Costume Design for Film & Television

Cultivate the skills to enter the world of costume design on-screen.

Costume designers play a powerful role in the storytelling process, working from script to screen to create a character’s signature style.

This course will equip you with in-demand expertise in garment design, acquisition, alteration and creation, as well as the knowledge and flair to achieve your vision. You will have opportunities to engage with fashion artefacts and costume from our museum-quality Textiles & Dress Collection and fashion archives to inspire accurate and evocative costume design.

Armed with core skills including drawing, cutting and wardrobe curation, along with a career-launching showreel and the confidence to collaborate with industry professionals, you’ll have the edge over your peers as you enter this vibrant industry.

You will:
Master core techniques such as drawing, cutting, wardrobe pulling and fitting
Investigate the social, cultural and environmental factors that influence memorable costume designs of our time, though research and access to our extensive Textiles & Dress Collections
Analyse industry applications such as music promos, commercials and costume breakdown, applying this knowledge to innovative challenge-based projects
Utilise our extensive wardrobe store and textiles and dress collection to achieve your vision of a character
Refine your skills as a costume practitioner in your final year through a collaborative screen production project to develop your professional portfolio

From costume design to wardrobe curation, exploring contemporary fashion history to interpreting scripts and characters and learning how to work as part of a creative team, we'll equip you with the creative, practical and entrepreneurial skills you'll need to succeed in this vibrant industry.

Year one:
During the first year of this costume design degree, you'll be introduced to fundamental skills such as research, drawing, pattern cutting, garment alteration, fitting techniques, script analysis and costume plotting. You'll also learn how to become a costume designer that can analyse characters and scripts through the lens of anthropological, socio-political, psychological and cultural concepts. Practical work will be supported by lectures and written work exploring the history and theory of film and visual culture.

Modules:
Making
Histories
Communicating
Connections
Emerging

Year two:
In year two you'll continue to develop your design profile through an exploration of screen theory, costume breakdown and industry applications, such as styling for music promos and commercials. Alongside your creative practice, you'll also gain vital skills for successful freelance practice, including budget organisation, self-management and collaboration.

Modules:
Wearing
Classifying
Appearing
Performing
Theories
Branding

Year three:
In your final year on the costume design degree, you'll prepare for entry into industry by refining your skills through ideas pitching, a major collaborative screen production project, and portfolio creation.

Modules:
Investigations
Daring
Working
Being
Showing

We regularly review course and module content to ensure our students receive a high-quality and rewarding academic experience. As such, there may be changes made to the curriculum which are not immediately reflected in the content displayed on our website. Optional modules may be updated to maintain the best experience. Any students or applicants affected will be informed of approved changes directly.

100% of your assessment will be coursework.

Assessment methods:
Assessment can take the form of artefacts (such as pieces of costume you have made), portfolios, projects, reports and dissertation.
Formative feedback will be ongoing through regular tutorials with academic staff and visiting professionals, and summative feedback will take place following the end of the designated study block assessment periods.