Fitzwilliam Museum
February 2025: students, alumni and staff took over the museum — more than 50 live models, installations, workshops and performance. Over 1,000 attendees. CSVPA’s largest showcase to date.
CSVPA · Fashion design
Cloth, pattern, collection.
The design-only fashion course at CSVPA. Research to construction in Year 1, a live-brief specialism in Year 2, a graduate collection and Graduate Fashion Week in Year 3. Head of Fashion: Professor Holly Fulton.
Design only — the garment
Fashion design
- Garment design
- Pattern making
- Textiles
- Sustainable practice
- Conceptual development
Knows they want to be a designer. Drawing or garment-making already in the hand. Thinks in cloth.
Business / marketing — the story
Fashion communication
- Brand strategy
- Digital marketing
- Trend forecasting
- Visual storytelling
- Content creation
Loves fashion and beauty. Unsure whether design is the fit. Parents asking about a practical future. Thinks in campaigns as much as in cloth.
2D & fashion workshop
Sewing machines, dress forms, cutting tables, embroidery units, overlockers, button machines, specialist fabric equipment. Materials and unlimited printing included.
On the Art & Design Foundation, the fashion pathway covers fashion design, textile design, fashion media, branding design and fashion styling — before a BA in either design or communication.
Fashion Design FoundationBA Fashion, year by year
Foundations, then a specialism, then a collection. Designer, stylist or merchandiser — or an MA.
Year 1
Fashion fundamentals
Research and drawing through to pattern cutting and construction. Small-scale projects that teach the industry workflow. A personal design identity starts here.
Year 2
Specialisation & industry
Womenswear, menswear or another path. Live briefs with houses such as Dries Van Noten and Burberry. One-to-one industry mentorship, and work shown in public exhibitions.
Year 3
Graduate collection
A self-directed professional collection. The international stage at Graduate Fashion Week. Recruiters from houses including LVMH. A portfolio the industry can actually read.
Graduate Fashion Week
A record year for CSVPA: 14 students nominated across 19 awards, from 68 UK institutions and about 3,500 students. Twelve students are shortlisted in each category.
14
CSVPA students nominated
19
Award nominations
68
Institutions in the pool
3.5k
Students competing
Museum of Zoology
Fashion and Fashion Branding & Creative Communication together: sustainability workshops, live drawing and sewing, for students and parents.
Head of Fashion
Professor Holly Fulton
A practising designer with an internationally acclaimed brand, and a teaching career beside it. Elle New Designer 2009; Scottish Young Designer 2009 and 2010; Elle Talent Launch Pad 2010; Emerging Talent Accessories at the British Fashion Awards 2010; Innovator of the Year 2016 at the Scottish Fashion Awards.
Recent speakers, visiting lecturers and collaborators include Hearst UK, The New York Times, Dries Van Noten, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Prada, Burberry, Stella McCartney, Christopher Kane, Victoria Beckham, Palmer Harding, and Savile Row tailors.
MA Fashion Design · course leader
Jens Laugesen
First London-based designer to win the ANDAM Award (backed by LVMH). Mentored by Louise Wilson at Central Saint Martins. Strategic design consultant for Calvin Klein and Net-a-Porter. Teaches Hybrid Reconstruction — thinking like a creative director, not only a maker.
- 1
Term 1 · Diagnosis
Deconstruct existing habits. Access to specialist garment technicians and pattern cutters.
- 2
Term 2 · Industry
Live briefs — Hearst Magazines or a cross-disciplinary project. Personal branding and pitching in luxury fashion.
- 3
Term 3 · Launch
A market-ready collection or digital fashion project. Public exhibition, and a printed catalogue for industry scouts in London.
The MA also works with University of Cambridge researchers on research-led collections, and emphasises circular economy, sustainable fashion and digital fashion.