Why Study Fashion?

Your Degree in Fashion

The skills you acquire as an undergraduate doing a fashion degree will vary according to the nature of your course. 

Design degrees encourage you to develop and produce your own concepts. The ultimate aim is to produce collections of work and often to specialise in one or two types of design, such as menswear or streetwear. You also learn practical skills such as drawing, pattern cutting and the use of sector-specific IT programs such as CAD-CAM. Textiles and working in different materials is another area that is covered. Topics such as fashion history and the influence of historical and social events on fashion will also be covered. Many design courses also include several business components, including overviews of marketing, the fashion and retail industries and modules for students who may want to become self-employed.

Some non-design courses focus more on the fashion business or media. These tend to be based around lectures and tutorials. There may still be opportunities to become involved in a limited range of practical and creative work, but the emphasis is on commercial techniques, and sourcing, manufacturing, buying and selling of garments and accessories. A few degrees and postgraduate programmes aim to equip students to work in fashion communication, for example, as PR specialists or journalists.

Fashion courses also provide a range of transferable skills that may be used in a variety of jobs. These include:

• analytical and conceptual skills;
• time management skills;
• team work;
• use of initiative;
• communication skills;
• generation of ideas;
• evaluation of projects. 

Consider the skills developed on your course as well as through your other activities, such as paid work, volunteering, family responsibilities, sport, membership of societies, leadership roles, etc. Think about how these can be used as evidence of your skills and personal attributes. Then you can start to market and sell who you really are, identify what you may be lacking and consider how to improve your profile. Take a look at job application advice for some useful tips.