A diploma in Fashion Design and Clothing Technology is a course that will train the learner in fashion designing and sketching, textile science, clothing construction, grading, and marketing. The graduate of the course will also possess supervisory and management skills to coordinate and manage the operational level in a clothing line production.
In Kenya, Fashion Design and Clothing Technology are offered at both universities and TVET institutions. Kenyatta University is one of the Kenyan universities that offer a BSC (Fashion Design and Marketing). In the TVET sector, they use a common syllabus produced by KICD and examined by KNEC. In this article, we concentrate on the Diploma in Fashion Design and Clothing Technology for the KNEC syllabus.
Table of Contents
The objective of the Fashion Design and Clothing Technology course
By the end of this Diploma in Fashion Design Technology, the trainee is expected to be able to do the following.
- Acquire knowledge, skills, and attitudes in fashion design and clothing technology.
- Understand the roles played by different departments in the garment-making industry.
- Acquire knowledge of textile fibers, science, and grading.
- Appreciate fashionable, well-designed constructed, and marketable garments.
- The course will also offer foundation knowledge for further training in the clothing and fashion industry.
The entry requirement for Diploma in Fashion Design and Clothing Technology
Being a Diploma course those who wish to join the course in any TVET institution will require a minimum KCSE grade of C-. There is no cluster subject required.
Those who have done a Craft certificate in Clothing Technology and passed can proceed to a diploma level. Depending on your performance at the craft level you can request KNEC to exempt you from some units. When exempted you will be admitted to module 2 of the diploma instead of module 1.
Units covered in the Diploma in Fashion Design and Clothing Technology course
For the diploma KNEC program, the course is divided into 3 modules/levels which are supposed to take 3 years. The student does the unit in each module and sits for the KNEC exam for those specific units before proceeding to the next level.
If you fail 3 units among all your units per module, KNEC considers it as FAIL and you have to repeat all units in that module. When you fail 1 or 2 units you are allowed to proceed to the next level but you must repeat the failed unit and pass before you are Certified by KNEC.
For the Diploma in Fashion Design and Clothing Technology course, the following are the units that you are required to cover to be certified.
Module 1 units (Fashion Design)
- Communication skills.
- Life Skills.
- Information Communication Technology.
- Entrepreneurship.
- Mathematics.
- Physical Science.
- Textile Science I.
- Art and Design.
- Fashion Design and Sketching I.
- Pattern Construction I.
- Cutting Technology I.
- Clothing Construction I
After module 1 students are expected to go for an industrial attachment which is a requirement of the course. Students can be attached to any industry or area that deals fashion, or clothing industry. These areas can include uniform-making companies, general tailoring, the cloth-line industry, and printing and designing among other areas
Module 2 units (Fashion Design and Clothing Construction)
- Textile Science II.
- Pattern Construction II.
- Pattern Grading Techniques I.
- Fashion Design and Sketching II.
- Cutting Technology II.
- Clothing Technology II.
- Industrial Organisation and Management I (IOM).
- Business Plan.
- Quality Control I.
- Research Methodology.
Module 3 units (Fashion Marketing)
- Pattern Construction III.
- Pattern Grading Techniques II.
- Fashion Marketing.
- Clothing Construction II.
- Industrial Organisation and Management II (IOM).
- Quality Control II.
Career Progression in Fashion Design and Clothing Technology
After you have done the course you will have enough knowledge fashion and clothing industry. You can be able to design, cut material, and produce a full cloth for a specific need in the market.
With a Diploma in fashion technology, you can progress to a Bachelor of Science degree in Fashion Design. Some of the areas you can specialize in are:
- Clothing.
- Shoes.
- Accessories.
- Textile design.
- Athletic wear.
- High-end fashion.
Prospect employment areas/opportunities
With a Diploma in Fashion Design and Clothing Technology, you can be employed in a wide range of positions. Some of these fields in fashion include:
- Fashion promoter.
- Fashion designer or illustrator.
- Fashion Journalist.
- Garment and pattern cutter.
- Quality controller.
- Textile designer.
- Fashion consultant.
- Fashion stylist among others.
For self-employment, you can start your own tailoring shop with simple equipment as you make it known to the people around what you can do in the fashion industry. From there you can grow into a big company.
You can also start a cloth sales shop or branding company to print company logos and information on clothes.