Textiles Design with Business Studies BA(Hons)

International requirements and visas

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Visas and immigration advice

Portfolio advice 

Online portfolio

Applicants who meet the minimum entry requirements will be asked to submit a portfolio via a link to the work or pdf.

This portfolio should include 20 pages or images showing an informed awareness of textiles and fashion, a good understanding of drawing, composition, form, proportion and colour, as well as three to five pages that show an understanding of visual research and the design process.

In usual circumstances you would have the opportunity to bring a physical portfolio to interview. As we are focusing on online portfolios this year, you may wish to use our guidance for physical portfolios as inspiration on what to include:

• 15–20 drawings and ideas on A1 or A2 sheets, not mounted onto heavy card or in plastic sheets
• your ability to develop an idea from concept through a wide variety of drawing and artwork
• your potential to experiment and explore ideas and techniques through a variety of media
• examples of life drawing
• two working sketchbooks
• awareness of contemporary fashion and textiles
• consideration of colour, pattern and texture.

Find out more about how to create and submit your portfolio.

Top reasons to choose this course

• Explore printed, woven or knitted textiles and specialise in the area that most suits you.

• Excellent reputation in industry for producing creative, innovative and hard-working graduates – our alumni have worked at organisations including Burberry, Mulberry, H&M and DKNY.

• Business studies is integrated throughout the degree meaning you will leave ready to enter the business of fashion, whether to start your own company or work as part of a team within international brands and design houses.

• Excellent technical facilities and spacious studios with technicians are on hand to help you develop practical skills.

• An optional placement year gives you the chance to put your learning into practice in a professional environment, strengthening your portfolio and industry contacts.

• A vibrant and supportive community in an art school in the centre of Brighton.

• Sustainability is one of our guiding principles and integrated into all your learning.

• Lecturers with years of industry experience will be guiding and supporting you.

• The Graduate Show marks the end of your degree and you can exhibit a body of work.

• Industry-standard technologies and practices develop your understanding and appreciation of process and quality, enabling you to create professional design proposals.

• Students regularly win national and international competitions and bursaries.

• Graduate with a portfolio ready for professional life.

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Year 1

Year 1 introduces you to the three disciplines of knit, print and weave. You will then specialise in one area to fully explore and develop your skills in media and materials, textile design, construction and fabric realisation.

Modules

• Market Research and Business in the Creative Industries

  This module introduces you to and equips you with a range of transferable skills, qualities and attitudes that will prepare you for professional career paths in the creative industries. Through investigation and critical reflection, you will have the opportunity to develop your knowledge and appreciation of the scale and scope of the creative industries and begin to locate yourself, your interests and your practice within a vocational context.

• Introduction to Visual Research

  This module is designed to introduce you to a wide range of observational, investigative and experimental approaches to drawing and colour theory and other methods of gathering and developing visual research.

  The module initiates an understanding of the value of visual research to help enrich your vocabulary of colour, shape, texture, composition and idea generation/development and enable you to successfully produce sketchbook work to support your textile design development work.

• Textiles Rotation

  This module provides you with an introduction to the differences between knit, print and weave as individual specialisms and their respective industries. Your critical investigation will inform your choice of pathway specialism. You will be expected to focus on the technical aspects of each textile specialism to experiment and investigate these processes. Using the technical knowledge within each specialist project and visual research you will produce three collections of designed textile samples, one for each rotation.

• Textiles Specialism

  This module enables you to gain a greater understanding of the potential of your chosen textile specialism. A series of projects will develop your creative and technical abilities, extending your skills to explore and develop methodologies in visual and textual research encouraging an experimental approach to design within your textile specialism.

  The module also introduces you to relevant digital software packages and establishes fundamental digital design communication skills essential for design development and presentation within your textiles specialism.

• Design and Culture Under Scrutiny

  This module introduces key debates relevant to the analysis of the past and present in fashion, textiles and fashion communication. Through lectures, seminars and exhibition visits, you will be introduced to, and engage with, critical ideas and academic approaches relevant to your field of study.

  The module is designed to support studio work through the development of critical thinking and formal written skills.

Making sure that what you learn with us is relevant, up to date and what employers are looking for is our priority, so courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. When you have applied to us, you’ll be told about any new developments through Student View.

Year 2

In year 2, design projects look at different textiles market sectors. The projects are diverse, include a live brief and will test your developing design skills. You will also build a body of design work and fabric samples to add to your portfolio.

