Fashion and Textiles

Our BA (Hons) Fashion and BA (Hons) Textiles and Surface Design programmes offer an intensely practical approach that will help you gain a broad portfolio of traditional, digital design and manufacturing skills. You will be able to experiment with different approaches, materials and techniques, and our passionate and experienced staff will support and encourage you to ‘cross the boundaries’ within fashion and textiles, so you can develop your own innovative approach to both designing and making.

Our professional design studios are equipped with open access individual workspaces where we promote collaboration, creativity and a strong work ethic. Some of the high-specification facilities that will be available to our BA (Hons) Textiles and Surface Design students are:

• Digital fabric and paper printing

• Non-woven textiles

• Printed and dyed textiles

• Computer-aided design (CAD) software

• Mimaki TX fabric printer

• Laser cutting equipment

• HP Latex 365 textile printer

• Digital embroidery

• AVA CAD/CAM design software for textile design

• Adobe Creative Suite

In addition, our fashion designing students will benefit from the following facilities:

• Latest machines for garment manufacture

• Professional tailors’ stands

• Industrial sewing machines and over-lockers

The University of Bolton is ranked number one for student satisfaction in the North West by The Complete University Guide 2020 and enjoys the number five rank for teaching quality in the UK as per The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020. All our fashion design and textile and surface design courses have small class sizes and follow the latest trends in the business, using the reports from the Worth Global Style Network and have links with industry for live project briefs.

You will get the opportunity to enter national and international design competitions such as the Bradford Textile Society Awards and The Clothes Show. You will also have the opportunity to pitch for a place at either Graduate Fashion Week or New Designers London. Students get to participate in optional international study visits that may include major trade shows including Premiere Vision Paris, to view the latest fabric developments and forecasted trends.

Textiles and Surface Design

BA (Hons) Textiles and Surface Design includes a variety of aspects, from fashion fabrics and accessories, through stationery products and packaging, to interior fabrics and wall coverings, as well as contemporary gallery and design-led pieces. Our dedicated and passionate team will guide and teach you how to market, exhibit, work with design studios and set up in business.

Some other career prospects that you can consider are (please note that some roles may require additional qualifications and/or work experience for entry):

• Colour and trend forecasting

• Interior fabric and wallcovering design

• Textile and fashion fabric design

• Designer and maker

• Retail buying and merchandising

• Teaching and gallery education

Fashion Design

The BA (Hons) Fashion programme will enable you to develop skills in pattern cutting, garment manufacture, fashion illustration and visualisation techniques. You will be encouraged to work with complex design concepts that are in-line with current fashion trends. The following career options will be open to you after you graduate from any of these courses (please note that some roles may require additional qualifications and/or work experience for entry):

• Fashion design

• Retail buying and merchandising

• Fashion journalism

• Visual merchandising

• Photographic styling

If you have any more questions about studying at the University of Bolton, our award-winning student services team are here to put your mind at ease about any queries related to accommodation, finance, funding, health and well-being, disability support or anything else you may need.