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Postgraduate

MA Fashion Design Technology (Womenswear)

Female models wearing floaty pale blue skirts that trail across the floor.
MA Fashion Design Technology Womenswear | London College of Fashion | Designer Emily Saunders | Photographer Eilwen Jones
College
London College of Fashion
Start date
September 2024
Course length
15 months

A disruptive, knowingly transgressive and deliberately subversive course that arms students with a unique set of skills to inform new definitions and notions of fashion practice. As critical thinkers, we are responsible, accountable and resilient.

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.

Why choose this course at London College of Fashion

  • Collaborative working: students have the opportunity to collaborate across disciplines within the college.
  • Sustainable focus:the course works closely with the Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF) and has an underpinning of sustainable practices and mind-sets throughout.
  • Digital resources:research into a combination of digital and craft techniques is encouraged through the Digital Learning Label and Digital Anthropology Lab.
  • Where graduates have gone on to work: recent graduates are employed as designers at a number of leading brands including: Ralph and Russo, Gucci, Jacquemus, Roland Mouret, Alexander McQueen, Giorgio Armani and Celine. >
  • Facilities and support: students benefit from access to LCF’s extensive fashion archives to inform research. Gain access to our student enterprise team who can support and guide students in setting up their own brand.
  • Industry links: students are supported in developing collaborations with industry specialists.

MA Womenswear MANIFESTO

  • Integrity
  • Research
  • Sustainability
  • Respect
  • Social responsibility
  • Accountability
  • Disruption

These are our principles.

  • We debate, critique and interrogate.
  • We operate in the virtual and actualised realms.
  • We apply philosophical theory to concepts and design practice.
  • We embrace chance, mistake and accident.
  • We adopt a rhizomatic approach; forming unexpected relationships with objects, disciplines and cultures.
  • We challenge traditional fashion models; writing a new language of fashion that works for everyone: people, communities and environment.
  • We redefine craft, valuing both the hand and the machine.
  • We believe that fashion stands for positive solutions, not negative consequences.
  • We are unorthodox.

This is our process.

  • Our outputs are dynamic, uncompromising, intelligent and responsive.
  • Our graduates are Fashion designers, fashion thinkers and industry leaders.
  • Our history is long and celebrated; our future is ambitious.

This is our legacy.

Course overview

Introduction

MA Fashion Design Technology (Womenswear) is guided by experienced staff and resourced with industry standard equipment. The course nurtures enquiry and develops professionals who will influence the future of the industry.

The course is one of five which make-up the Fashion Programme. The other four courses are:

  • MA Fashion Design Technology (Menswear);
  • Graduate Diploma Fashion Design Technology;
  • BA (Hons) Fashion Design Technology: Womenswear;
  • BA (Hons) Fashion Design Technology: Menswear.

What to expect

  • The course helps students to develop the ability to master complex and speculative areas of knowledge through advanced research skills relative to fashion;
  • Students will expand their intellectual and creative skills through the synthesis of theoretical and practice based approaches to design, and the synergy between craft and technology;
  • Students will engage with the complexities of the current fashion market, with consideration of the environmental and human impact of the industry.

MA Fashion Design Technology (Womenswear) students will develop their work, both conceptually and technically, through investigative and experimental research into a range of processes and materials. Students can access specialist facilities for hand crafted and digitized manufacturing processes. In addition to the in-house facilities students will have the opportunity to collaborate with their peers and industry partners to further their skills beyond design in areas such as sourcing, manufacture and project management, media and marketing.

Students are supported to develop collaborations with industry specialists and international fabric suppliers, a process that builds important contacts for the future. Students have the potential to incorporate collaborations with textile and production professionals throughout the course. 

Design & Technology 

LCF students have access to the Digital Anthropology Lab and Digital Learning Lab. Researchers from the Digital Labs work with specialist technicians to advise and guide students to innovate in the area of integrated 3D Digital Design. Using diverse production techniques, from couture craftsmanship to futuristic experimentation, students are able to explore their own perspectives to form the basis of their Masters collection. 

Work experience and opportunities

Some students may choose to undertake work experience. LCF Graduate Futures can support the preparation of CV’s and application information. LCF graduate futures can also support entrepreneurship and business planning.

