FA5031 - Collaborative Project

What will I learn on this module?

In this module you will collaborate with the programme’s industrial, cultural, community or educational partners to generate original fashion solutions to real-world problems. You will work with specialist tutors and technicians to develop meaningful fashion outcomes that are grounded in authentic research and move beyond initial aesthetics. You will develop an understanding of the relationship between the creative and commercial requirements of fashion design.

The module will challenge you to broaden your knowledge of fashion and extend your previous experience. You will focus on an ‘elevated’ fashion market level as a conduit for developing progressive knowledge of aesthetic principles and skills in fashion craftsmanship.

Building on knowledge gained in Fashioning Identity, Concept and Craftsmanship you will advance your understanding of pattern cutting and garment construction, constructed knitwear, and surface printed textiles using traditional or digital methods through specialist thinking through make approaches. You will resolve contemporary issues currently facing the industry presented in the collaborative brief. Your conclusions will further develop your creative practice and personal ambitions.

The module will allow you to work with industrial partners to develop your professional skills and understanding through Live project briefs and/or the opportunity to take part in national competitions. This will enable you to initiate your personal professional network and make considered decisions about your career readiness for industrial placement and employment.

Work for this module may contribute to the design placement portfolio in Block 3.
Global themes: Sustainability, climate change, global health, AI, technology, political unrest, etc.
Human or planet-focused responsible design practice: social inclusion, gender, equity, mobility, global thinking, health and wellbeing, hunger, security, UNSDGs, circular fashion practices, climate change, pollution, etc.

How will I learn on this module?

In this module you will be encouraged to acquire a flexible and imaginative approach to creative problem solving: to think divergently and
to develop your ability to respond to a collaborative brief, articulate and progress your concept and ideas through authentic research and
enquiry-based learning. You will become active participants in the integration of design practice, academic and intellectual skills.

Engaging with both studio and workshop environments will encourage individual intellectual freedom, a creative collaborative community, and collegiate exchange. This approach emphasises creativity and experiential enquiry, enabling the generation of ideas through active participation in observation, recording and making through design practice.

Project based learning engenders an enquiring, analytical and creative approach to the progressively interrelated nature of practical and intellectual skills. Analytical and adductive thinking, and experimentation are characteristics of the creative process and are embedded and supported throughout the module.

Hands on participation in studios and workshops will enable you to display evidence of creative thinking through exploration and communication of a design concept/artefact that has a purposeful outcome. Experiential activity will engage you in self-initiated research, encourage you to apply independent judgement and critical self-awareness in your practice.

There is a focus on the acquisition and application of technical skills and the use of materials and processes in identify and solving problems.

Traditional, new and emerging technologies are used both in the delivery, observation and realisation of the outcomes.

How will I be supported academically on this module?

At the start of the module, the creative brief, learning plan, learning outcomes, work requirements and assessment process will be presented and explained verbally and visually by the module tutor.

Delivery of the module will be by a mix of practical studio sessions, workshops, lectures, seminars, group and individual tutorials. Blended studio-based work will facilitate the development of advanced fashion thinking and practice. Directed Study will be set regularly with specific set tasks to underpin your learning and inspire independent enquiry or study.

Throughout the module, you will receive ongoing formative feedback in formal and informal tutorials. Feedback may be verbal or written.

To benefit from this support and to be successful in this module it is important to engage will all forms of delivery.

After summative assessment, you will receive formal constructive written feedback and a grade indicating your achievement in relation to the learning outcomes. Additionally, you will be offered a feed-tutorial with members of the academic team.

In addition to your module tutors, you will be supported by various other members of staff and university services including:
• Technicians aligned with your modules to provide technical instruction and demonstration of equipment and software required to complete you project work;

• Library staff to guide you in the ongoing development of essential study: IT skills, information retrieval skills and academic writing via Skills Plus;

• Academic Language Skills modules to help students at the Northumbria Campuses whose first language is not English or who have no experience studying in English in the UK.

What will I be expected to read on this module?

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

What will I be expected to achieve?

Knowledge & Understanding:
5. Use critical discourse to analyse or question contemporary fashion design issues or projects.

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
3. Create fashion concepts, proposals or solutions that appropriately respond to clearly identified needs or issues.
5. Demonstrate creative thinking through analysis and experimentation throughout the fashion design process.


Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
4. Take an experimental approach when challenged to conceive fresh or innovative fashion ideas.

5. Participate in collaborative team working activities or projects to tackle problems that benefit from a multi-perspective approach to fashion.

6. Demonstrate skills in pitching fashion artefacts or proposals to potential users or stakeholders.

How will I be assessed?

Formative Assessment process:
You will receive ongoing feedback in studio and workshops to ensure creative and technical competencies are met before progressing through the design process into the garment production.

Summative Assessment process: You will submit for summative assessment:

Component 1: (50%) 2D creative process

Component 2: (50%) 3D outcomes: intermediate level specialist (physical, virtual or hybrid).

You will be assessed against the following Module Learning Outcomes:
Component 1: KU 5, IPSA 3, 5, PVA 4, 5, 6

Component 2: IPSA 3, 5, PVA 4, 6

Pre-requisite(s)

N/A

Co-requisite(s)

N/A

Module abstract

In Collaborative Project, you will engage with the programme’s industrial, cultural, community or educational partners to generate original fashion design solutions and develop an understanding of the relationship between the creative and commercial requirements of fashion design. You will apply your knowledge and individual skills in pattern cutting, manufacture, constructed knitwear, and surface printed textiles, in the development of a design and make project.

In studio sessions and workshops specialist tutors and technicians will support you to develop meaningful fashion outcomes that are grounded in authentic research and move beyond initial aesthetics. This creative environment offers the opportunity for experiential learning, ‘thinking-through-making’ merging industrial and experimental processes and techniques, in industry-standard workshops.

Using the parameters of a brief you will develop a concept into a final outcome which can be presented on the moving human body on an in-studio runway or in a fashion presentation. Your creative fashion journal and specialist practical outcome will provide the content for your Professional Practice module in Block 3.

Course info

UCAS Code W233

Credits 40

Level of Study Undergraduate

Mode of Study 3 years Full Time or 4 years with a placement (sandwich)/study abroad

Department Northumbria School of Design, Arts and Creative Industries, Northumbria School of Design

Location City Campus, Northumbria University

City Newcastle

Start September 2025

Fee Information

Module Information

All information is accurate at the time of sharing. 

Full time Courses are primarily delivered via on-campus face to face learning but could include elements of online learning. Most courses run as planned and as promoted on our website and via our marketing materials, but if there are any substantial changes (as determined by the Competition and Markets Authority) to a course or there is the potential that course may be withdrawn, we will notify all affected applicants as soon as possible with advice and guidance regarding their options. It is also important to be aware that optional modules listed on course pages may be subject to change depending on uptake numbers each year.  

Contact time is subject to increase or decrease in line with possible restrictions imposed by the government or the University in the interest of maintaining the health and safety and wellbeing of students, staff, and visitors if this is deemed necessary in future.

 

Useful Links

Find out about our distinctive approach at 
www.northumbria.ac.uk/exp

Admissions Terms and Conditions
northumbria.ac.uk/terms

Fees and Funding
northumbria.ac.uk/fees

Admissions Policy
northumbria.ac.uk/adpolicy

Admissions Complaints Policy
northumbria.ac.uk/complaints