BA (Hons) in Fashion Design

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 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 campaigns and digital content. Perhaps most importantly, you’ll get time, guidance and support from our team, including technical staff and course leader Mark Hart, who's worked with brands such as Chloe, Alexander McQueen, Warner Bros Records, and London Records.

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 and Mother of Pearl. You can also take an optional placement year.

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, at River Island
• Frances Hallett is a Junior Costume Designer (projects have included work with Prime Video & Amazon Studios, Netflix, Walt Disney Studios, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Evolution Productions, and Rambert)
• 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 a Designer and Product Developer, at Bolongaro Trevor in London
• Olivia Welsh is the Creative Director of her own label, Olivia Annabelle
• Stephanie Cornforth is a Senior Designer & Product Developer (Head of Directional), at Inspire Intimates Ltd
• Yasmin Lucy Greener is Womenswear Print Designer at John Lewis & Partners
• Thanh Cong Vu has gone on to establish his own brand since graduating. While studying Fashion Design at ARU, his designs were shown at Pure and featured in Urban Coco magazine
• Micaela Sapinho created her own label and has twice shown her collections at Lisbon Fashion Week.

By the end of the course, you too will have a new collection ready to show to the fashion industry at Graduate Fashion Week, and to the public at our own Graduate Fashion Show and Degree Show.