BA (Hons) Bespoke Tailoring

The BA (Hons) Bespoke Tailoring course is situated in the School of Design and Technology, and provides a highly specialist programme devoted to handcraft tailoring methods. The College and the course have extensive links with Savile Row, the home of bespoke tailoring, as well as with tailors in the more recent locations for bespoke in the West End and Soho. Students on this programme learn the skills of design, pattern drafting and tailoring, together with academic, research, industry awareness and presentation skills.

This balance ensures that our graduates are fully equipped to take up a number of employment options within the industry. Recent projects undertaken with the industry include Casual Bespoke with Timothy Everest and Reinventing the Tuxedo with Henry Poole. The opportunity for students to showcase work in a variety of industry related areas is of great benefit to students on this course. Last year seven students were selected to exhibit their work on Reinventing the Privy Counsellor’s Coatee in Kensington Palace, and a Bespoke Tailoring student won the Collection of the Year at the LCF Fashion Show at Hackney House Shoreditch.

BA Bespoke Tailoring is based at Mare Street in Hackney. The surrounding area boasts a number of east end art galleries, fashion and clothing enterprises, interesting shops, Broadway market and the famed Hackney Empire theatre. London Fields, with its excellent open air lido (heated in winter), and Victoria Park provide nearby green spaces, and the Regent’s Canal runs through the area from east to west. A short bus ride will take you to the V & A’s Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green and the Geffrye Museum in Kingsland Road.

Students on this course might be invited to participate in study trips. This may involve, for example, visits to key areas of capital cities, factories, stores and museums. Attendance on these trips is not compulsory but recommended. Details regarding timings and costs will be issued closer to the relevant trips.

Course Structure

Year One - Stage One - level 4 - 120 credits

• Term One: Introduction to Bespoke Tailoring (20 credits); Tailoring Techniques (20 credits)
• Term Two: Introduction to Cultural and Historical Studies (20 credits); Research, Design and Tailoring (20 credits)
• Term Three: Cutting, Fitting and Tailoring (40 credits)

Year Two - Stage Two - level 5 - 120 credits

• Term One: Cultural and Historical Studies (20 credits); Technology in Tailoring (20 credits)
• Term Two: Industry Project (40 credits)
• Term Three: Research Methods (20 credits); Industry Placement (20 credits)

Third Year - Stage Three - level 6 - 120 credits

• Term One: Concept Development for Tailoring (40 credits)
• Terms One, Two and Three: Contextualising Your Practice (20 credits)
• Terms Two and Three: Major Project Realisation (60 credits)
• Travelling across London

The renowned London College of Fashion library is at our John Prince’s Street site, and you will need to travel to this site, and possibly others, during your course to use the library, which is open seven days a week in term time, and for tuition and special events.

Course structure

The information outlined is an indicative structure of the course. Whilst we will aim to deliver the course as described on this page, there may be situations where it is desirable or necessary for the University to make changes in course provision, for example because of regulatory requirements or operational efficiencies, before or after enrolment. If this occurs, we will communicate all major changes to all applicants and students who have either applied or enrolled on the course.

Please note that due to staff research agreements or availability, not all of the optional modules listed may be available every year.
In addition, the provision of course options which depend upon the availability of specialist teaching, or on a placement at another institution, cannot be guaranteed. Please check this element of the course with the course team before making a decision to apply.