Attendance

The emphasis at postgraduate level is on independent study. In addition to taught sessions you will be expected to engage in extensive self-directed research and experimentation and to utilise the library and open access facilities. Details of the contact hours for your course are available via Myarts – http://mycontacthours.arts.local/.

Full schemes of work are published on Moodle.

Each unit will be completed over a period of 15 weeks.

Credit Framework

The credit framework conforms to the University of the Arts London framework in which the unit of credit is 20 credits (equivalent to 200 hours of student study time). All credits on the MA Programme are at postgraduate level 7.

Organisation of the Curriculum

The Course is divided into three 15 week blocks. The first block is 60 credits and students who successfully complete this block are eligible for the award of a PG Cert. The second block is a further 60 credits and students who complete blocks 1 and 2 are eligible for the award of PGDip. The third and final block is the Masters Project, this is a 60 credit unit and students who successfully complete this block are eligible for the award of an MA. The final award grading is based upon the MA project only.

Climate, Social and Racial Justice

We are committed to ensuring that your skills are set within an ethical framework and are working to embed UAL’s Principles for Climate, Social and Racial Justice into the course.

Course units

Creative and Technical Innovation

The unit is designed to establish and develop your creative thinking and expand on your practical skill levels.  Your work will develop individually in response to workshops and introductions to supporting facilities and equipment.

You will evaluate and expand on your existing technical and practical skills by exploring innovative manufacturing and pattern cutting methods that can be applied to your future practice.  You will explore alternative research methods to strengthen and expand your knowledge and understanding of creative research and technical processes.

Collaborative Challenge

This unit is your opportunity to innovate and explore developmental processes and engage with collaborative working practices. You will develop your professional negotiation, teamwork and networking skills that are essential in the cultural, entrepreneurial and creative industries. The emphasis of this unit is on cross-disciplinary student-led collaboration. You can conceive of your own project or engage with industry and college-based briefs.

Establish, Prototype and Test 

This unit is designed to support the planning and development of your Master’s Project in order for you to achieve a coherent and original body of work, by the end of the course.  The unit concentrates on the development of your studio practice and its evaluation, underpinned by in-depth research. You are required to develop your critical practice, to analyse review, and revise your focus in line with your expanding theories within the context of your proposed market. The process of development and review culminates in an oral presentation in line with your Research Proposal outcomes.

Research Proposal

Developing effective approaches to research is crucial for success in your Masters project and in your wider career. In this unit you will explore approaches for theoretically interrogating your practice and your discipline. Throughout this unit you will uncover your research philosophy, defining how you look at the world and your work. You will build and extend your core research capabilities, developing a robust theoretically justified research proposal that you will complete in your Master’s project.

In the process of developing your research proposal you will explore a range of research methodologies, methods and approaches, describing how you will utilise primary and secondary research tools in your Master’s project. You will build a theoretical framework to test your ideas in order to bring you to an understanding of the relationship between theory and practice. Using this framework, you will develop research questions for your topic and ensure that the aims of your study are achievable, ethical and sufficiently critical. You will be supported in developing disciplinary specific approaches to your research, discovering opportunities for interdisciplinary exploration in the process.

Masters Project

The Masters Project is the final stage of your Masters’ course and is the culmination of your studies providing you with a space to synthesise all the knowledge and skills you have gained on the course so far. Your project will be self-directed and you will negotiate the shape and direction of your project at the outset with your supervisor. This important final phase of your studies is where you will effectively communicate your work along with your ability to critically interrogate your practice with robust approaches to research and theoretical analysis. Upon completion of your project, you will have generated a high-level Masters’ quality piece of work that will showcase your practice, academic literacy and the professional standards that will act as a platform for your future career and professional development.

