Course summary

Create your own fashion designs from year 1 in our workshops at Cambridge School of Art, and launch your career with a professional portfolio and stand-out final collection. Our BA (Hons) Fashion Design degree will help you forge an identity as a designer, specialising in menswear or womenswear. You’ll be hands-on from day one, creating your own fashion designs and engaging with all aspects of the design process in our studios, including drawing, traditional and experimental pattern cutting, draping, textiles and digital media. You’ll also learn about 3D digital fashion design and innovation, contemporary fashion styling and promotion, and art direction. We also integrate live industry projects across different market levels from Year 1, alongside knowledge and practice focused on circular fashion and sustainability that will help you to develop as a responsible industry professional. You’ll work closely with students from across our creative community, including fashion students in other years, photographers and filmmakers to create eye-catching content for your portfolio. Perhaps most importantly, you’ll get time, guidance, and support from our team, including technical staff, lecturers who are active in academic research and/or have worked with brands such as Chloe, Alexander McQueen, Warner Bros Records, London Records, and Heavy Jeans (Portugal). As a BA (Hons) Fashion Design student at ARU, you’ll have the chance to find placements and internships with high-profile fashion houses and contemporary designers, including Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, Mary Katrantzou, Marcus Lupfer, Mother of Pearl and Heavy Jeans (Portugal). You’ll also get to make connections with smaller brands that do big things – our recent graduates Roberto Duarte, Cosmin Diaconu and Bruno Coelho worked on the costumes for Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour for the brand Bang London. You’ll also have opportunities to take part in live briefs with our partner organisations. Our students recently worked with humanitarian aid charity Hope and Aid Direct, using textile design work to raise awareness of social, cultural and environmental issues, and Heavy Jeans, designing a contemporary, sustainable, gender neutral denim collection inspired by historical workwear. Our course options allow you to take a placement year as part of your course as well. We also attend trade fairs, such as Pure in London – the UK’s leading fashion buying event – or the fabric and trend show Premiere Vision in Paris; and visit suppliers and brands, e.g. River Island Head Office, plus other businesses connected to the fashion industry and the creative design and production process. Many of our students go on to establish their own labels or work for fashion houses and other well-known brands: • Roberto Sabala and Bruno Coelho, work in Creative Direction and Product Development at Bang London • Ines Mourao is Head of Wardrobe at Vogue • Milly Jeffrey is a Designer at Cath Kidson • Georgia Bishop is a Fashion Assistant, River Island • Rob Davis went on to establish his own business as Creative Director, Freak Couture, Manchester • Agnieszka Zabek works as Apparel Designer with Reebok • Tracie Sell is Designer and Product Developer, Bolongaro Trevor in London • Olivia Welsh is Creative Director of her own label, Olivia Annabelle • Stephanie Cornforth is Senior Designer & Product Developer (Head of Directional), Inspire Intimates Ltd • Yasmin Lucy Greener is Womenswear Print Designer at John Lewis & Partners By the end of the course you too will have a final collection and professional portfolio ready to show to the fashion industry at Graduate Fashion Week, and to the public at our own Graduate Fashion Show / Degree Show. Our students are shortlisted for awards at Graduate Fashion Week which can really boost their profile – in 2023 Alejandro Martinez-Herreros was shortlisted for the Zandra Rhodes Fashion Textiles Award.