Textile Design BA (Hons)

Discover your distinctive textile design identity and create dynamic collections across a range of fashion, interior or lifestyle markets.

Entry Criteria
Structure and assessment
Facilities and features
Opportunities and careers
Take your next steps
Contact us

Overview

This course explores the fabric of the world around us - from wallpaper and soft furnishings to transport upholstery and luxury fashion. The curriculum will give you the practical, digital and professional skills required to become a designer in the contemporary global textile market.

You can specialise in one of four areas – mixed media, print, knit or weave – and will explore the key applications of fashion, interior and lifestyle.

Mixed media focuses on creating contemporary collections using embroidery and embellishment to build up surfaces.
Print explores the translation of imagery onto textile surfaces with the inventive use of screen printing and dyeing processes.
Knit and weave concentrate on developing innovative textile structures through yarn and fibres.

Employability skills are embedded into the curriculum, alongside opportunities to work on live briefs set by industry experts and take part in prestigious competitions. Our expert teaching team will encourage you to take dynamic approaches to textile design that will influence the future of the industry and you will graduate as a forward-thinking, responsible designer.

Key features

We have been recognised as one of the most sustainable fashion and textiles schools in the country as winners of the Next Generation Learning and Skills Award in the Green Gown Awards 2021.
In your first year you will experience all four specialist areas of textile design, enabling you to make an informed decision about the pathway you will choose for your second and third year.
Our award-winning Vijay Patel Building provides state of the art facilities including print tables, digital print and knit machines, jacquard looms, digital sewing and domestic embroidery machines, laser cutters, CAD packages and laboratories for textile technology testing and advanced dyeing.
Work on live projects with industry to develop your experience of professional practice. Recent briefs have been set by Hallmark Cards, Sainsbury’s Design Studio and Dulux.
Enhance your career prospects with a placement year. Recent students have worked at Alexander McQueen, Primark, Berghaus, ASOS, Joules and Marks & Spencer.
Boost your industry exposure with exclusive competitions in which DMU has a national profile of success, such as Hand and Lock, The Bradford Textiles Society and The Textiles Society.
Gain valuable international insight and experience of the world of design as part of our DMU Global programme. Previous trips have taken students to New York, Berlin, Amsterdam and Paris.
We provide core workshop materials at no cost, and give cash awards – £150, £200 and £300 in years one, two and three respectively – to support personal materials/printing costs*.

Student brochure Graduate showcase

Award-winning student work

The Green Gown Award puts DMU at the forefront of sustainable fashion and textiles education in the UK. Our comprehensive approach to sustainability is empowering our students to be agents of change within the industry.

Professor Carolyn Hardaker, Head of School of Fashion and Textiles

Scholarships:

DMU Global High Flyers Award
Our dedicated DMU Global High Flyers Award offers ambitious students a discount of up to £1,000 towards a DMU Global opportunity (terms and conditions apply).

More courses like this:

Fashion Textile Design BA (Hons)

UK
EU/International

Institution code: D26

UCAS course code: W231

Duration: Three years full-time, four years full-time with a placement. Six years part-time.

Fees and funding:

2024/25 tuition fees for UK students: £9,250

Find out more about tuition fees and available funding.

Additional costs: Here at DMU we provide excellent learning resources, including the Kimberlin Library and specialist workshops and studios. However, you should be aware that sometimes you may incur additional costs for this programme.

green-gown

How to apply

Submit a study-related enquiry

Duration: Three years full-time, four years with placement.

Fees and funding:

2024/25 tuition fees for international students: £15,750

How to apply

Submit a study-related enquiry

Entry criteria

Typical entry requirements

We welcome applicants from a range of backgrounds.

Art and Design Foundation or

112 points from at least 2 A ‘levels
BTEC Extended Diploma DMM

International Baccalaureate: 26+ Points

Plus five GCSEs grades 9-4 including English Language or Literature at grade 4 or above.

Pass Access with 30 Level 3 credits at Merit and GCSE English (Language or Literature) at grade 4 or above

We will normally require students to have had a break from full time education before undertaking the Access course.

We also accept the BTEC First Diploma plus two GCSEs including English Language or Literature at grade 4 or above

English language requirements

If English is not your first language an IELTS score of 6.0 overall with 5.5 in each band (or equivalent) when you start the course is essential.

English language tuition, delivered by our British Council-accredited Centre for English Language Learning, is available both before and throughout the course if you need it.

Interview and portfolio

Applicants with relevant qualifications will be invited to submit a portfolio of work. Please see our portfolio advice page for full details.

Non-standard applicants may be invited to attend an interview via MS Teams with a portfolio.

Structure and assessment

First year

Visual Enquiry
Textile Design Rotation
Define
Textile Contexts
Design Cultures 1

Second year

Technical Block
Live Project
Consolidation
Textile Visions
Design Cultures 2

Third year

Portfolio
Final Major Project by Practice
Final Major Project by Dissertation
Professional Practice
Design Cultures 3

View more detailed module information

Note: All modules are indicative and based on the current academic session. Course information is correct at the time of publication and is subject to review. Exact modules may, therefore, vary for your intake in order to keep content current. If there are changes to your course we will, where reasonable, take steps to inform you as appropriate.