Learning and teaching methods

The following teaching and learning methods are employed to support the integrated achievement of the course outcomes using a blended learning mode of delivery: 

  • Academic skills, design thinking 
  • Online briefings, tutorials and feedback 
  • Online collaborative group project work 
  • Online lectures and seminars 
  • Online and physical library and workshop inductions 
  • Museum, gallery and other visits 
  • Online and physical presentations 
  • Research methods 
  • Studio teaching 
  • Peer Learning 
  • Rapid fire/short term projects in the studio and online 

UAL Showcase

Explore work by our recent students on the UAL Showcase

  • 'Sook Sabai' (Happiness and Comfort)
    'Sook Sabai' (Happiness and Comfort), Pun Pattanakulkumjorn, 2024 MA Fashion Design Technology (Womenswear), London College of Fashion, UAL
  • FORGOTTEN TRACES
    FORGOTTEN TRACES, YUHAN AO, 2024 MA Fashion Design Technology (Womenswear), London College of Fashion, UAL
  • The Unseen Echoes Of Yesterday
    The Unseen Echoes Of Yesterday, Yige Zhou, 2024 MA Fashion Design Technology (Womenswear), London College of Fashion, UAL
  • Imposter: Extensions of Self
    Imposter: Extensions of Self, Emily Saunders, 2024 MA Fashion Design Technology (Womenswear), London College of Fashion, UAL

Student and graduate work

  • Foreigner-Traveller-by-Lara-Angelil.jpg
    'Foreign Traveller'. MA Womenswear work by Joao Maraschin.
  • Foreigner-Traveller-by-Lufree-01.jpg
    'Foreign Traveller'. MA Womenswear work by Joao Maraschin.
  • JR_ZAIB_sRGB_11.jpg
    MA Womenswear work by Zaib Ahmed Quazi
  • JR_ZAIB_sRGB_6a.jpg
    MA Womenswear work by Zaib Ahmed Quazi

#LCFMA20 Catwalk at Roundhouse

LCFMA19 Womenswear Catwalk Show

Latest news from this course

Staff

Dr. Nabil El-Nayal

Dr. Nabil El-Nayal is the Course Leader and a practice-based designer, who is widely experienced in the world of fashion. After completing his MA at the Royal College of Art, Nabil launched his RTW label NABIL NAYAL to international acclaim. Nabil was twice nominated for the LVMH Prize where he gained the support of the late Karl Lagerfeld and Amanda Harlech. Nabil has twice received the British Fashion Council’s Fashion Trust Award and shows during London and Paris Fashion Weeks. In 2018 Nabil completed a practice-based PhD, which explored the concept of disruption as a generative principle in design leading to a body of work titled Elizabethan Sportswear. Nabil’s research has led to collaborations with the British Library and the School of Historical Dress and has worked with organisations including IBM, Google and Selfridges. Nabil is passionate about exploring disruptive ways of working at the intersection between research/academia and the fashion industry. Read Nabil's full profile here.

Jessica Saunders

Jessica Saunders is the Programme Director for the Fashion Design Programme, which includes BA (Hons) Fashion Design Technology: Menswear, BA (Hons) Fashion Design Technology: Womenswear and BA (Hons) Fashion Jewellery. Read Jessica's full profile here.

Olivia Hegarty

Olivia Hegarty is Senior Lecturer in Creative Pattern cutting. She brings 20 years experience as a designer and pattern cutter in industry to the MA. She has an appreciation for craft and process, and an optimism for change in industry. Olivia is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is currently researching decolonising pattern cutting epistemologies through critique of Fit. Read Olivia's full profile here.

Fees and funding

Home fee

£13,330

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.

Students from countries outside of the UK will generally be charged international fees. The rules are complex so read more about tuition fees and determining your fee status.

International fee

£28,570

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.

Students from countries outside of the UK will generally be charged international fees. The rules are complex so read more about tuition fees and determining your fee status.

Scholarship search

Entry requirements

The standard entry requirements for this course are as follows:

  • An Honours degree at 2.1 or above in a related discipline. Applicants with a degree in another subject may be considered, depending on the strength of the application;
  • OR equivalent qualifications;

APEL (Accreditation of Prior (Experiential) Learning)

Applicants who do not meet these course entry requirements may still be considered in exceptional cases. 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 (minimum of three years)
  • 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 we cannot guarantee an offer in each case.

English Language Requirements

IELTS level 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in reading, writing, listening and speaking. Please check our main English Language Requirements.

Selection criteria

The course seeks to recruit students from diverse socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, and welcomes applications from mature students.

