The UK is known for its historical fashion roots, from Victorian to punk; but what about Birmingham? There are plenty of reasons why you should study fashion or textiles course here - check out our top reasons why below.
Impressive alumni and industry links
Our amazing Fashion and Textiles alumni are employed in industry all over the world. Here are just some of the brands they have worked with:
- Alexander McQueen
- Adidas
- Arcadia Group
- ASOS
- IKEA
We also have links with huge brands such as Burberry, Selfridges, John Lewis, River Island and more. Some of our alumni have even gone on to win awards such as the ASOS Communications and Menswear Design Award, Kingfisher Design Talent Award, and GFW New Media Award.
Our Fashion and Textiles course blog and Working in Industry page stays up to date with what our students and alumni have been up to.
Birmingham is a shopping haven
Being the second biggest city in the UK, Birmingham has plenty to offer in terms of fashion, with many places to shop and gather inspiration. Starting with the infamous Bullring shopping centre, a £500 million development that is home to over 100 shops for you to browse around. If you want something a little swankier, the Mailbox is another shopping complex just a few minutes’ walk from the station that features upmarket shops and bars. We can’t forget to mention that Birmingham is also home of the world’s largest Primark!
If you’re a sustainable fashionista, there are also plenty of second-hand options to get your style fix. Check out COW Vintage on Digbeth high street, or Red Brick Market a little further down for an eclectic selection of fashion, jewellery, and other goods. There are also vintage kilo sales that come to the city every month or so, usually taking place in warehouse spaces around the city and even on campus at times.
The National Exhibition Centre (NEC) also hosts Moda UK, one of the UK’s longest standing fashion trade shows that showcases womenswear, jewellery, watches, footwear, and fashion accessories. You can along to discover new and unique brands or even apply to have your own stall and display your pieces.
Fashion and Textiles Courses
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Exciting collaborations and partnerships
Here at BCU we are fortunate to be partnered with many fashion brands that give opportunities for our students to collaborate with them and gain valuable experience working in industry. Here are just some of the exciting things our students have gotten up to:
- Our Fashion Branding and Communications students collaborated with Lounge Underwear two years in a row on a live brief, giving them an insight into the everyday running of a large retailer and showcasing different roles that are available behind the scenes.
- Final years also get the chance to attend Graduate Fashion Week (GFW) in London to showcase their collections live on catwalk.
- Fashion Design students created the costumes worn at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Festival opening.
- Fashion and Textiles students collaborated with Gymshark to create an inclusive marketing and PR campaign.
- Textiles students worked with IKEA to showcase their furniture designs.
We’re always working on different projects and collaborations, ensuring our students get the absolute most out of their time with us, achieving their full potential and gaining valuable work experience. Our Textiles students also get the chance to enter competitions such as Texselect, the Bradford Textiles Competition, and Hand and Lock.
We’re transforming the city with our work!
Our fashion students have been involved in some interesting projects and had their work displayed around the city to celebrate various occasions or to raise awareness for certain causes. Here are just a few examples:
- The infamous Birmingham bull statue was given a custom flat cap designed by students to wear in honour of a new series of Peaky Blinders.
- A giant bra was designed by a fashion student and donned by ‘Floozie in the Jacuzzi’, another iconic Birmingham landmark. The bra was designed to raise awareness for Breast Cancer Awareness month.
- A BCU alumni designed dresses made from redesigned coffee pods. The dresses were displayed for three months in Selfridges Birmingham.
Students and alumni continue to work on ground-breaking and unique projects, and these examples give just a small taster of what you could achieve during your time with us.