Bachelor of Design Arts - Major in Fashion and Costume Design

Successful Fashion and Costume Designers have a unique combination of skills, including but not limited to:

In 2021, the Australian fashion industry contributed:

• $27.2 bn economic boost
• 489,000 jobs (surpassing mining, utilities, the arts)
• $7.2 bn in exports (surpassing wine and beer combined)

77% female workers (national average: 47%)

• Fashion Designer
• Costume Designer
• Merchandising
• Fashion/Brand Marketing
• Trend Forecaster
• Patternmaker
• Garment Technician
• Accessory Designer

Access the Australian Government website to discover more opportunities in the creative economy.

LCI Melbourne's Bachelor's degree is accredited by TEQSA, meeting international recognition standards.

Vital details and provider information are provided.

Visit the National Register for LCI Melbourne's regulatory status.

• Provider Name: LCI Melbourne Pty Ltd (formerly Academy of Design Australia Pty Ltd)
• Trading Name: LCI Melbourne
• ABN: 97 585 592 579
• Provider Category: Institute Of Higher Education
• Provider ID: PRV12113
• CRICOS Provider Number: 02201G
• CRICOS Course Code: 058836K
• Head Office: 150 Oxford St, Collingwood, Vic 3066

A list of required materials (e.g., for drafting and patternmaking) is provided at the beginning of each trimester. Any additional standard or student-licensed software required will requested by mentors.

Learners are responsible for organising and purchasing materials for final designs.

• Digital device (Mac, PC, tablet)
• External hard drive (Mac/PC Compatible - 2T recommended)
• Adobe Creative Cloud Suite
• Microsoft Office Suite (or equivalent)
• AutoCAD

Getting a job is integral to the LCI Melbourne experience.

Professional Practice units follow a unique educational model combining work opportunities and industry-aligned curriculum.

Participate in:

• Industry projects
• Exhibitions
• VIP events

Gain sought-after experience while you study.

Exploration, Contextual, and Professional Practice Units

Exploration Units

Discover design fundamentals via workshop-based study that focus on expanding foundational understanding of design

Workshop: Body (WRKB)

Focus on adorning the body. Explore the importance of identity in art and design. Play with the translation of 3D to 2D. Explore soft materials and form.

Workshop: Image (WRKI)

Learn the fundamentals of image capture via photography and film. These translate into contemporary digital display contexts, including popular social media applications.

Workshop: Message (WRKM)

Explore and play with digital software (e.g., Adobe Illustrator). Develop product and brand identity constructs using bold and confident ideas.

Workshop: Space (WRKS)

Focus on the environment and responsible innovation, learning to create and understand 3D spaces that connect, engage, challenge and disrupt.

Visual Foundations (ACC111)

Explore a range of design communication methods, from design concept through to ‘the pitch,’ including technical illustration, image manipulation, and layout.

Elective: Brand Strategy (ELE001)

Create a brand strategy for a new product, experience, or retail concept. Develop a Brand Tool Kit and explore promotional aspects that capture branding.

Elective: Design & Wellbeing (ELE002)

Further design and artistic processes. Study and apply wellbeing in creativity through the lens of people, place, and product.

Contextual Units

Explore the impact of context (e.g., historical, trends, visual thinking, technology, culture) on designers' and artists' work and realisation of vision. Experiment in a collaborative learning environment to articulate and understand key influences on art and design.

Design, History & Culture (AXC111)

Explore significant moments from the history of art and design, and interrogate the milestones and foundations that have shaped creative practice.

Social Trend Forecasting (AXC121)

Develop an understanding of how trends are forecast. Analyse, discuss, and develop concepts. Communicate insights by forecasting social and cultural impacts.

Design, Issues & Impact (AXC231)

Explore basic concepts important to critical thought and its visual application. Analyse storytelling and narrative aligned to key themes and concepts.

Global Design Culture (AXE241)

Challenge and reference cultural and sub-cultural shifts. Analyse and respond to social, cultural, and technological changes in modern design, from the industrial revolution to postmodernism.

Professional Practice

Practising artists and designers provide important insights into contemporary practice.

Hear from a range of local and overseas professionals about what is occurring in industry and how they are succeeding in their field. Engage in related personal reflection.

Business Principles (ACC241)

Undertake an entrepreneurial project that engages with the creative industries. Critically analyse business models, supply systems, and production methods. Develop ideas and opportunities to support design business growth.

Professional Practice & Systems (BPC351)

Gain specific insights into selected industry concentrations. Explore systems embedded into the industry relevant to their discipline from concept to consumer.

Professional Placement (APE241)

Further your practical design education in a professional practice placement.

Personal & Professional Practice (BPC361)

Position yourself within your industry, investigate appropriate career pathways, prepare applications for roles in design and art organisations.

Professional Communication (BCC351)

Participate in a capstone project that provides a platform to showcase a final body of work as a major digital or physical project installation.

Design Laboratories

Learn and practise knowledge and skills specific to your major in LCI Design Laboratories, the core of the Bachelor of Design Arts degree.

Engage with the full spectrum of the design and artistic process in studio-based labs. Respond to an industry brief, work on a global project, with a global brand, or generate ideas to solve contemporary issues.

Progress through a series of lab themes (foundational, issues, global and industry) beginning in trimester 2. Put it all together in your final lab: produce and showcase an advanced body of work that expresses your creative ethos.

Design Laboratory: Foundation (LABF101)

Work with different garment types, fabrics, fibres, and material finishes. Explore fundamental patternmaking and apply it through construction techniques. Build a mini collection of garments and visualisation concepts.

Design Technology (APF121)

Develop introductory technical skills required to perform professionally in your major area of study. Engage with interactive design, 2D, and 3D technical design. Create design templates and digital models.

Design Laboratory: Issues (LABF102)

Engage with the implications of issues impacting fashion and costume design. Explore issues around sustainable practice and the application of responsible innovation. Give clothes a new life by repurposing and re-imagining old clothing.

Design Sub Major (ASF111)

Develop foundational knowledge in an alternate discipline. Acquire basic skills and understanding, conceptualise ideas, and contextualise work within an alternate industry practice.

Design Laboratory: Global (LABF203)

Immerse yourself in an innovative and forward-thinking collaborative project where you will gain insights into the global world of design. Global architecture is explored through research scale and proportions which are then applied to fashion techniques and processes.

Design Laboratory: Industry (LABF204)

Evaluate and develop solutions, presentations, and concepts for real-life industry projects. Develop research, analytical, evaluative, and practical skills to understand how to create a design concept through to presentation stage.

Design Laboratory: Capstone (LABF205)

Apply acquired lab concepts to develop major bodies of work for presentation. Emerge as a young professional through exploratory creative development and presentation of original ideas and viable concepts.