UK nationals and UK residents who meet the rules. However, the rules are complex. Find out more about our tuition fees and determining your fee status.

Scholarship search

Entry requirements

The standard entry requirements for this course are as follows:

  • A first or upper second-class honours degree in Fashion Design, Knitwear or Printed Textiles with a strong fashion bias 
  • Or An equivalent EU / international qualification.

AP(E)L – Accreditation of Prior (Experiential) Learning

Exceptionally applicants who do not meet these course entry requirements may still be considered. The course team will consider each application that demonstrates additional strengths and alternative evidence. This might, for example, be demonstrated by:

  • Related academic or work experience
  • The quality of the personal statement
  • A strong academic or other professional reference

Or a combination of these factors.

Each application will be considered on its own merit but cannot guarantee an offer in each case.

English language requirements

IELTS level 6.5 or above, with at least 5.5 in reading, writing, listening and speaking (please check our main English language requirements webpage).

Selection criteria

We select applicants according to potential and current ability in the following areas as demonstrated in a portfolio of work presenting four design projects:

  • Creative exploration; Compiling and using project-related research
  • The ability to develop and articulate design ideas in visual form 
  • Technical skills; 3D sense; Sensitivity to fabrication 
  • Visual communication skills

And by means of a personal statement in the application:

  • Reason for choosing the course; commitment
  • Capacity for self-reflection 
  • Potential to benefit from the course

What we are looking for

We are seeking both recent fashion graduates and practising professionals who are self-motivated and determined about their discipline and wish to progress or start their careers in the fashion industry by using the Course to explore and articulate new perspectives within their practice.

Apply now

Application deadline

Deadline

Round 1:

13 December 2023 at 1pm (UK time)

Round 2:

3 April 2024 at 1pm (UK time)

Digital portfolio deadline

Round 1:

16 January 2024

Round 2:

16 April 2024

Decision outcome

Round 1:

End of March 2024

Round 2:

End of June 2024

Round 1
Round 2
Deadline
13 December 2023 at 1pm (UK time)
3 April 2024 at 1pm (UK time)
Digital portfolio deadline
16 January 2024
16 April 2024
Decision outcome
End of March 2024
End of June 2024

All applications received by 3 April will be treated equally. If there are places available after this date, the course will remain open to applications until places have been filled.

Read more about deadlines

Apply now

Application deadline

Deadline

Round 1:

13 December 2023 at 1pm (UK time)

Round 2:

3 April 2024 at 1pm (UK time)

Digital portfolio deadline

Round 1:

16 January 2024

Round 2:

16 April 2024

Decision outcome

Round 1:

End of March 2024

Round 2:

End of June 2024

Round 1
Round 2
Deadline
13 December 2023 at 1pm (UK time)
3 April 2024 at 1pm (UK time)
Digital portfolio deadline
16 January 2024
16 April 2024
Decision outcome
End of March 2024
End of June 2024

All applications received by 3 April will be treated equally. If there are places available after this date, the course will remain open to applications until places have been filled.

Read more about deadlines

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Find your representative

How to apply

Follow this step-by-step guide to apply for this course

Step 1: Initial application

You will need to submit an initial application including your personal statement and CV.

Personal statement advice

Your personal statement should be maximum 500 words and include:

  • your reasons for choosing the course
  • your current creative practice and how this course will help you achieve your future plans
  • any relevant education and experience, especially if you do not have any formal academic qualifications.

Visit our personal statement page for more advice.

CV advice

Please provide a CV detailing your education, qualifications and any relevant work or voluntary experience. If you have any web projects or other media that you would like to share, please include links in your CV. If English is not your first language, please also include your most recent English language test score.

Step 2: Digital portfolio

We will review your initial application. If you have met the standard entry requirements, we will ask you to submit a digital portfolio.

You’ll need to submit this via PebblePad, our online portfolio tool.

Digital portfolio advice

Your portfolio should consist of recent work that reflects your creative strengths.

It should:

  • be maximum 25 pages
  • consist of project-based work demonstrating your skills in 2D and 3D fashion design development
  • include work in progress to illustrate your creative process and ability to develop a project from initial idea to final design
  • include any supporting research, evaluations and reflections.

For more support, see our Portfolio advice and PebblePad advice.

