Year one
Introduction to Menswear
Introduction to Menswear aims to introduce you to your course and its subject specialism as well as to effective learning and studentship at undergraduate level. It will orientate you to the practices and knowledge base needed to understand your discipline and help you to develop your skills for independent & collaborative learning, reflection and your own self development. Students come from many diverse educational backgrounds and a part of this unit will enable to reflect on your own background and how that shapes the way you approach your course.
Design and Realisation
Design and Realisation introduces you to a variety of research approaches and explores their relevance and application within design and realisation. There will be a focus on the importance of research and creative concepts as the basis for design development. You will be encouraged to develop creative ideas that relate to and expand upon your visual references to inform the final outcomes, and you will be encouraged to nurture innovation in all areas. Effective visual communication skills will be integral to this unit. You will be introduced to ways of recording your work in a visually stimulating, exciting and informative way, using a variety of methods and media. You will be introduced to core practical skills through demonstration of pattern-cutting and garment construction culminating in a completed garment. Independent study will help to further enhance skills learnt within sessions.
Fashion Cultures and Histories
Fashion Cultures and Histories introduces the Cultural and Historical Studies approach to fashion and related areas. The unit provides a broad overview of the subject and introduces key concepts and ways of thinking that will form the basis of subsequent study. It will also inform decisions regarding the Cultural and Historical Studies unit that is chosen for future study.
Form and Structure
will develop your understanding of the principles involved in the realisation of structured and unstructured garments through the exploration of innovative cutting and construction techniques. There will be an emphasis on creative shape development and detailing. There will be consideration to the use of colour, fabric, proportion, shape and detail to develop design responses relevant to the project brief. Research will form the basis of the project and presentation skills will be developed further to facilitate clear communication of design ideas. Emphasis will be placed on the use of 3D experimentation, to develop design responses relevant to the project brief. There will also be a focus on ethical and sustainable design practice.
Better Lives
London College of Fashion, UAL (LCF) is a leader in fashion design, media and business education. We have been nurturing creative talent for over a century, offering courses in all things fashion. We encourage students to examine the past and challenge the present. To have inventive, assertive ideas that challenge social and political agendas. We give students the skills, opportunities – and above all, the freedom – to put those ideas into practice. By leading the way in fashion design, business, and the media, we influence culture, economics and our society. This unit will provide you with a solid understanding of LCF’ core values and how they connect to your practice. As part of this unit, you will explore diversity, social responsibility and sustainability, themes which you will then apply to a selected project. At this stage, the emphasis is on how you apply your thinking across these important themes to your practice. Your thinking is more important than a finished piece of work at this point. Fashion can change lives. Through teaching, specialist research, and collaborative work, this unit will get you thinking differently. We want you to use fashion to examine the past, build a sustainable future and improve the way we live. That’s why we call this unit ‘Better Lives’.
Year two
You will be able to study a Cultural and Historical Studies unit of your choice that will broaden or deepen your learning of areas relating to your interests in your chosen field. You will have the opportunity to participate in lectures, seminars and workshops with students from other courses within your School and will read relevant academic texts and complete a formal academic essay for assessment. Further information on the options available will be provided during Year 1 of your studies.
Range Development
This unit will introduce you to designing in relation to a client – either simulated or actual. You will be introduced to a range of professional skills including negotiation, and further, develop those of presentation and professional communication. You will be required to analyse the client and establish independent working methods in order to identify and solve problems. You will research their design ethos, market level and brand values, and analyse this information to inform the development of a design proposal that will lead to a considered, co-ordinated range that is appropriate to the client. The importance of market levels, customer awareness and product knowledge will be highlighted and investigated. You will need to show critical awareness of the relevance and overall quality of your design proposal. You will be encouraged to further develop your creative approach to design and realisation and to experiment with self-generated textile processes to help facilitate an understanding of how craft processes can add value and longevity to a fashion product.
Work Experience
The Work Experience unit will provide you with the opportunity to further develop your skills and apply them in a professional environment. You will experience real industry challenges and working practice and will be able to examine the way in which a professional team respond to different situations. The unit will increase your awareness of the industry and the opportunities for career progression. You will be expected to take an analytical and reflective approach to the work experience and will produce written and visual evidence of your knowledge, based on a minimum 10-week period in industry. LCF Graduate Futures will provide career guidance in order to prepare you for your work experience. You will be expected to engage and be proactive in securing your own work experience, relevant to your skills and career aspirations, this means applying directly to companies. You will also be expected to provide feedback on your experience both during and after your work placement. The College Placement Handbook will provide additional support for this Unit.
Collaborative Project
The Collaborative Project unit emphasises teamwork and will offer you the opportunity to work as part of a design team and will introduce you to a range of key employability skills. An understanding of team working, as well as the ability to communicate and present combined design concepts and products, are attributes that will help prepare you for the challenges of the creative industries. You will build on your knowledge of range development to create a coherent collection for a real or simulated client. You will develop an understanding of the client and their brand ethos and undertake critical analysis of the information gathered to propose design solutions. You will develop your ability to collate relevant information and expand upon creative concepts and theories related to this research. To prepare you for your Stage 3 process will be required to write a design proposal. You will use a variety of techniques to undertake a critical analysis of the information gathered from both primary and secondary sources. This will allow you to explore the role of research within a design proposal.
Final year
Contextualising Your Practice
Contextualising Your Practice allows you to build on your historical and theoretical understanding of fashion through a research-led extended essay. You will identify a topic, related to your field of practice, that you will investigate through design-led research methods and significant cultural and critical theories. It is an opportunity for you to undertake a substantial piece of structured research that examines fashion practise in context, and it will build on the critical debates and concerns raised through your course.
Pre-Collection
The Pre-Collection unit will inform and prepare you for the Final Major Collection. You will be expected to negotiate a project brief that will support the development of a thorough body of work that evidences investigation and innovation in both design and realisation. You will identify your proposed market level, customer, brand ethos and core philosophy as a designer and undertake a practical journey culminating in a body of work that shows innovative design and technical experimentation with fabric, process and potential garment solutions. You will be expected to engage in prototype testing that will be evidenced through 2D and 3D investigation and sampling, within both your design and technical portfolios. The focus on this project is using your skills to show extensive creative experimentation, whilst considering the practical aspects of problem-solving, through fabric and trims sourcing. Extensive investigation into appropriate use of finish, detailing and manufacture will be documented alongside silhouette/shape development. The completed outfits will form the basis of your collection for your Final Major Collection.
Final Collection
The Final Collection unit is the culmination of your undergraduate learning experience. Through the development of a final major project, you will be further demonstrating your innovative approach and deeper engagement, analysis and conclusions drawn from your Pre-Collection unit. You should refine and execute your design, design development and realisations established in through a process of design synthesis. Through practical application, you will be demonstrating your rigorous analysis in the exploration and development of your design ideas. This unit provides the opportunity to apply the findings established through your investigation of the challenges of your chosen brief. It evidences your ability to construct, direct and organise an overall professional outcome. This Final Collection is the vehicle by which you evaluate and reflect upon your own learning and skills in order to establish a potential career path. You will accompany your work with a career pack that will enable you to take up roles or pursue business objectives as soon as you graduate from London College of Fashion.
Showing your work
All students are advised to set up a profile on portfolio.arts.ac.uk, UAL’s new portfolio platform, which can be done at any point during your time at LCF and will last for up to 12 months after graduation. This platform is often used to source student work for promotional use on the website, social media and for print and can be a great way of getting your work seen. You may also be asked to have a portfolio profile for the selection process when it comes to degree shows.
