Short course
Fashion Design for Beginners Short Course
Course description
Course overview
This practical short course for beginners introduces you to the creative process used by fashion designers, guiding you from initial inspiration and research, through to concept development, design communication and presentation.
Led by experienced tutors at Central Saint Martins, you'll explore how designers develop a personal creative direction and translate ideas into fashion outcomes.
Classes focus on visual research, drawing, collage, colour exploration, textile investigation and design development exercises, so you can work on building a body of work that reflects your individual interests and creative identity.
You'll learn how to communicate your ideas effectively through fashion sketches, portfolio pages and collection presentations.
Who this course is for
- Complete beginners interested in fashion design
- Students considering future study in fashion or textiles
- Creative practitioners looking to develop fashion-specific skills
- Individuals interested in creating a fashion portfolio
- Learners exploring potential careers within the fashion industry
No previous fashion design experience is required.
Key information
Topics covered
- Fashion design research methods
- Finding inspiration and developing concepts
- Colour, texture and fabric exploration
- Building a personal creative direction
- Fashion drawing and illustration techniques
- Silhouette development and garment ideas
- Textile, print and surface design exploration
- Communicating design ideas visually
- Portfolio presentation techniques
- Developing and presenting a fashion collection proposal
Learning outcomes
- Be able to identify the key stages of the fashion design process
- Work on your own original fashion concepts through research and experimentation
- Communicate fashion ideas through drawing, illustration and presentation
- Develop initial collection concepts and design proposals
- Produce work for your portfolio suitable for future development
- Understand progression routes into further fashion study and advanced UAL fashion design short courses
- Digital badge and certificate of attendance
Progress your learning
This course provides a strong foundation for further study across UAL's Fashion Design Short Course programme.
After completing this course, you may wish to progress to more specialised courses in:
- Building a Fashion Collection
- Introduction to Clo3D and 3D Fashion Design Online Short Course
- Fashion Design CSM Summer School
- Fashion Folio
Materials
- A3 and A4 paper
- Selection of drawing pencils and paintbrushes
- Fine liner pens
- Watercolours
- Paints
- Scissors
- Pritt stick
- Any other materials you enjoy working with
Tutor
Dawn Kelso
Dawn graduated from Womenswear at LCF in 2018 with a first class honours and specialism in techniques of couture dressmaking, and is currently starting a luxury label that focuses on hand-craft and the production of one of a kind pieces made with love, care and skill. Dawn's work explores themes of environmental destruction, capitalism, cultural heritage, and "the end of the world"... she imagines a utopian future that looks much like the past, one where humans are once again in touch with the land from which they live. With transparency and ethical, artisan production at the core, Dawn travels to Bangladesh to source fabric from rural weaving villages, where she meets and interviews weavers, with the intention of partnering with a social enterprise in the near future and a focus on preserving the dying handloom weaving industry. As well as this, she collaborates with her mum (a spinner, dyer and knitter of yarn) to create materials that are entirely handmade and as locally sourced as possible. Dawn's mission is to create a model for a fashion business that makes beautiful clothes free of harm, one that gives back to communities and preserves the life of hand-craft production in developing countries. She has been teaching on short courses since graduating and has a passion for the process, so is excited about passing it on to others!Ian Kettle
Ian Scott Kettle is a London-based artist and bespoke maker of men’s accessories and fibre art pieces. He is a graduate of Central Saint Martins (BA) and the Royal College of Art (MA), with a distinguished career as a freelance designer, having collaborated with numerous independent designers and brands. His work has been featured in various magazines and has contributed to projects across the arts, film, theatre, and music industries.
A respected and inspiring educator, Ian has taught fashion design at Central Saint Martins for over twenty years and lectures internationally. He has established and delivered courses and seminars in cities such as Paris, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Riyadh, and China.
Studio visits are welcome, by appointment, offering you a chance to see a working studio and discuss your future course options.
Carlyn McGuire
Carlyn McGuire is a graduate of Central Saint Martins and Senior lecturer at the London College of Fashion at the University of Arts London. Carlyn has taught on the pre-degree course since 2016 and is currently the fashion design leader. With over 20 years teaching experience delivering fashion design and development at pre-degree level. Carlyn specialises in teaching established methods and experimental techniques to prepare and help students discover their fashion design direction and build visual design identity through design development and process. See Carlyn on Instagram: iisf_lcfBook a course
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