Mapping Creative Pedagogies in Fashion Design Education—Fashion Design Program at American University in the Emirates as a Case Study

Abstract

The creative industries are “sectors of organized activity whose principal purpose is the production or reproduction, promotion, distribution and/or commercialization of goods, services and activities of a cultural, artistic or heritage-related nature”, according to UNESCO [1]. Fashion is an integral part of these cultural and creative industries. Creative pedagogies play an important role in establishing successful professional fashion design practice that in turn contributes to the growth of professional industries. They seek to engage students as active learners, promoting aesthetic enquiry and reflective thinking and allowing them to develop an independent vision by making, doing, critical reflection and praxis. This paper investigates creative pedagogies in fashion design education and practice. The American University in the Emirates (AUE) undergraduate fashion design program is selected as a case study for this research. Key creative methodologies are explored, analyzed and mapped to the courses in the context of professional design practice.