Fashion Communication

Entry requirements

Please see the university website course page for information on entry requirements for this course.

Months of entry

September

Course content

Our MA in Fashion Communication explores fashion communication as a critical, creative and research-led field within the contemporary fashion and beauty industries.

On this course you will examine how these industries communicate ideas, engage audiences, and shape values, identities and cultural meaning through visual culture, storytelling, media and as a professional practice in both local and global contexts.

This course is suitable for both recent graduates and qualified mature students who aim to work in the fashion and beauty industries. We will support you to develop the knowledge, skills and experience to prepare you for employment and freelance practice within marketing, styling, art direction, social media, PR, fashion journalism, trend forecasting and associated careers in fashion and beauty communication.

You will choose one of two areas to specialise in, and you will be in your specialism from the start of the course.

MA Fashion Communication: Styling and Art Direction

• Develop advanced skills in visual communication, storytelling and image-making through experimentation, conceptual development, studio practice and contextual research.
• Explore how fashion images are constructed, how styling and art direction communicate meaning, and how visual practice responds to cultural and critical issues.

MA Fashion Communication: Fashion and Beauty Marketing

• Develop advanced understanding of brand communication, consumer insight and cultural change through strategic thinking, industry engagement and live briefs.
• Explore how brands respond to changing contexts and critical issues, while strengthening storytelling, pitching and problem-solving skills.

While modules will be shared by students aligned to both pathways, you will have specialism-specific seminars which will allow you to focus your research and outputs on your chosen area.

In both specialisms you will learn to harness the power of compelling storytelling, visual aesthetics, and consumer research, to effectively engage audiences and drive impactful brand narratives. Adopting an international approach, you will be encouraged to reflect on your own heritage, culture, and identity to promote cross-cultural dialogue and understanding, helping you to become a professional who can navigate the global landscape of the fashion and beauty industries.

You will be encouraged to interrogate ideas, assumptions, practices and contexts, and to consider how fashion communication and storytelling can contribute to more inclusive, informed and future-focused forms of practice. You will build your technical and digital skills by applying creative tools to produce digital communication, short-form moving image, platform-specific content and print media.

The course combines critical, creative and professional approaches to fashion communication across cultural, industry and practice-based contexts. You will develop postgraduate research skills, including critical reading, contextual analysis and methodological planning, and apply these through specialist study, live industry projects, the Major Project (including proposal).

You will need to work confidently with information that is complex, ambiguous and incomplete, and use your independent judgement in response to creative, strategic and research-led projects. You are also encouraged to take responsibility for your own learning by planning effectively, prioritising tasks and solving problems to meet all briefs and deadlines, and by becoming an autonomous learner.

What's covered in this course?

• Industry knowledge: You will develop advanced understanding of fashion and beauty communication, including visual culture, storytelling, audience engagement, industry practice, and the cultural, social, ethical and environmental issues shaping contemporary and future-facing practice.
• Creative and technical development: You will build technical and digital skills through workshops, studio practice and creative development, applying a range of creative tools across digital communication, short-form moving image, platform-specific content and print media.
• Research and ideation: You will develop postgraduate research, ideation and critical enquiry skills through critical reading, contextual analysis, methodological planning, experimentation and concept development.
• Staff with industry experience and Industry engagement: The course is taught by staff with professional experience across fashion communication, supported by guest speakers and industry engagement that connect learning to contemporary practice.
• Career development: The course supports the development of professional identity, employability and industry-facing practice through live briefs, portfolio development, CV development and online presence.
• Experiential Learning and Authentic Assessment: you will learn by doing and the assessments will mirror the work you might create in industry. Take advantage of organised trips to exhibitions and inspirational stores and cities.

Assessment may include:

• research and development workbooks
• visually enriched proposals, pitch decks or zines
• resolved visual, creative and/or strategic outcomes
• speculative future scenarios and creative responses
• editorial [print/digital media]
• marketing / brand campaign materials [print/digital media]
• verbal presentations and professional pitches
• portfolios, CVs
• substantial creative projects with supporting critical material
• a dissertation

Information for international students

International students need at least a 6 in IELTS with no component below 5.5 or MOI from an approved institution.

Fees and funding

Learn more about postgraduate fees and funding.