Fashion
Where creativity hits the runway
From education to career
Gain skills in digital printing, laser cutting, three-dimensional printing and computer-aided design – knowledge that will help you bridge the gap from education to your professional career.
About us
The reputation of UEL fashion students is of the highest order. Our courses have gained national and international recognition through Graduate Fashion Week, London Fashion Week, Russian Fashion Week and other national design awards.
We’ve tailored our courses to fit today’s fashion business, responding to its pace and the adaptability of its processes. So, our students from all courses work together and learn from each other as they achieve their goals. This collaboration results in exceptional work.
Our team has a wealth of expertise in the creative and technical aspects of the business. Our design staff have designed for brands such as Adidas, Louis Vuitton, Puma and Kanye West.
Our facilities include dedicated manufacturing workrooms and screen printing and dyeing facilities, allowing you to master the handmade element of creativity. Fashion students studying business-related subjects will also have access to Mac lab to gain hands-on experience in Adobe programmes such as Photoshop, Illustration and InDesign.
Why choose us?
Our fashion courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels are highly industry-facing. You will embark on an innovative curriculum which balances theoretical constructs with practical, creative commercial solutions. Many modules are project based, which will help you build an impressive professional portfolio.
Our studio-based learning offers you a high level of contact time with both technicians and academics. We have a wide range of facilities including our Mac lab, sewing workshop, large textile print workshop.
Our connections with industry are extremely vast and many of our teaching staff are industry active. With these great links our staff and the university have built, our work placement sandwich year will give you the opportunity to work at prestigious companies.
Over the years, students have interned at ASOS, Paul Smith, Net a Porter, Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen and fashion groups such as Inditex and Arcadia. Additionally, with new embedded modules such as Mental Wealth: Professional Life, students are given the opportunity to develop live projects with industry and build on their business and enterprise skills.
Our facilities
The Fashion and Textiles workshops provide materials and facilities for textile printing and embroidery, including an exposure unit and a transfer press. There are workshops for pattern cutting, machining, and fabricating garments. We also have a textile print workshop with large screen tables for fabric printing. Machine workrooms provide a full machining workshop, producing garments with a variety of construction techniques. In addition, we also have a historic archive of garments that students can borrow from to aid their understanding of design and construction and also offer collaborative opportunities with other departments such as photography, journalism, games and the fine arts workshops. All our available resources ensure our students are getting the most out of what we offer and can further build on their personal, professional development and skills.
Our libraries and learning services are at the very heart of the University. We have a superb range of resources and facilities to help you with your studies and we’re committed to offering you a first-class student experience. Our Stratford library, opened at a cost of £14 million, is a state-of-the-art building which provides an inspirational environment for study and research. Overlooking the Royal Docks, our modern Docklands library is another fantastic space for learning, offering a wide range of resources as well as group and silent study facilities. It’s also home to the UEL Skillzone, where you can get extra help with your academic writing.
Both our libraries are open 24/7 during term time, giving you maximum flexibility about when you choose to study. As well as visiting our libraries in person, you can also take advantage of our growing collection of electronic resources, including e-books, e-journals and databases.
To ensure our students get the best possible support, we’ve opened brand-new Student Support hubs at our Docklands and Stratford campuses - at a cost of £3.1 million. These contain centralised helpdesks as well as comfortable areas to relax and socialise. The helpdesks provide a ‘one-stop shop’ for every possible need, from course-related enquiries to personal issues such as health and money matters. They’re designed to be your first port of call if you have an enquiry or problem.
To find out more and experience our facilities first-hand, visit us at an Open Day.
I really enjoyed my time at UEL. I learned so much about the world of fashion from theories to practice during my industry experience. Our tutors were knowledgeable, approachable and had many connections which benefitted our studies and further. I had the opportunity to have my PR placement done at Alexander McQueen and another one in New York. The tutors pushed us to work hard but it’s all worth it in the end.
Lucy Davies
BA (Hons) Fashion Marketing, graduate
What we're researching
Our academic team are dedicated to furthering the knowledge of creative practice and how it impacts on the fashion industry.
One of our research areas is sustainable design within fashion and textiles. In a collaborative project by UEL researchers; we’ve been analysing and identifying new materials and decorative methods. Our BA Fashion Design senior lecturer, Joe Hunter’s environmental design ideology has been ongoing since the early 90’s and is reinvigorated with a new soft sculpture, printed with trash and skinned with denim offcuts to create an oversized soft toy designed to initiate kids into environmental preservation.
Additionally, we’re also looking at how new digital technology can transform fashion shopping experience and further increase in-store customer experience. MA International Fashion Business programme leader, Kent Le, is conducting his PhD on the use of Augmented Reality on Fashion Promotion with his research being presented in international conferences such as International Conference on Contemporary Marketing Issues.