Those specialising in knit will learn and use Designaknit software; weave students will learn and use ScotWeave; and print students will learn and use Advanced Photoshop.

By the end of the year you will also produce a professional portfolio of design work in preparation for your optional placement year.

Modules

• Preparing for and Engaging with Business
• Technical Design, Process and Market Awareness
• Ethical Considerations in Relation to Industry
• Collaborative Experience and Portfolio Presentation
• Creative Collaboration in the Fashion Industry
• The Clothes and Fabrics of Society

Placement year 

You have the opportunity to spend your third year working in industry building on the skills you have developed on your textiles design course and gaining new ones. The placement year in industry is academically assessed and your degree award will reflect your industry experience. The placement is for a minimum of 20 weeks.

There is a compulsory professional practice module in the second year which will help you prepare for your placement. And our dedicated placement team can help you apply for a position. 

Students work for companies in the UK and overseas, particularly in Europe and the US, and there are opportunities to work for high profile designers and brands, trend and prediction agencies, textile design studios and fashion and textile manufacturers. 

Some of our placement hosts include; Alexander McQueen, Nicole Farhi, Margaret Howell, Roksanda Ilinic, Giles Deacon, Gareth Pugh, Erdem, Peter Jensen, Mary Katrantzou, Alexander Wang, Aitor Throup, John Rocha, Jaeger, H&M, COS, Monsoon Accessorize, Bless (Paris & Berlin), Bernhard Willhelm, Henrik Vibskov, Donna Karan & DKNY and Diane Von Furstenberg.

The placement gives you an advantage when you graduate and is a great opportunity to make industry contacts. Many of our students go straight from graduating into roles at placement companies.

Read what our fashion and textiles students had to say about their placements.

Final year

In your final year you will design and make a collection of textiles alongside a professional portfolio of design work. You will also complete an initial research project leading up to the final major project, and a full business plan. 

Modules

• Design Management and Business Plan
• Textiles Design Research
• Fashion Textiles Design Collection
• Historical and Critical Studies Research Project.

Work by Emmaly Parsons, 2021 graduate

Facilities

• Domestic, semi-industrial and industrial knitting machines.
• Industrial linkers and embellishers.
• Table looms, floor looms and 16-shaft power loom.
• Screen printing and digital printing.
• CAD CAM digital technology.
• Dye lab.
• The TECH HUB – a team of technical demonstrators based in Grand Parade who provide specialist creative software support including Adobe CC (Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, After Effects etc), Rhino, Blender and C4D, as well as web and blog-related software. They manage digital manufacturing services within the School of Art and Media, including laser cutting, 3D printing, CNC routing, plasma cutting and 3-axis CNC milling. They also have VR headsets and 3D scanners. The TECH HUB has its own dedicated PC suite with all of the software they support as well as standard university programmes.
• Access to Mac suites.
• Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, In Design and Premiere.

Click the image above to take a tour of our facilities

Meet the team 

Our teaching staff are all experienced fashion and textiles professionals and academics. Tutors and technical staff will build your skills and confidence as an artist and designer, while also ensuring your work considers realistic commercial potential.

• Dr Patricia Dyer, course leader

• Sarah Elwick
• Sally Holditch 
• Siobhan Martin, technician 

Read a Q+A with Siobhan, Textiles technician and graduate who runs Shiv Textiles

Course fees

If you choose to take the professional placement (sandwich) year offered on this course you will pay a reduced fee during this year. Our fee for the professional placement year is £1,500 for UK students and £2,280 for international students. This fee may be subject to small increases, in line with inflation.

The fees listed here are for the first year of full-time study if you start your course in the academic year 2024–25.

You will pay fees for each year of your course. Some fees may increase each year.

UK undergraduate and some postgraduate fees are regulated by the UK government and increases will not be more than the maximum amount allowed. Course fees that are not regulated may increase each year by up to 5% or RPI (whichever is higher).

If you are studying part-time your fee will usually be calculated based on the number of modules that you take.

Find out more

• Brighton Boost – cost of living help for our new undergrad students. Find out about how we can help with your study, accommodation or travel costs and more...
• Fees, bursaries, scholarships and government funding info for UK and international undergraduate students
• Student finance and budgeting while studying
• Read our student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf) for more on University of Brighton tuition fees.

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