Fashion Image Making and Styling

The aim of this module is to introduce you to the basic aspects of fashion styling and image making in order to learn how to become a fashion tastemaker. Experimentation and creative risk taking are encouraged as the meaning of taste is subverted and explored in relation to both styling and casting. Tasks include casting, styling a model and doing a mini shoot.

In this module you will be introduced to the core research and critical skills you will need to develop the holistic creative thinking required of all modules on the programme. You will gain an understanding of key aesthetics and practitioners in fashion. You will also explore numerous social and cultural themes affecting and shaping contemporary fashion. Tasks will include giving a group presentation to your peers on designers who are “breaking the rules” and producing an individual text project from a choice of sustainability, gender, feminism and race.

This module will introduce you to the importance of collaboration and team work in industry. You will be participating in collaborative processes in partnership with others to develop the practical and creative skills necessary to working collaboratively in industry. This is a questioning and thinking module with the ethos of sharing at its heart.

In this module you will be working on a group project to devise and create your own magazine while also considering the history, importance and role of print publications in industry. You will be introduced to the basic art direction, production, photographic and styling skills necessary to make a magazine from initial concepts through to creating fashion editorials and a final printed publication.

For this module you will be introduced to the basic fashion film making techniques that will enable you to devise, film, edit and art direct your own fashion film from casting, styling and concept through to final product. You will have the creative freedom to explore issues and themes that are both personal to you and resonant with contemporary fashion.

This module will introduce you to the importance of emotions in photography and their role in creating impactful images with the power to make a difference. You will explore iconic art and fashion photographers past and present. You will also consider what it means in an ever-changing world to create a photographic document of what family means to you. Taking inspiration from your photographic document, you will develop a related concept that will allow you to create a complementary fashion editorial and introduce you to casting and styling to shooting on location, editing and visual story telling in addition to learning dark room and film developing skills.

In this module you will be building on basic skills acquired in level 4 to now start to define your own original aesthetic, learning the importance of developing themes that are both personal to you and relevant to fashion. You will be deepening your understanding of fashion and the ways in which it is informed by and intersects with art. Taken inspiration from a visit to international art fair Frieze London, you will be developing and producing a shoot appropriate for publication in leading contemporary art and fashion publication Purple.

This module is co-created with leading art book store Magma. You will have the creative freedom to create a zine (self-published printed photographic book) from initial concept through to shooting, art direction, presentation and layout. The best zines will be sold alongside the industry greats in Magma, allowing students the opportunity to place their work in a professional, real-world setting.

The aim of this module to gain the wider inter-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary cultural awareness necessary to inform the research and development of your creative modules. Seminars and group discussions will enhance your critical thinking skills through the evaluation of fashion and contemporary culture while peer learning will allow you to be informed by the perspectives of others. Building on research skills acquired in level 4, tasks will include keeping a digital log of your weekly consumption of art, fashion, music, books, magazines, newspapers etc; giving an individual presentation of cultural highlights to your peers and producing a report on a socio-cultural theme of your choice that is shaping fashion and beyond.

In this module you will develop an understanding of the image-maker and stylist’s role in spotting and instigating new cultural trends, developing an awareness of fashion’s place within wider culture. You will also research a wide variety of fashion publications in order to understand different markets within fashion. Building on your research into emerging cultural trends, you will develop a concept that will inform a shoot for two contrasting magazines of your choice. Throughout this module you will be initiating your personal direction in preparation for your final year, while also learning to develop a flexible approach in order to adapt your work to different markets.

This is a self-directed module undertaken after the completion of Industry Ready, in which you will do a six-week full time internship in industry. Students intern with both leading and emerging practitioners and publications in London as well as international fashion hubs such as Paris, Berlin, New York and L.A. You will also have the opportunity to apply for the exclusive FIMS paid internship with Manchester Selfridges. The aim of this module is not only to add to your knowledge of your chosen discipline but also to enhance future employment prospects. It allows you to apply and develop knowledge and skills gained on the course while offering an understanding of relevant professional activities.

This is a self-directed module and is offered as an alternative to Internship. Students will research a directional fashion brand which they have identified they would like to work with in order to write an in-depth report. Based on their research, students will also devise, art direct and shoot a photographic campaign for their chosen brand. The aim of this module is not only to add to your knowledge of your chosen discipline. It allows you to apply creative and technical skills through a simulated brief that mirrors industry practice.

This module is co-created in an exclusive partnership with Selfridges. You will respond to a professional standard brief with the aim of developing advanced creative problem-solving skills to produce multiple creative outcomes including a sketchbook, visual book and fashion editorial. You will extend and refine your understanding of styling and image making in order to develop a personal and informed body of work, developing the integrity, authenticity and professionalism that will underpin the rest of your final year.

You will research and explore a character of your choice to develop an original and contemporary body of visual work. You will gain an advanced understanding of the process of producing a collection of images and explore the full potential of styling and image making as a creative process. This will allow you to develop key professional tools through the creation of a visual book, collage book and fashion editorial.

The final major project is designed to allow you to synthesise your experiences on the course through the definition, research and implementation of a self-directed project based on a unique, culturally resonant theme of your choice with sufficient depth and scope to result in six separate editorial shoots. The primary responsibility for the implementation of the project lies with you, and you will be assessed on your capacity to undertake a detailed examination of the theme you have identified supported by extensive research. Effectively, this project provides a framework through which you are able to produce a substantial body of industry-ready visual work that clearly identifies a personal aesthetic and vision resonant with fashion and wider cultural trends.

On this module you will create a progressive visual publication – either individually or as a group – to promote a summation of your work up to an industry standard. You will have the creative freedom to work independently as you learn to establish yourself as a next generation professional.

This module provides an opportunity for you to engage in a detailed examination of an aspect of visual culture that is of interest to you. You are encouraged to explore connections between your proposed study and your creative practice, underpinning and strengthening your own practice and providing an intensification of your critical and contextual understanding.