MA Textile Design

Course overview

MA Textile Design encourages transformative, multi-disciplinary and collaborative approaches to design. Socially responsible, ethical and inclusive designerly thinking and sustainable creative exploration are core values that underpin the course. You’ll be encouraged to take a conceptual and speculative approach. You’ll build on your existing creative practice and skills redefining these within the context of your future career ambitions.  

You’ll explore current fields of research and situate your practice in relation to them, for example:   

• Material and product lifecycles including circular design systems  
• Climate justice and the environmental impacts of materials, sourcing and production systems 
• Emerging technologies, interactive design and communication  
• Material and production innovations   
• Patterns of consumption and behavioural change   
• Social and racial justice, ethical labour and associated societal effects  
• Community engagement   
• The designer as activist 

The course aims to equip you with knowledge and insights to develop your design identity. You’ll become a proactive, collaborative designer who can influence, navigate and creatively contribute to textile design futures.

You’ll be supported in locating your research and practice within strands of enquiry. These will be broadly centred on ideas that relate to culture and community, emergent technologies, and radical materials. 

Learning and teaching is supported by extensive library resources at Chelsea College of Arts and across UAL, including librarians with specialist textiles, materials and textile design subject knowledge. 

What to expect: 

• Combining research and practice: A research-led and practice-based course, underpinned by critical design thinking, where the textile studio is a forum for discussion, study, collaboration and community.
• Teaching and learning environment: Your studies will centre on a combination of taught sessions, workshops, seminars, tutorials, peer learning activities and self-directed learning. 
• Emphasis on a self-directed design project: Based on your personal research and textile design interests, you’ll devise and write your own design project brief in Unit 1, continue to develop it in Unit 2 and realise your design project brief in Unit 3. 
• An ethical focus: Responding to collective responsibility to contribute towards a better and more sustainable world, you'll explore climate, social and racial justice and through a combination of taught sessions and self-directed research, you’ll learn how to embed these principles into your research and creative practice.  

Industry experience and opportunities

Recent MA Textile Design live and collaborative projects, developed with external partners and organisations include: 

• Waste Age x Ananas Anam
• Liberty AI Project (collaborative research project with Liberty London and two other UK educational institutions).
• Bio-inspired textiles x Dr Veronica Kapsali - AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) funded research project
• HEREWEAR - enabling local, circular and bio-based textiles
• Khadi London fabrics
• Dazzle Collective - visual art and performance via Virtual Reality and live motion capture
• Blossom Yard Project x Reed Smith
• Blackhorse Lane Atelier denim
• Zara Kidswear x Sustainable Design

Students are also supported to take part in national and international competitions.

Mode of study

MA Textile Design is offered in full-time mode and runs for 45 weeks (4 terms) over 15 months. You will be expected to commit an average of 40 hours per week to your course, including teaching hours and independent study.

Home fee

£14,000

This fee is correct for 2025/26 entry and is subject to change for 2026/27 entry.

Tuition fees may increase in future years for new and continuing students on courses lasting more than one year. For this course, you can pay tuition fees in instalments.

Students from countries outside of the UK will generally be charged international fees. The rules are complex so read more about tuition fees and determining your fee status.

International fee

£29,990

This fee is correct for 2025/26 entry and is subject to change for 2026/27 entry.

Tuition fees may increase in future years for new and continuing students on courses lasting more than one year. For this course, you can pay tuition fees in instalments.

Students from countries outside of the UK will generally be charged international fees. The rules are complex so read more about tuition fees and determining your fee status.