The course seeks to recruit students who can demonstrate:

  • a strong commitment towards innovation and research in an aspect of the fashion industry and the motivation towards a career in the industry;
  • an awareness of current fashion and relevant experience in the fashion arena;
  • appropriate knowledge and skills commensurate with the course, including the ability to develop complex concepts, design, pattern cut and manufacture clothing.

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 and video task 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 and video task 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 and video task 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 and video task 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 to UAL

Start your application
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Based across the world, our local UAL representatives can support you with your application from your home country. Check to see if there is a representative available in your country currently.

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, CV and study proposal.

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.

Study proposal advice

Please provide a summary of your study proposal (600 words).

It should:

  • provide a research question
  • include a literature review, discussing relevant texts and images to support your proposal
  • demonstrate your knowledge of the historical and contemporary context of your proposal
  • highlight ideas and theories that underpin your research
  • set out the project aims and methods
  • include a bibliography. This is not included in the word count.

Please note, your proposal is essential to the application process, and we understand that your ideas will inevitably develop and change throughout your studies.

Step 2: Video task and digital portfolio

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

You’ll need to submit these via PebblePad, our online portfolio tool. Please submit your video task on the first page followed by your portfolio.

Video task advice

We’d like you to submit a 2-3 minute video to help us learn more about you. When recording your task, please face the camera and speak in English.

What to include in your video task

  • Introduce your research question and tell us why you want to explore this subject matter.

Read our guidance for how to submit your video task and which file types we accept.

Digital portfolio advice

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

It should:

  • be maximum 30 pages, including your video task
  • include clear concepts and edited design journeys
  • include clear photographs of your garments
  • include concept development and experimental work
  • demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the importance of fabric and material selection
  • highlight your technical competence in garment construction, and ability to think and work in 3D
  • demonstrate your skills in drawing, research and visual communication
  • include annotations with dates and captions to clearly explain the purpose, scope and scale of your work.

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

All our postgraduate courses offer career development, so that you become a creative thinker, making effective contributions to your relevant sector of the fashion industry.

LCF offers students the opportunity to develop Personal and Professional Development (PPD) skills while studying through:

* Access to to speaker programmes and events featuring alumni and industry.

* Access to careers activities, such as CV clinics and one-to-one advice sessions.

* Access to a graduate careers service

* Access to a live jobsboard for all years.

* Advice on setting up your own brand or company.

Career paths

Masters graduates have an acknowledged advantage in the employment market, obtaining work in a wide range of vocational and academic fields related to fashion. The course provides the industry with graduates who will have the capability to work as part of a creative team as a colleague and an individual. The graduate will have transferable skills for the creative industries including an understanding of high levels of design, time and project management, production and technical knowledge of types of manufacture supported by an aesthetic awareness and academic underpinning.

The course in the past has benefited from constant contact with the industry. External assessors and tutors, leading buying and merchandising teams, stylists and photographers, journalists and editors, entrepreneurs and business consultants show an increasing interest in the emerging talent the course generates. International employers include Alberta Ferretti, Alexander McQueen, Zac Posen, Chloe, Loewe, Pringle, Hussein Chalayan, Roland Mouret, Topman, Savile Row Tailors, Browns Focus, Harvey Nichols, Topman, Savile Row Tailors and Browns Focus.

Graduates from the current MA Fashion Design and Technology have gained employment as innovators within the broad field of fashion design and technology or have identified a fashion house, large corporate company or alternatively choose to build their own identity through the launch of their own design label. Further employment of graduates has included trend prediction, stylist, illustrator, freelance designer or broad aspects of the creative industries.

Further employment opportunities include trend prediction, stylist, illustrator, freelance designer or broad aspects of the creative industries. The MA also provides an excellent preparation for higher level research degrees (MPhil or PhD), with an increasing number of graduates undertaking research in fashion related subjects.

Student and alumni in news

Olivia Rubens

Get to Know the Young Winners of the 2020 International Talent Support Awards  Vogue Magazine 2020

MA Womenswear graduate Olivia Rubens wins big at International Talent Support 2020 LCF Stories 2020

Hong Zhao

MA Womenswear student Hong Zhao wins BFC x YOOX Net-A-Porter LCF Stories 2020