Structure

During your first year, you will gain a practical grounding in textile design and digital skills, alongside a theoretical understanding of professional practice, visual research, textile history and contexts. You will then specialise in one of four areas of textile design – mixed media, print, knit or weave. Mixed media is our most three-dimensional specialism and focuses on the design and crafting of embroidery, embellishment and conceptual techniques to build up surfaces. In printed textiles, you are encouraged to explore both traditional and contemporary print processes, from screen printing to digital, underpinned by a technical understanding of dyeing in our state-of-the-art dye laboratories. In studying constructed textiles, knit or weave, you will be able to explore designing textile structures through the skilful and creative use of yarn and fibres, the mainstay of the textile industry.

The teaching team are experts across key fields within the creative industries, from influential textile designers, international design studio directors and specialist makers to textile technologists, scientists, historians, academic researchers and policy influencers. You will also be supported by our team of dedicated expert technicians.

Each year you will participate in various national and international competitions such as the Hand and Lock, Hallmark cards and New York SURTEX Exhibition Design competition. Students regularly win awards at New Designers and their work has also been exhibited in showcases such as The Discerning Eye, One Year On and Graduate Showcase with the Embroiderers Guild.

Contact hours

You will be taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials, seminars, group work and self-directed study. Assessment is through coursework (presentations, essays and reports). Your precise timetable will depend on the optional modules you choose to take, however, in your first year you will normally attend around 19 hours of timetabled taught sessions (lectures and tutorials) each week, and we expect you to undertake at least 22 further hours of independent study to complete project work and research.

Facilities and features

Art and design facilities

Our award-winning Vijay Patel building has been designed to provide the space and facilities where all of our art and design students can develop their ideas and flourish.

The creative industries require imaginative graduates who can develop new ideas and products. Students use our sophisticated and contemporary workshops, labs and studios to experiment and test in the same way they will in industry, while the open and transparent spaces in the building encourage collaboration between disciplines. In doing so, the building prepares students for industry and helps develop them as future leaders in their respective fields.

Take a look at our stunning showcase of the building at dmu.ac.uk/aad.

More flexible ways to learn

We offer an equitable and inclusive approach to learning and teaching for all our students. Known as the Universal Design for Learning (UDL), our teaching approach has been recognised as sector leading. UDL means we offer a wide variety of support, facilities and technology to all students, including those with disabilities and specific learning differences.

Just one of the ways we do this is by using ‘DMU Replay’ – a technology providing all students with anytime access to audio and/or visual material of lectures. This means students can revise taught material in a way that suits them best, whether it's replaying a recording of a class or adapting written material shared in class using specialist software.

Campus Centre

The home of  De Montfort Students' Union, (DSU) our Campus Centre offers a welcoming and lively hub for student life. Conveniently located at the heart of campus, it includes a convenience store, a Subway and a Starbucks. Here you can find the DSU-owned charitable accommodation service Sulets and DSU’s shop, SUpplies, selling art supplies, stationery and clothing, and printing and binding services. The building is also home to the DSU officer team.

Opportunities and careers

Placements

During this course you will have the option to complete a paid placement year, an invaluable opportunity to put the skills developed during your degree into practice. This insight into the professional world will build on your knowledge in a real-world setting, preparing you to progress onto your chosen career. Our careers programme DMU Works can help to hone your professional skills with mock interviews and practice aptitude tests, and an assigned personal tutor will support you throughout your placement.

Previous students have benefitted from placements at both high fashion and high street brands such as Alexander McQueen, Primark, Berghaus, ASOS, Joules and Marks & Spencer.

Our students also have opportunities to get involved with events such as the David Bowie immersive live experience at the National Space Centre. Inae You, influenced by the concept of a traditional British garden, illustrated intricate plant and flower patterns by hand, which she then digitised, and screen printed onto large-scale textiles.

DMU Global

Our innovative international experience programme DMU Global aims to enrich your studies and expand your cultural horizons, helping you to become a global graduate, equipped to meet the needs of employers across the world. Through DMU Global, we offer a wide range of opportunities including on-campus and UK-based activities, overseas study, internships, faculty-led field trips and volunteering, as well as Erasmus+ and international exchanges.

Students on this course have been on DMU Global trips to Copenhagen to explore sustainability in the fashion and textiles industry, and to Berlin to discover how independent boutiques and designers run their businesses.

Graduate careers

We aim to prepare you for a career in the international textile industry, whether that be working with high street brands, high value designers and bespoke makers, or as a self-employed entrepreneur.

Our graduates are working as designers, colourists, buyers, freelancers and in production, as well as hold roles in galleries, education, retail and more. Some of the big brands they work for include Hallmark, George at ASDA, Lucy Jane Woodhouse, Gilbey & Cheyne Design, Tiger Prints, Osborne & Little, H&M, Warner Fabrics, Aston Martin, Skinny Dip, Sainsbury Home, Jigsaw, Zoffany, Arcadia Group and Next.

Our graduates are also making an impact as researchers, with forward-thinking explorations into new applications of textiles and contemporary themes of global significance such as sustainability, the circular economy, society and heritage.