The four semesters consist of the following elements:
Fashion, clothing and textiles are artistic and material expressions that play a vital part in larger planetary and cultural ecosystems. Formats, institutions, practices and narratives in fashion are rapidly changing. With that in mind, we need to build entirely new landscapes and interconnected systems of change that respect planetary boundaries.
In this semester, we actively work to identify areas of artistic and material opportunity that can help create balance between people and the planet. The semester projects are a wardrobe study of a fellow student and a sustainability manifesto.
Diversity in fashion, clothing and textiles is about developing a deep understanding of and sensitivity towards inclusiveness in style, gender, ageing, ethnicity and more. Today, decolonising fashion has become more urgent than ever; with that in mind, it’s time to understand how fashion, clothing and textile design interact with wider notions of user experience, needs and aspirations.
In this semester, we work with user-led design approaches that are inspired by the Danish welfare society. Students investigate how user experiences of fashion, clothing and textiles can fuel design processes geared towards longevity and circularity. The goal is for each student to learn how to nurture an audience and customer well-suited to their artistic vision.
Change is a collaborative project. Therefore, this semester focuses on the way fashion, clothing and textile designers can better understand their own roles in collaboration with stakeholders such as specialists, communities, businesses and more.
In this semester, students learn how to employ systems thinking and strategic and collaborative design approaches to strengthen their own roles as change makers in collaborative contexts. At the same time, they develop skills that enable them to grow new markets and value propositions across the entire value chain of design. The semester also includes courses in design law and funding.
Alongside preparing graduation work, in this semester, students work with visualisation techniques such as fashion films with the aim of creating individual storytelling. Lectures focus on branding, sustainability communication and other areas relevant to graduates’ working lives.
Project delivery formats are open, but must include artistic design proposals of material character. For example:
- A collection of silhouettes or textiles with realised styles that addresses sustainability issues
- Concepts for community-building through fashion, clothing and textiles — such as mending, repairing, redesigning, etc.
- Design proposals to wicked problems such as marginalisation based on race, gender or age
- Design proposals that address issues of linear growth, planetary boundaries, etc.
- Design proposals for testing approaches to circular or long-lasting design