BA (Hons) Fashion Culture and Business

Program Overview

BA (Hons) Fashion Culture and Business is a communication and humanities orientated course that will deliver a curriculum based on the growing emergence of social responsibility within the industry of fashion. Fashion communication is evolving. The industry is now under pressure to produce 'proactive advocates of diversity and inclusivity' (State of Fashion 2020). The course will cater for the need to train communication literate professionals who command an understanding of empathy towards a variety of global audiences.

This course aims to provide you with a pedagogical structure that facilitates the learning of research methodologies, both qualitative and quantitative. You will be required to engage with communities, locally, nationally and internationally in order to produce outcomes that focus on the analysis of socio-economic and geographic phenomena relevant to the industry of fashion.

The course will offer you the opportunity to work closely with other students within the University of East London's Fashion department and other departments within the School of Arts and Creative Industries.

The course will also focus on the utilisation of the University of East London's rich background in diverse student cohort by conducting research practice that engages with both active students and potentially, alumni, whilst following the University's protocols on ethics in research.

Digital media outcomes will be a focus for the course, concentrating on the development and refinement of visual diaries, reports and presentations.

The course will work with local communities directly within the borough of Newham via organisations such as Spotlight and the Eastside Youth centre.

You can also take this course with a foundation year (FY), which means you it will take you four years to complete the course full-time, and eight years to complete the course part-time.

If you don't meet the entry requirements for a BA, you can study this course as an 'extended,' four-year programme . You'll begin by taking a foundation year which prepares you for a successful transition to the BA degree. This means it will take you four years to complete the course full-time, and eight years to complete the course part-time.

Program Outline

Our fashion culture and business degree will give you a broad knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of essential cultural topics within fashion and business.

You will develop a good knowledge of the influences on and factors involved in design thinking and iteration such as:

You will also develop an in-depth understanding of visual communication and research that lightly links in with psychology through brand and consumer analysis and demographics. This knowledge will be backed up by subject-based practical skills such as the ability to design and conduct research, to analyse and interpret quantitative and qualitative data, and awareness of ethical issues and principles in research on cultural identity.

You will have the opportunity to learn new creative processes and skills that could lead to a number of outputs in moving image, publication or portfolio.

Key to many careers and employers - you will also develop thinking skills, including ideas and concept generation for fashion, individual and collaborative responses to set fashion projects, critical thinking, and appreciation of multiple perspectives and approaches. Other skills for life and work include effective management and organisation of time, communication, computer literacy (Adobe suite: InDesign and editing software), interpersonal and group skills.

The fashion subject area is made up of industry knowledgeable staff, entrepreneurs and business owners, so you can be sure you will be learning in real-time. We believe it is important that your education is consistent with the times and reflects the industry you will progress into.

Your knowledge of the area is guided through reading, discussions, seminars, lectures, workshops and collaborative activities.

We will develop your thinking skills through historical theory and conceptual thinking, research processes and investigation and the development of your ideas through outcomes.

Skills for life and work are developed through project management skills, time management and planning, project work and presentations as well as reflection and reviews with your peers and academic advisor.

Students on the BA course will have the opportunity to collaborate and take part in cross and multi-disciplinary activities such as hackathons with other courses within our cluster.

If you opt for the year-long placement, our close industry contacts will be key to helping you find the right opportunity. Previously, our students have worked as fashion journalists, administrators and buyers for world-leading firms. The list includes Another Magazine, Wallpaper Magazine, Yoox Net-A-Porter Group, SHOWstudio and much more.

Even if you decide not to take the placement option, you'll still have the chance to work on some exciting industry-led projects and work with exciting companies as we approach key fashion calendar events such as London Fashion Week.

We'll assess you with a mixture of coursework, essays and presentations. Coursework includes essays, research files, visual and moving image portfolio, group and seminar presentations and a final-year project.

In your third year, your assessment will be based on research coursework, written reports and a final portfolio outcome. You will have the opportunity to gain feedback from your lecturers, peers and our industry partners.