Fashion Communication - MA
Currently viewing course to start in 2026/27 Entry.
MA Fashion Communication aims to give you the knowledge, skills and experience to launch your career in the fashion and beauty industry. You will choose one of 3 areas to specialise in: MA Fashion Communication: Marketing, MA Fashion Communication: Cosmetics Branding and Marketing and MA Fashion Communication: Styling and Creative Direction....
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We are offering online 1-1 sessions between February and April, so you can talk to one of the course tutors at a time of your choice. This is your opportunity to find out more about the course and get your questions answered.
- Level Postgraduate Taught
- Study mode Full Time
- Award MA
- Start date September 2026
- Fees View course fees
- Subject
- Location City Centre
This course is:
Available with Professional Placement option
Open to International Students
Overview
MA Fashion Communication aims to give you the knowledge, skills and experience to launch your career in the fashion and beauty industry.
You will choose one of 3 areas to specialise in: MA Fashion Communication: Marketing, MA Fashion Communication: Cosmetics Branding and Marketing and MA Fashion Communication: Styling and Creative Direction.
Each specialism has specialism specific seminars within shared modules that allow you to focus your research and outputs on your chosen area and collaborate with students from across MA Fashion Communication.
The first term is shared to allow you to experience each specialism, and you can confirm or change your specialism at the end of term 1. You will develop knowledge and skills in analysing fashion and beauty campaigns, visual communication, technical production, and research methods.
In term 2 you put these skills to use by creating collaborative and industry focused campaigns relevant to your chosen specialism. Term 3 is the culmination of your studies in which you create your final major project and prepare for your entry into the industry. Specialisms are achieved through the work you produce and briefs you choose within shared and optional modules.
Active participation in debates about the future of the fashion and beauty industry is encouraged. You'll explore pivotal issues such as sustainability, diversity, and digital technology, to propose future focused creative solutions.
In all specialisms you will learn to harness the power of compelling storytelling, visual aesthetics, and consumer research, to effectively engage audiences and drive impactful brand narratives. Adopting an international approach, you will be encouraged to reflect on your own heritage, culture, and positionality to promote cross cultural dialogue and peer to peer learning, helping you to become a professional capable of navigating the global landscape of the fashion and cosmetics industry.
This course is suitable for both recent graduates and qualified mature students who aim to work in the fashion and beauty industry. Whilst a related fashion, creative or business degree is useful, it is not essential to join the course.
MA Fashion Communication will prepare you for careers such as fashion and beauty PR, fashion and beauty marketing, fashion styling and creative direction, advertising, trend prediction, social media management, visual merchandising, brand management and the development of future fashion and beauty entrepreneurs.
MA Fashion Communication: Marketing
If you choose to specialise in Marketing as part of this masters, you will explore the following:
- Strategic Creativity: Blend creative communication with strategic marketing to bridge the gap between innovation and consumer behaviour.
- Comprehensive Exploration: Analyse fashion marketing strategies, consumer behaviour, and media while creating compelling written, visual, and digital content.
- Practical Application: Use InDesign and other industry tools to develop promotional campaigns, fashion films, retail activations, and more.
You might have a fashion communications or design background, or you might have an unrelated degree and want to gain the skills to work in this exciting area of the fashion industry.
MA Fashion Communication: Cosmetics Branding and Marketing
If you choose to specialise in Cosmetics Branding and Marketing as part of this masters, you will explore the following:
- Beauty Industry Expertise: Immerse yourself in the world of cosmetics, from skincare to fragrance, understanding consumer behaviour and market trends.
- Brand Narratives: Analyse beauty brands' strategies to create compelling narratives and visual content.
- Industry Insights: Learn from experts and attend professional events, gaining practical skills in photography, 3D printing, and Adobe software to design standout marketing communications and packaging.
Students come to this specialism from a variety of backgrounds. You might have completed a first degree in cosmetics science and want to learn more about marketing and promotion, you might be a graphic designer interested in breaking into the beauty industry, you may have previously studied fashion communication and want to focus on cosmetics. Or, you might be a hairdresser, make-up artist or aesthetic practitioner who wants to start their own business.
MA Fashion Communication: Styling and Creative Direction
If you choose to specialise in Styling and Creative Direction as part of this masters, you will explore the following:
- Visual Language Mastery: Develop your unique visual language, becoming a forward-thinking image maker, stylist, or creative director.
- Studio Time: Explore practical styling techniques using the BCU photography studios
- Creative Collaboration: Produce editorial styling, promotional campaigns, and digital content, working alongside student photographers, designers, and creatives.
You will probably have come from a creative course, for example previous students have trained in fashion design, photography, graphic design, styling, communications, and promotion.
What's covered in this course?
This course covers a range of skills and learning:
Industry Knowledge
You will gain knowledge of the fashion and cosmetics communication landscape and the various functions within them. You also will gain understanding of the critical issues facing the fashion and beauty industry.
Practical Skills
You will explore practical technical skills such as managing photoshoots, working with photographic/video equipment and editing using Adobe software in workshops and studio spaces with lecturers, technicians, and industry guests.
