Fashion Design (BA)

Please contact our enquiries team if you're not sure that you have the right experience or qualifications to get onto this course.

Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44(0)23 8059 5000

This fashion degree is 3 years of study. Throughout your studies, you’ll cover industry informed modules to learn the principles and fundamentals of an ever changing fashion industry.

Following your second year, you’ll have the option to either study abroad or do a year in employment.

In your third year you’ll work on your final major project and professional portfolio. 
 

Want more detail? See all the modules in the course.

The learning activities for this course include the following:

• classes and tutorials
• coursework
• individual and group projects
• independent learning (studying on your own)

Course leader

Sharon Williams is the course leader.

With unrivalled exposure to industry, expert advice from the staff team and a portfolio that showcases your design, research and technical skills, you’ll be well prepared to secure a role in the fashion industry. You can choose to work for a niche brand, a major high street group, or establish your own label. Or you could go into fashion buying, trend forecasting or fashion PR. 

Our alumni work at places like:

• Alexander McQueen
• Burberry
• Stella McCartney
• Vivienne Westwood
• Urban Outfitters
• Topshop
• Net-A-Porter

We focus on your employability throughout your studies by offering:

• ongoing advice from tutors with extensive fashion industry experience 
• careers events to introduce you to potential employers
• creative opportunities with a range of companies and organisations

We are a top 20 UK university for employability (QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022). Our Careers, Employability and Student Enterprise team will support you. This support includes:

• work experience schemes
• CV and interview skills and workshops
• networking events
• careers fairs attended by top employers
• a wealth of volunteering opportunities
• study abroad and summer school opportunities

We have a vibrant entrepreneurship culture and our dedicated start-up supporter, Futureworlds, is open to every student.

Our in-house Studio 3015 provides paid design and marketing internships for our graduates.

Through our network of institutional, professional and industry contacts, you’ll work on ‘live’ projects to build a wide-ranging, professional portfolio to show employers.

What your fees pay for

Your tuition fees pay for the full cost of tuition and standard exams.

Find out how to:

• pay your tuition fees
• calculate your student finances

Accommodation and living costs, such as travel and food, are not included in your tuition fees. There may also be extra costs for retake and professional exams.

Explore:

• accommodation costs
• living costs
• budgeting advice
• fees, charges, and expenses regulations 

If you're a UK or EU student and your household income is under £25,000 a year, you may be able to get a University of Southampton bursary to help with your living costs. Find out about bursaries and other funding we offer at Southampton.

If you're a care leaver or estranged from your parents, you may be able to get a specific bursary.

Get in touch for advice about student money matters.

You may be able to get a scholarship or grant to help fund your studies.

We award scholarships and grants for travel, academic excellence, or to students from under-represented backgrounds.

The Student Hub offers support and advice on money to students. You may be able to access our Student Support fund and other sources of financial support during your course.

Funding for EU and international students

Find out about funding you could get as an international student.

When you apply use:

• UCAS course code: FD23
• UCAS institution code: S27

Apply for this course

Portfolio Guidance

Your portfolio is one of the most important parts of your application. It is your opportunity to show us your work, and our opportunity to find out more about you. You may not have presented your work before, so here is some guidance with preparing your portfolio. 

What do you want to see in my portfolio?

We would like to see carefully selected work which demonstrates your interest and drive to be a future fashion creator. What stands out to us is a creative, inventive approach to the development of ideas, projects and personally directed work and an awareness of fashion, culture, environment and/or society. We want to see how you develop your ideas, from inspiration and research to experimentation, design development, materials and processes in your sketchbooks and photographs of finished pieces. We are looking to see range rather than repetition. Express your work through different drawing styles, design ideas, fabric ideas, print, collage and mixed media. Drawing shows your ability to observe still life, structure or people with accuracy, so make sure to include some recent drawing. If you have life drawing examples, include them in your portfolio.

Drawing can also include collage and the use of unconventional materials. Your work should have been produced within the last twelve months, although earlier work can be included if it is relevant. 

We treat and select everyone in line with our Equality and Diversity Statement.

Please contact our enquiries team if you're not sure that you have the right experience or qualifications to get onto this course.

Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44(0)23 8059 5000