Costume with Textiles

Costume and textiles is a discipline that combines historical knowledge, design practice, and technical craft to produce graduates who can research, design, create, and interpret clothing and textile work for performance and beyond. Costume has deep roots in theatre, film, television, and opera, where the visual construction of character through dress is a fundamental part of storytelling. Textiles as a practice extends into fine art, fashion, interior design, and craft, offering its own rich tradition of material experimentation and making.

At the University of Huddersfield, this three-year full-time programme includes a sandwich year in industry and a work placement component, giving you professional experience in performance contexts, costume houses, or related industries alongside your academic and practical studies. You will develop skills in pattern cutting, garment construction, historical research, textile techniques, and the design and communication processes that connect concept to realised garment. Huddersfield has a strong textile heritage and the region has historically been central to the UK textile industry, which gives the programme a distinctive material and industrial context.

Graduates of costume and textiles programmes work in theatre, television, and film production as costume assistants, makers, supervisors, and eventually heads of department. Heritage and museum sectors employ costume specialists in conservation, interpretation, and collection management. The textile skills developed throughout the programme open routes into fashion production, textile design, and craft practice.

Some graduates establish their own design or making practices, while others move into costume education, styling, or related creative roles. Postgraduate study in costume, textiles, or performance design is available for those who wish to specialise further or pursue research.