Research and Ideation
You’ll be supported to develop research and ideation skills alongside the understanding and application of theoretical, critical, and analytical skills.
Career Development
Throughout the course you are encouraged to create a professional online presence and supported to develop CVs, search for work experience and effectively promote yourself.
Staff with Industry Experience
Led by staff with industry experience across fashion marketing, beauty, social media, styling and product development with visits from industry speakers from a variety of roles.
Entrepreneurial Opportunities
In partnership with our enterprise team at STEAMhouse the course includes the option to complete a mini start up course and eligibility for the pre-incubator business space.
Experiential Learning and Authentic Assessment
You will learn by doing and the assessments will mirror the work you might create in industry. Take advantage of organised trips to trade shows, exhibitions, and inspirational cities.
Examples of Assessments:
- Portfolios
- Verbal presentations
- Written reports
- Look books
- Magazines
- Films
- Social media content
- Podcasts
- Brand campaigns (digital and print)
Professional Placement option
This course offers an optional professional placement. This allows you to spend 20 weeks with an employer, following completion of your taught modules, and is a great way to enhance your employability.
The experience you gain through your placement will allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market.
If you choose the placement option, you will be responsible for finding and securing a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study. You will be able to draw on the University’s extensive network of local, regional and national employers, and the support of our Careers teams. If you do not secure a suitable placement, you will automatically be transferred back to the standard, non-placement version of the course.
Please note: Placements will only be confirmed following a competitive, employer-led selection process. As such, the University will not be able to guarantee placements for students who have registered for the professional placement option.
I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your incredible guidance and support throughout my MA. The experience has been truly wonderful. I’ve already started to see how much I learned over the past year in my current internship. Finally, I understand emphasis you put on narrative and visuals. I ’m currently working as a marketing intern for Hairdressers Journal and Modern Barber, it's so fascinating to work for a magazine I referenced throughout my MA.
Preeti Bhandari – MA Fashion Communication (Cosmetics Branding and Marketing)
Why Choose Us?
- Links to industry and the option to complete live briefs or work experience. Previous collaborations have included Another Magazine, Kiehls, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges
- Supportive staff with years of industry experience at Next, Elle Decoration and Fenwick
- Access to facilities such as photography and film studios and 3D printing
- Sessions to enable you to use industry standard Adobe software such as InDesign and Photoshop
- Collaborate with other fashion students and our wider postgraduate community to create an exhibition of your work
Entry Requirements
Essential requirements
Applicants are normally expected to have a minimum of a 2:2 honours degree, or equivalent, in any subject.
We also welcome applications from individuals who may not satisfy the normal entry requirements, but have equivalent qualifications and experience. These will be considered on an individual basis.
Applying with international qualifications
See below for further information on applying as an international student.
If you have a qualification that is not listed, please contact us.
Fees & How to Apply
UK students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: MA
Starting: Sep 2026
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 year
- £10,350 in 2026/27
- Full Time
- 18 months (including Professional Placement)
- £11,385 in 2026/27
International students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: MA
Starting: Sep 2026
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 year
- £18,970 in 2026/27
- Full Time
- 18 months (including Professional Placement)
- £20,865 in 2026/27
Personal statement
You’ll need to submit a personal statement as part of your application for this course. This will need to highlight your passion for postgraduate study – and your chosen course – as well as your personal skills and experience, academic success, and any other factors that will support your application for further study.
If you are applying for a stand alone module, please include the title of the module you want to study in your Personal Statement.
Not sure what to include? We’re here to help – take a look at our top tips for writing personal statements and download our free postgraduate personal statement guide for further advice and examples from real students.
Course in Depth
Modules
In order to complete this course you must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 180 credits):
This module is designed to equip you with advanced research skills and methodologies critical for academic success and professional development. The content is delivered through a blended learning approach, ensuring flexibility of access to study material and a comprehensive understanding of theories and practices relevant to your project.
This module allows you to experiment with the theory and practice of creative fashion and beauty communication through storytelling. Beginning with an overview of the fashion and beauty media communications landscape, you will explore media types including styling, writing, photography and film across print, digital and social media. You will learn about the conventions of each of these kinds of media and experiment with creating your own communications.
Whether you are a stylist, beauty brand manager or fashion communications specialist an understanding of the marketing theories and practices used by fashion and beauty brands is essential. The module will introduce you to key marketing theories and models, which will be used analyse past and present case studies from your specialism, making recommendations for future best practice.
You will develop advanced knowledge and professional competence in how fashion and beauty brands construct, express, and amplify their identities across retail environments and social media. You will investigate how brands communicate visually, verbally, and experientially to build recognisable brand worlds and meaningful audience connections.
This module critically and responsibly examines the world of Fashion and Beauty trend forecasting, introducing you to the structure, methods, and evolving landscape of the trend forecasting industry.
You will interrogate the cultural and ethical issues influencing contemporary forecasting practice, including paradigm shifts in long-term thinking, world-building, speculative design, and responsible futures methodology to produce a micro trend report that responds to the urgent need for a more sustainable industry.