Our BA Fashion Marketing senior lecturer, Dr Gokhan Aydin, is a research expert in online consumer behavior, luxury marketing and brand equity and has published on various impactful journals.
Our HOD and Course Leader for BA Fashion Design, Beatrice Newman, is an entrepreneur and has launched her own brand, Korlekie, which specialises in unique made to order clothing that has been worn by the likes of Alesha Dixon, Rita Ora, Ellie Goulding and Tiwa Savage from Nigeria. Her specialist area of research surrounds building a sustainable fashion business with emphasis towards the development and preservation of craftsmanship using heritage hand craft and digital technology.
Our staff
Find out more about our staff by visiting our School of Arts and Creative Industries (ACI) page.
Careers
Our courses will put you on track to securing for a career in fashion. The quality of our students’ work is held in such high regard that a group of our undergraduates were commissioned to create the costumes for hit moves and celebrities.
It's a very competitive industry, so we advise that students take up work experience at any given opportunity. If you choose to undertake an optional placement year, you’ll have a wonderful opportunity to earn as you learn for a year at top fashion companies such as Diesel, ASOS or Marks & Spencer.
We are proud of the success that so many of our graduate fashion students have achieved. Our students go on to make their names as designers, design co-ordinators, pattern cutters, fashion technologists, product developers and retail managers. Our dedicated Centre for Student Success works closely with employers to provide up-to-date information about the skills and experience they’re looking for. They will support you during your studies and after you graduate.
At UEL, you’ll have access to:
- Employability skills training such as interview techniques and CV writing.
- Career Assessment, giving you the opportunity to learn about yourself and Career Coach will help you to discover career suggestions based on your interests.
- UEL Skills Academy, where external professionals deliver sessions on the competencies most prized by graduate employers.
- Internships, placements and volunteering opportunities from our work placements team.
- Professional mentoring scheme, matching students with staff from major companies.
- Networking opportunities and annual careers fair.
- Support with setting up your own business.
Our location in one of Europe’s largest regeneration areas and our extensive links to local employers will also give you access to fantastic internships and placements. From heavy industry to high-tech, health and social care to the arts, there are so many opportunities right on our doorstep.
Work placements
Our undergraduate students can choose to switch on Industrial Placement (Sandwich Year) option and have the opportunity to take a full year industry placement schedule between their second and third academic year. They gain first-hand experience of the industry and develop their understanding of professional practice. Each course has an extensive and varied list of contacts that we use to support our student’s work placement opportunities.
Previous students have worked with top companies such as:
- ASOS
- M&Co
- Marios Schwab
- Suzie turner Couture
- Julien Macdonald
- Holly Fulton
- Markus Lupfer
- Another magazine
- Wallpaper magazine
- Hand & Lock
- Alexander McQueen
- Net a Porter
- M&S
Career coach
Our online Career Coach shows you the different career paths that your chosen subject area can lead you to.
Get information on specific careers, job roles, potential wages and available jobs in the sector.
Or, take a quick quiz to find a career to match your personality type!
Undergraduate courses
BA (Hons) Fashion Buying, Merchandising & Innovation
A programme designed to introduce students to responsibilities and develop their understanding of the skills that are required for working as a buyer within fashion.
Find out more
BA (Hons) Fashion Culture and Business
A communication and humanities orientated course that will deliver a curriculum based on the growing emergence of social responsibility within the industry of fashion.
Read more
BA (Hons) Fashion Journalism
Learn fashion journalism by doing it, as a reporter and editor working for UEL Journalism’s publications.
Find out more
BA (Hons) Fashion Marketing
We'll teach you how to retail, brand and merchandise fashion. You'll discover promotional and sales strategies, learning how to take a new fashion product from the concept stage all the way to the high street store.
Find out more
BA (Hons) Fashion Product Management and Innovation
BA (Hons) Fashion Product Management and Innovation will offer a focused curriculum of study that allows you to research and explore the development of materials and apparel created for utilisation within the fashion industry.
Read more
BA (Hons) Sustainable Fashion and Management
An educational directive that focuses on re-contextualising the process of design analysis, development and production in fashion education.
Find out more
BA (Hons) Textile Design
This course aims to provide you with a rich learning experience in applied textiles, which will focus on highly creative design solutions for fashion, interiors and the home.
Find out morePostgraduate courses
MA Fashion
A course that focuses on researching and developing creative practice and implementing an interdisciplinary learning project or curriculum initiative with measurable impact within a project environment.
Find out more
MA International Fashion Business
This course will provide you with up-to-date management skills in the context of fashion.
Find out more