Study fashion design in Ireland.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2008, the fashion industry employed 22,700 people in the United States. Competition for these jobs is fierce, and most employers favor candidates holding two or four year degrees. To channel your creative energies into the fashion industry, take a degree course in fashion design in Ireland. Choose a course in Ireland to expose yourself to European trends and approaches, gain specialized training in the English language, and broaden your horizons by living in another country.
Griffith College, Dublin
Griffith College offers both BA (Hons) and BA courses in fashion design. In the Irish and British university systems, the Hons designation indicates a higher level of attainment and is considered a higher qualification. These are both three-year, full-time courses. Students learn Italian as part of the course, and reaching the required standard gives you the opportunity to spend a year in Milan studying at the renowned NABA Institute (Nuova Academia di Belle Arti).
The courses at Griffith College encourage creativity and the development of ideas, but also provide students with the practical and professional skills that employers demand. The college provides the most up to date computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software.
The fashion design project forms a key part of the course. Students develop their own projects from initial ideas, through design development, to garment construction and production techniques. Graduating from either of these courses equips you not only to design fashion, but also for employment in other roles in the industry, where design skills are used in combination with technical and business knowledge.
Griffith College, Dublin
South Circular Road
Dublin 8
011-353-1-415-0400
gcd.ie
National College of Art and Design, Dublin
The National College of Art and Design (NCAD) offers a BDes (Hons) course in fashion design. This is a three-year, full-time course, linked to the National University of Ireland.
The course covers many aspects of fashion design, including illustration and presentation, photography, knitwear design and manufacturing techniques. NCAD also encourages students to undertake placements within the fashion industry, where you can develop your skills in a professional environment.
Graduates of the NCAD course work in areas as diverse as fashion styling, fashion buying, television costume design and fashion journalism.
National College of Art and Design (NCAD)
100 Thomas Street
Dublin 8
011-353-1-636-4200
ncad.ie/admissions/entrydesign.shtml
University of Ulster, Belfast
The University of Ulster offers a BDes (Hons) course in textiles and fashion design at its Belfast Campus. This is a three-year, full-time course, although students can extend the course to four years with an optional placement year in industry.
The course allows specialization in either textiles (woven or weave) or fashion with knit. Both options include designing for fashion fabrics, garments and accessories as well as fabrics and surfaces for interiors. The university uses up-to-date technology, such as digital printing, lazer cutting and power-assisted looms and knitting machines.
Graduates from this course work as designers, illustrators and industry buyers. This course also qualifies you for postgraduate study at the University of Ulster or another university.
University of Ulster Belfast Campus
York Street
Belfast
BT15 1ED
011-44-8700-400-700
prospectus.ulster.ac.uk/campus_course.php?campus=Belfast
Grafton Academy of Dress Designing, Dublin
This private college runs a three-year, full-time course in fashion design, leading to a diploma in fashion design. The college's non-academic approach to the subject means that students focus on gaining the practical skills and experience, which are seen as vital by employers in the fashion industry.
Students work on different aspects of design, including designing for both adults and children, and on clothes for special occasions, such as bridalwear. The college also offers a number of shorter summer courses, and evening classes, which focus on particular techniques and skills, such as dress-making and embroidery.
Grafton Academy of Dress Designing
6 Herbert Place
DUBLIN 2
011-353-1-676-7940
graftonacademy.com/diploma_course.htm
Tags: fashion design, fashion industry, Griffith College, three-year full-time, University Ulster