This module immerses you in real-world communication practice within the fashion and beauty sectors. You will respond to a live industry brief. The module provides an opportunity for you to engage in a responsive, imaginative, and professional manner focused on your specialism, contributing to the development of employability skills.
This module prepares you for both your Final Major Project and your career after university and aims to link your studies with your future employment.
The Major Project module is an opportunity for you to bring together the learning on the course and apply it to a self-directed project. You will undertake a sustained, in-depth and theoretically informed research project exploring an area that is of personal interest to you and relevant to your future academic/ professional development.
Professional Placement
In order to qualify for the awards with Professional Placement, you must successfully complete all of the Level 7 modules listed above as well as the following Level 7 module:
This module will provide you with the option to take part in a 20 week Professional Placement as part of the Masters programme.
This module will improve your employability skills by allowing you to work in an area of the jewellery trade that is appropriate to your aspirations and aims, and your future career. This can include manufacturing, purchasing, museum curation, or research establishments. During the placement you will collect evidence of your continuing pathway through the jewellery sector, and your continuing development in terms of employability, and professional workplace-based skills.
Download course specification
Download nowHow you learn
Term 1
In the first term, you develop knowledge and skills in analysing fashion and beauty campaigns, visual communication, technical production, and research methods. This term is shared between all specialisms and you can change it in term 2.
Term 2
In term 2 you put the skills learned in term 1 in collaborative and industry focused campaigns relevant to your chosen specialism. You have the chance to collaborate with students from across the ADM faculty and work on live briefs set by industry. You will also consider future trends and industry directions as part of the ‘Fashion and Beauty Futures’ module.
Term 3
Term 3 is the culmination of your studies in which you create your final major project based on your specialism and prepare for your entry into the industry.
In all specialisms you will learn to harness the power of compelling storytelling, visual aesthetics, and consumer research, to effectively engage audiences and drive impactful brand narratives. Adopting an international approach, you will be encouraged to reflect on your own heritage, culture, and positionality to promote cross cultural dialogue and peer to peer learning, helping you to become a professional capable of navigating the global landscape of the fashion and cosmetics industry.
Active participation in debates about the future of the fashion and beauty industry is encouraged. You'll explore pivotal issues such as sustainability, diversity, and digital technology, to propose future focused creative solutions.
You will be based in our Parkside building with other creative students and you will have access to photography studios, fashion workshops, print rooms and 3D printing.
Trips and visits
We run trips to London to visit relevant exhibitions and retail areas, recent visits have included: a curator tour of the Alexander McQueen flagship store and exhibition space, ‘Naomi’ at the V&A and ‘Rebel: 30 Years of London Fashion’ at The Design Museum.
Students on the Cosmetics specialism also visit SCS Formulate, one of the largest cosmetics trade fairs in the UK.
We also run local trips to fashion events in the midlands, recent visits included ‘The Good Clothes Show’ at the NEC and ‘Waste Age’ at the Midlands Arts Centre.
There is also the opportunity to join an international trip, previously we have visited Rome and Florence to attend Pitti Filati, Gucci Gardens and the Salvatore Ferragamo flagship store and exhibition space.
Discover the community in the College of Jewellery, Fashion and Textiles where our students talk about their journeys here at BCU which has inspired creativity and innovation.
Employability
Employability and entrepreneurial skills are woven throughout the course. You'll attend sessions on CVs, industry roles, social media networking, and gaining work experience. Our partnership with STEAMhouse offers a mini start-up incubator program, providing support for business growth.
You are supported from the start to set up professional social media sites to network and showcase work and build your employability skills.
The course also develops a number of transferable skills such as written and visual communication, working independently and as part of a group, writing and responding to creative briefs and delivering presentations.
We offer workshops to bolster both academic and technical skills. Technical workshops cover industry-standard software like InDesign, Photoshop, and Final Cut Pro. Technicians are on hand to help you build your technical proficiency.
Placements
You can undertake a 70 hour placement in term 2 or complete a 20 week placement as part of the MA with Professional Placement.
Our students have recently completed placements at Selfridges, Hair Dressers Journal and Modern Barber and Cassie Lomas Make Up Academy.
Facilities & Staff
Our Facilities
Fashion and Textiles courses are based at our Parkside Building, which is part of our multi-million pound City Centre Campus development in the heart of Birmingham's Eastside development.
You will be based alongside other creative students and you will have access to photography studios, film studios, fashion workshops, print rooms and 3D printing.
Our staff
Jasmin Loyal
Lecturer in MA Fashion Media
Jasmin has over 15 years experience as a creative working in the menswear sector. Her experience ranges from fashion buying to product and brand development/innovation, and working for international retail brands such as the UK's largest retailer, Next.
More about JasminVictoria Coutts
Course Leader - MA Fashion Communication
Victoria's skills include a diverse range of creative direction, trend forecasting, styling, product design and development, buying and consultancy experience within the fashion, decorative products, baby, kids, and home furnishing sectors. Lifestyle and Interiors Stylist for print media and commercial clients.
More about Victoria