Step 3: Interview

You may be invited to an interview following our review of your application. All interviews are held online and last 15 to 20 minutes.

For top tips, see our Interview advice.

You also need to know

Communicating with you

Once you have submitted your initial application, we will email you with your login details for our Applicant portal.

Requests for supplementary documents like qualifications and English language tests will be made through the applicant portal. You can also use it to ask questions regarding your application. Visit our After you apply page for more information.

Applying to more than 1 course

You can apply for more than 1 postgraduate course at UAL but we recommend that you apply for no more than 3 courses. You need to tailor your application, supporting documents and portfolio to each course, so applying for many different courses could risk the overall quality of your application. If you receive offers for multiple courses, you'll only be able to accept 1 offer. UAL doesn't accept repeat applications to the same course in the same academic year.

Visas and immigration history check

All non-UK nationals must complete an immigration history check. Your application may be considered by our course teams before this check takes place. This means that we may request your portfolio and/or video task before we identify any issues arising from your immigration history check. Sometimes your history may mean that we are not able to continue considering your application. Visit our Immigration and visas advice page for more information.

External student transfer policy

UAL accepts transfers from other institutions on a case-by-case basis. Read our Student transfer policy for more information.

Alternative offers

If your application is really strong, but we believe your strengths and skillset are better suited to a different course, we may make you an alternative offer. This means you will be offered a place on a different course or at a different UAL College.

Deferring your place

We do not accept any deferral requests for our postgraduate courses. This means that you must apply in the year that you plan to start your course and you will not be able to defer your place to start at a later date.

Application deadlines

For postgraduate courses at UAL there are 2 equal consideration deadlines to ensure fairness for all our applicants. If you apply ahead of either of these deadlines, your application will be considered on an equal basis with all other applications in that round. If there are places available after the second deadline, the course will remain open to applications until places have been filled.

Careers

MA Fashion graduates have established notable careers as Designers and Design Directors worldwide, some have chosen to build reputations under their own labels.

Alexander McQueen, Alistair Mackie | AnOther Man, Professor Andrew Groves, Ann-Sofie Back, Ashish, Bora Aksu, Charles Jeffrey, Charlotte Knowles, Christoffer Lundman | Tiger of Sweden, Christopher Kane, Christopher Shannon, Chopova_Lowena, Craig Green, David Koma, Daniel Lee | Bottega Veneta, Eftychia, Faustine Steinmetz, J JS Lee, John Alexander Skelton, Kiko Kostadinov, Kim Jones | Dior Homme, Louise Gray, Mark Fast, Marques 'Almeida, Mary Katrantzou, Masha Ma, Matty Bovan, Halpern, Palmer Harding, Peter Jensen, Phoebe English, Rejina Pyo, Richard Nicoll, Richard Quinn, Roksanda, Rottingdean Bazaar, Sadie Williams, Sies Marjan, Shelley Fox, Simone Rocha, Stefan Cook, Todd Lynn, Yuhan Wang.

Destinations for our alumni as designers and design directors include:

Acne Studio, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Bottega, Veneta, Brioni, Burberry, Chloé, Coach, Christian Dior, Courrèges, Diane Von Furstemberg, Dries Van Noten, Dunhill, Emilio Pucci, Givenchy, Gucci, Helmut Lang, J.W.Anderson, Jil Sander, Kenzo, Lemaire, Loewe, Louis Vuitton, Lululemon, Maison Margiela, Marc Jacobs, Margaret Howell, Marni, McQ, Missoni, Mulberry, Neil Barrett, Paul Smith, Ports 1961, Prada, Pucci, Salvatore Ferragamo, Stella McCartney, Tiger of Sweden, Tom Ford, Tommy Hilfiger, Tory Burch, Uniqlo, Valentino, Vera Wang, Versace, Victoria Beckham, Yeezy.

Womenswear

Graduates of this pathway start their professional practice at the forefront of global fashion.

Some recent destinations include: Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Burberry, Courrèges, Gucci, Jil Sander, J.W. Anderson, Loewe, Marni, Stella McCartney, Versace.

Others have launched their own label. New womenswear designers to watch are: Charlotte Knowles, Yuhan Wang, Eftychia, Ernesto Naranjo, Johannes and Chopova-Lowena. They join more established young names such as Michael Halpern.