Fashion As Narrative - 40 credits 

In this module you will learn to communicate fashion narratives and develop visual story-telling techniques to support promotional activity.    

You will explore the evolution and role of the fashion film and its contemporary use within fashion promotion. You will investigate current forms of fashion related moving imagery used to promote products and brands and engage with consumers and audiences.  
Also, you will develop the ability to create concepts and storyboard ideas and develop a basic understanding of moving image creation, lighting, location scouting and editing techniques. 

Towards the end of the module you will work in groups and use a variety of techniques to produce a moving image presentation such as a short fashion film, advert, animation or social media story for a specified client. At the end of the module the group will creatively present a premier of their output to an audience. 

Fashion is a complex cultural phenomenon which draws together many diverse creative fields. To further develop your understanding of visual culture a series of lectures and seminars will explore how fashion relates to film and other art and design forms, cultural and social influences and ways of connecting this to industry practise.  
Outputs – short moving images, creative event presentation, essay. (only essay shared delivery) 
 
Fashion Futures - 20 credits 

Trend forecasting provides key insights into inspirational styling, colour and material use across all sectors of fashion and form the core of promotional planning. In this module you will develop your understanding of the methodologies and wide-ranging knowledge used by practitioners to identify, anticipate and justify trends. 

Using a wide body of evidence (including socio-cultural, technological, economic, sustainable and visual factors), you will be expected to develop methods of research and analysis to articulate future trends and start thinking more strategically. 

You will also develop the ability to identify fashion influencers, understanding how trends are created and communicated and their impact in the context of creative innovation. By the end of this module you are also able to use a variety of techniques to deliver colour prediction and trend forecasting presentations to a potential client. 
Outputs – trend book and client presentation. 

Fashion & Brand - 40 credits 

This module focuses on branding, creative production and visual identity in a fashion context. It supports you as you develop a conceptual understanding of brand management and creative visualisation of brand and identity using visual communication and experiential events.  

You will initially evaluate a fashion event of your own choosing, reflecting upon its success (for example; attendees, engagement with target audience, content creation, social media mentions) and assessing its impact on subsequent media and promotional activities of the brand. 

Using primary and secondary research to establish the target audience, you will create a branding and promotional strategy for a chosen brand or entrepreneur developing a critical path that covers a timeline from event to final outcome, integrating key promotional elements such as experiential activities, print, digital and social media to support potential brand objectives.  

You will develop unique strategic plans for your specified client, with reference to a budget, to help them tell a cohesive and compelling brand story. You will think strategically to create marketing plans that consider staged time frames, identifying what you are trying to accomplish over specified periods of time and how you will do this. 

You will also explore the online landscape of personalities, publications and social media. Typically, you will compare the use of paid vs authentic brand/influencer relationships to engage directly with consumers and the role of digital influencers within fashion promotion. You will also investigate case studies of digital promotional activities exploring both successful and failed campaigns in order to identify best practise. 

In Groups, you will also produce promotional material in support of an event activity which you will plan, document, and deliver. Examples of activities could be (but are not limited to) a catwalk show, fashion presentation, product launch, exhibition or pop-up retail. You will measure the success of their event and its impact on other media.  

In addition, you will consider how brand and promotion applies to your own work through developing online portfolios and self-promotional materials. This facilitates preparation for a range of opportunities such as for possible work placement applications that may commence at the end of the semester. Work placement is not an assessed part of the course but is fully supported by staff as being hugely beneficial to your professional development. 

Outputs – event evaluation, branding strategy, illustrated event report and self-promotional materials.

Theories and Methodologies – 20 credits 

This module further investigates the historical, social, cultural, ethical and global contexts in which contemporary practice occurs. It introduces theoretical perspectives in order to develop your ability to discuss your own and others’ practice within a contextual, critical and academic framework.  

Drawing on art and design history and theory, cultural, social and media studies, the lectures, seminars and workshops will introduce theoretical approaches to practice. In addition, you will explore methodologies appropriate to academic research.   
The overall theme is concerned with how we can understand different forms of culture via the use of methodologies and critical frameworks. In this way the module will consider research methods and approaches that prepare the student for the dissertation in Level 6. 
Outputs – essay (shared delivery).