Master in Fashion Design and Technology

With the fashion industry facing a decisive transition, the Master's degree in Fashion Design Technology proposes an approach to the sector based on sustainability, creativity and experimentation.

Recognising the necessity to radically rethink fashion, this master's degree encourages students to develop imaginative solutions to transform the current dynamics of the industry and contribute to a new scenario that combines environmental balance and social commitment with economic viability and the use of cutting-edge technologies.

In line with BAU's academic and research approach, the master's degree establishes stimulating and unexpected relationships between fashion and disciplines such as crafts, audiovisuals and biology, creating an enriching exchange of ideas, processes, materials, techniques and possibilities.

The programme is structured in five modules which thoroughly explore digital production processes and 3D pattern making; the potential of design research, digital printing and laser cutting; prototyping from interaction and smart fabrics; the application of biomaterials and the principles of the circular economy. Learning culminates in the final project, where students carry out all the phases of a real project.

BAU's Master's Degree in Fashion Design Technology trains young professionals in the conviction and desire to transform the sector. All this under a key premise: from innovation, critical spirit and creative freedom, each student designs their future to promote a more humane industry that cares for the common good.

Module 1 - Design for change and speculative design

Fashion will experience a paradigm shift in terms of how it is thought of and produced. Therefore, one must be familiar with the present in depth and have a sense about the future that is about to come. With the help of speculative design, new technologies applied to fashion and debates with professionals and specialists in the sector prepare us for the change that is about to occur in the fashion system.

• Introduction to new technologies in fashion. Position ourselves in terms of the possibilities that technology offers us for innovation and change towards a new paradigm and sustainable systems in the world of fashion.
• Speculative fashion design. A theory segment that will give us an insight into a future in which fashion will be seen in another light.
• Pattern technologies and sustainable systems: 0-Waste
• Fashion future laboratory. Debates on the fashion system with experts and professionals in the sector that will give us a real insight into the reality and complexity of the fashion world, visualising strategies, methods, and models for development that will validate our creative process.

Module 2 - Digital systems for a new fashion paradigm. Digital manufacturing and wearables

Nowadays, fashion design programs and digital software offer us agile, flexible tools that allow us to shift the chain of production systems towards a more creative and sustainable future. Customised digital body modelling, direct design on the body with 3D simulation, and new computer-aided design research systems are revolutionising the way creation is conceived in the field of fashion, shortening times, and expanding our design skills. They also allow us to open up to artistic research in digital contexts.

• Construction of the digital body. Flexibility, mutation, and deconstruction. Open production codes.
• Dressing the body in the digital context using the design program CLO 3D.
• Digital media and art, and how to conduct research in digital environments and virtual reality.
• Digital manufacturing: Modular systems, laser cut, and 3D printing.

Module 3 - Creative research strategies and methods

This module contextualises fashion design, giving students multidisciplinary tools and methodologies used in other fields such as ethnography and social innovation to make designs that are centred, real, and connected to the user. Students will also learn about extreme trends in fashion. This module will also analyse why the market absorbs any dissident design idea.

• Ethnographic methodologies, field research, and social innovation applied to fashion design.
• Creation, distribution, and positioning.
• Artificial intelligence. A tool we will introduce to the process of designing and researching volumes.
• Disobedient design: The body dressed as a political statement.
• Interactive tools: Electronics, e-textiles, wearables.

Module 4 - Technology and material innovations

Fashion design can focus on the working of material, not only with intelligent textiles and technological contributions but as a material basis that requires contemporary design decisions that combine innovation and craftsmanship, as well as sustainable solutions. Experiments will be conducted using rare materials, applying in the creative process digital and manual technologies that help them relate to the environment.

• Sustainability: Upcycling
• Bio-threads
• Natural biomaterials and dyes
• Conductive wires
• Thermosensitive material
• Visit to MATERFAD The Materials Centre in Barcelona

Module 5 - Resources for prototypes and finishes. Art direction and photography

In this module, students will work from a manufacturing and prototyping laboratory equipped with tools to bring projects to fruition. Furthermore, in this module a theoretical segment on the body, gender, and diversity will be taught. This segment will introduce students to debates and fundamental topical issues in the fashion of the future. Similarly, the art direction will be managed to achieve a well-oriented, aesthetic result that translates the project into a professional visual proposal.

• Methods used to assemble the various materials created in the previous modules.
• Moulding technique.
• Finished using confection and other complementary techniques.
• Art direction
• Photography

Module 6 - Master's Final Project

As a result of the master's degree, an investigation must be developed based on one of the topics covered, defining clear objectives and hypotheses and applying various methodologies to resolve the questions posed. The entire research process must be rigorously documented, culminating in the creation of four final looks that will form part of a complete collection.

• Ethnographic methodologies, field research and social innovation applied to fashion design.
• Creation, distribution and positioning.
• Digital and physical moldage.
• Prototyping.
• Art direction.
• Photograph.