Reid Building, 8 students

The Master of Design in Fashion and Textiles is an advanced skills postgraduate programme designed to meet the ambitions of motivated fashion and/or textile graduates who wish to extend, develop and refine their design practice. The programme welcomes two broad types of fashion design student, each of which has a characteristically different approach.
One can broadly be described as ‘Textile, or surface, led’ with a design approach considered to be from the ‘Textile-outwards’. The other can broadly be described as ‘Silhouette, or shape, led’ with a design approach considered to be from the ‘Silhouette-inwards’.

Textile-led fashion designers are more concerned with the surface (print, embroidery, decoration) or structure (weave) of the fabric in a garment and tend to think more in two dimensions when designing. Silhouette led designers are more concerned with the shape, cut, outline and construction of a garment and tend to think more in three dimensions when designing.

Knitwear is considered a hybrid activity as the structure of the knitted cloth and the shape of the knitted garment are considered simultaneously. The emphasis might be on knitted structures or fully fashioning.

Students on the programme are required to specialise in a surface or silhouette approach in order to give focus to and strengthen their individual area of expertise. They can express their ideas digitally, physically or a combination of both.