MA Fashion Design Management: Leading Design Practice module opens doors to real-world fashion challenges
- Written byTino Matienga
- Published date 20 June 2023
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Are you looking for an innovative course that gives you a real insight into the world of fashion? If the answer is yes, look no further than our MA Fashion Design Management course.
Found in our Fashion Business School, this course offers students the chance to develop key skills including design theory, research methodologies, trend analysis, sustainable practices, and brand development through live briefs and projects.
The Leading Design Practice (LDP) module is front and centre of bridging the gap between theory and practice and is a great way for our students to extend their professional network. Each year, MA Fashion Design Management students work collaboratively to respond to a live brief set by a range of industry experts. Our students combine their creative expression with commercial understanding and receive feedback directly from industry professionals during a final presentation day.
This year, our students had live briefs set by 5 renowned industry clients including; Peachaus, a sustainable lifestyle brand offering lingerie and leisurewear, M&S kids, Zig &Star, Mamut and Loanhood. The initial pitching process required students to express their preferences, with the best 2 going forward with each client.
Collaboration is a key feature of this module and as such, our students were required to assign various roles and responsibilities amongst their teams. Their first steps involved conducting an in-depth analysis of the client's current design strategy, which allowed them to gain more of an insight into the client’s operations, vision, and culture – an essential step in forming their initial ideas and approach.
To support their research, the students took part in interviews, including a tour of the client’s head offices. This first-hand experience was a crucial in getting to understand the company’s requirements which would help them in designing innovative and sustainable processes for their final pitch.
Throughout this unit our students were supported through a series of lectures and workshops from specialist academic staff and industry experts. Focusing on Buying and Merchandising principles, design research and implementation, project management and communications, these sessions were all designed to provide additional support for their final presentations.
We caught up with students that took part in the unit and presentation day to find out a bit more about how this experience has shaped them and help develop them.
This was an invaluable experience for me as a postgraduate student. It provided an opportunity for us to apply our theoretical knowledge to a real-world scenario and collaborate with Peachaus as an industry partner. The day was filled with excitement, creative energy, and a sense of purpose as we presented our design concepts and received feedback from industry experts. It was a great platform to showcase our skills and gain practical insights into the design industry - Sanjana Atal
During the presentation, I was encouraged by how the clients looked at us with such genuine eyes and occasionally took notes. Even though we were students and have little experience in the fashion business at this moment in time, our efforts were respected, and our suggestions were listened to and carefully considered. It felt like a genuine business partnership moment, not just a homework assignment - Xujing Chen
My experience for the partner presentation day was very enlightening. The feedback from industry professionals allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of the standard of work that is expected by brands. This experience was a very practical way of experiencing with different communication methods in different teams working for the same company, and how to achieve a goal effectively for a business seamlessly and in a structured manner- Barbara Wu
We had to understand the brief given by the partner, in our case, Peachaus, and created a range plan and marketing strategy based on our findings. It was an amazing experience to showcase our ideas to the partner and get relevant feedback. The founder was impressed with the work that we had put in and it was an incredible opportunity to work on the brief, especially for a sustainable brand that’s very relevant in the current fashion climate - Nidhi Bhat
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