A Beginner’s Guide to Fashion Design

Develop your design skills from fashion sketches to fabric choices

From haute couture to high-street fashion, all clothing is underpinned by the basic principles of fashion design.

On this three-week course, you’ll be introduced to these concepts and develop your own fashion design skills in preparation for a future in the fashion industry.

Examine fashion in context, from the history of fashion to its cultural impact around the world

A contextual understanding of fashion allows designers to identify influences and predict upcoming trends.

On this course, you’ll delve into the history of fashion and learn how cultural movements and ideas around the world impact the fashion world.

With this knowledge, you’ll be able to place fashion movements in a wider cultural context and draw on a wide array of inspiration for your own designs.

Discover the fundamentals of fashion drawing

Fashion drawing skills are vital to turn your design ideas into a reality, whether you work by hand or with digital technology.

You’ll learn how to sketch the fashion figure and develop your technical skills from line drawing to creating gestures and poses.

By developing your artistic skills, you’ll be able to create sketches that showcase the fit and movement of your designs.

Explore textile design, from choosing a colour to sustainable fabrics

Color and fabric choice can completely alter a design’s feel and seasonal suitability.

You’ll examine the principles of colour theory and identify the relationships between different colour schemes. You’ll also delve into the diverse array of textiles available and learn how fashion sustainability can impact fabric choices.

By the end of this course, you’ll have gained a foundational knowledge of fashion design. You’ll be able to draw fashion figures and be able to choose colours and fabrics to compliment your designs.

This course is for anyone with an interest in the basics of fashion design. It would be suitable for those considering a career in fashion and anyone wanting to develop a portfolio of design work.

• Fashion in context
• Course welcome
• Introducing fashion
• Fashion over time
• Fashion and the world
• Fashion as communication
• Week wrap up
• The visual language of fashion
• Weekly welcome
• The fashion figure
• Drawings in fashion
• The male fashion figure and drawings
• Technical drawings: Flats, CAD and illustration
• Week wrap up
• Color and fabrics
• Weekly welcome
• Color theory, schemes and palettes
• Prints, forecasting and fabric selection
• Fibres and fabric
• Fabrics and finishes
• Sustainability in fabrics
• Course wrap up