5B021B - The Cutting Edge: Digital Fashion 01 Sep 2027 - 31 Aug 2033 | Version 0

Associated Module Information

Module Code: 5B021B
Module Title: The Cutting Edge: Digital Fashion
Faculty: Faculty of Business and Creative Industries
Faculty Group: Fashion, Marketing and Photography
Faculty Sub Group: Fashion
Module Leader: Joanne Terrar Young
Module Team: Fiona Howells, Torunn Kjolberg, Susan James, Jayne Barne, Sally Phillips, Emma Jones, Jennifer Whitney
First Intended Intake: SEP 2027 Final Year of Intake: 2032
Date Closed:
Credit Value: 30 Credit Level: 5
Language: English
Percentage of Module Taught in Welsh: 30
Equivalent Module:
HECOS codes: 100054 - fashion
HECOS Code Weighting: 100

Document Version Information

Version 0
Valid From 01 Sep 2027
Valid To 31 Aug 2033

Module Aims

  • Equip students with practical and theoretical knowledge of digital processes, design methods and professional documentation used in the fashion industry.  

  • Develop critical thinking skills in design, analysis of research and market. 

  • Encourage an experimental and user centred approach to fashion and product design. 

Content Summary

This module invites students to boldly reimagine what fashion can be. Together, we explore the vibrant space where art, technology, design, and clothing collide, pushing past convention to discover new possibilities for creative expression. As our lives become increasingly digital, we ask how fashion can evolve to support expanded, fluid, and diverse digital identities, and how designers can shape these emerging worlds in meaningful ways. Through experimental digital and physical processes, designers imagine a world where fashion enhances to quality of life for wearers. User-centred design is key to understanding the importance of well designed, integrated fashion outcomes. 

Learning and Teaching Methods

Activity Type Hours
Practical classes and workshops 25
Problem/Challenge Based Learning 30
Formative Assessment 1
Guided Study 184
Total Hours Selected 240

Learning Outcomes

# Learning Outcome
LO1 Analyse and apply experimental design processes to explore evolving digital identities and sustainable futures.
LO2 Evaluate and communicate how emerging technologies can positively shape consumer experience and industry practice.

Module Requisites

N/A

Assessment Criteria

Assessment Category Assessment Type Description Duration Word Count Weight (%) Best of? Pass Mark
Asynchronous Assessment  Project Output  Online, This Project Output will comprising a documented process from design to market and include a critical reflection. The assessment outcome will include a workbook documenting the research and design development alongside critical reflection of this process. The workbook will also show development of technical and digital skills. Alongside the workbook the students will produce a digital fashion product 0 6000 100 No 40

Assessment Matrix

Assessment Type Learning Outcomes
LO1 LO2
Project Output  ✔ ✔

Reading List

Choi, W., Jang, S., Kim, H. Y., Lee, Y., Lee, S. G., Lee, H., & Park, S. (2023). Developing an AI-based automated fashion design system: reflecting the work process of fashion designers. Fashion and Textiles, 10(1), 39.  

Luce, L. (2019) Artificial intelligence for fashion: how AI is revolutionizing the fashion industry. Apress.  

MacPherson, M., & Dahl, S. (2017). Digit@l girls: fashion’s new tribe: risk takers, rule breakers, and disrupters (N. Phelps, Ed.). Rizzoli. 

Choi, K.-H. (2022). 3D dynamic fashion design development using digital technology and its potential in online platforms. Fashion and Textiles, 9(1), Article 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40691-021-00286-1  

Spicher, M. R., Bernat, S. E., & Domoszlai-Lantner, D. (Eds.). (2024). Digital fashion: theory, practice, implications. London: Bloomsbury. 

Sawhney, M. S., & Goodman, P. (2022). Nike?: tiptoeing into the metaverse. Kellogg School of Management. https://sk.sagepub.com/cases/tiptoeing-into-the-metaverse 

ShowStudio (2023) YouTube: The Future of Artificial Intelligence In Fashion with Nick Knight and Leading AI Artists Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ctm6hHNDO8 

Week 1  

  • The Future of Fashion: Understanding Sustainability in a Changing World — Leslie Davis Burns 

  • Fashion Futures 2030 — Forum for the Future & Centre for Sustainable Fashion 

  • The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World — Virginia Postrel (Ch. 6 on technology & innovation) 

  • Dunne, Anthony & Raby, Fiona — Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming 

  • Articles from Fashion Theory on digital identity formation. 

  • Choi, W., Jang, S., Kim, H. Y., Lee, Y., Lee, S. G., Lee, H., & Park, S. (2023). Developing an AI-based automated fashion design system: reflecting the work process of fashion designers. Fashion and Textiles, 10(1), 39. 

Week 2 

  • Digital Fashion — Kerry Murphy, The Fabricant (open source reports) 

  • 3D Fashion Design: Technique, Design & Visualization — Holly Fulton 

  • Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in Fashion — edited by Santos & Choi 

  • Tutorials/white papers from CLO3D, Blender, or Adobe Substance 

  • Make: Wearable Electronics — Kate Hartman (for hybrid physical–digital approaches) 

Week 3  

  • Kate Fletcher — Sustainable Fashion and Textiles: Design Journeys 

  • Ellen MacArthur Foundation — The Circular Economy in Fashion 

  • Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes — Dana Thomas 

  • Academic papers on biomaterials, reduction design, and regenerative fashion. 

Week 4  

  • Don Norman — The Design of Everyday Things (user-centred principles) 

  • Gibbs, Graham — Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods (Reflective Cycle) 

  • Designing with the Mind in Mind — Jeff Johnson 

  • IDEO — The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design 

  • Articles on accessibility, inclusive design, and user behaviour in digital/virtual environments. 

Week 5 

  • Design Methods: A Structured Approach for Driving Innovation — Vijay Kumar 

  • Creative Strategies: Landscape of Contemporary Fashion Design — Peter Schatzberg 

  • Visual Research: An Introduction to Research Methodologies in Graphic Design — Noble & Bestley 

  • The Art of Innovation — Tom Kelley 

  • Case studies from WGSN or Vogue Business on emerging tech-driven fashion practices. 

Week 6 

  • The New Fashion Rules: Digital Trends Shaping the Industry — Alicia Russell 

  • Fashion Marketing: Contemporary Issues — Tony Hines & Margaret Bruce 

  • Metaverse Fashion: academic and industry reports (e.g., Deloitte, McKinsey & BoF) 

  • The State of Fashion (annual report) — Business of Fashion & McKinsey 

  • Decoded: The Science Behind Why We Buy — Phil Barden (for consumer behaviour insights)