The way we dress is an effective form of non-verbal communication that can convey a variety of messages about our identity, including our cultural background and personal values. In the Masterstudio Fashion Design, students embark on a creative journey to explore the intersection of cultural identity and innovation in fashion.
Anastasia Bull, Fotografie Camilla FivianEmmber, Fotografie Camilla FivianNaomé Tahmaz, Fotografie Tiago Aguiart
Information on programme contents
The way we dress is an effective form of non-verbal communication that can convey a variety of messages about our identity, including our cultural background and personal values. In the Masterstudio Fashion Design, students embark on a creative journey to explore the intersection of cultural identity and innovation in fashion. The programme aims to challenge traditional boundaries, promote self-representation and expand the boundaries of conventional fashion design by integrating different cultural elements into one’s own design statements. Challenging social norms is one way to make a statement with fashion. Pushing the boundaries of what is considered the norm in fashion, which can lead to groundbreaking and thought-provoking designs. For example, gender norms, stereotypes of body images or even sustainability practices within the industry may be challenged. The focus on interdisciplinary collaboration and the opportunity to write the master’s thesis as part of a team within the degree programme demonstrates the latter’s progressive, integrative approach. Complex challenges in the fashion industry often require multidisciplinary solutions. By collaborating with experts from different fields, students are able to address real-world issues such as sustainability, inclusivity and social responsibility more effectively.
Masterstudio Design
The Masterstudio Design builds on existing knowledge and previously acquired skills. Students actively engage with their own design approach in terms of methodology and content within a larger context. The three studios (Fashion Design, Industrial Design and Scenography) are designed to be permeable and cross-disciplinary in order to make full use of the potential of design as a practice that shapes living spaces and thus shapes the environment for the pressing issues of our time.
The course is aimed at interested and critical designers, architects, interior designers, and other professionals with an affinity for design who want to further develop their conceptual skills and their interdisciplinary communication and who want to help shape our world as creatives.
Goals and benefits
The goal of the programme is to develop an independent, research-oriented design practice that is oriented towards current social, economic, political and ecological issues. You will develop a socially relevant and research-based question, work on it individually or collectively through various practices of experimental design and create a public for your results with the help of publishing tactics.
Career prospects
Graduates are qualified to work as designers in cultural or business settings and assume responsible positions in full-service design agencies; they can set up their own business, either alone or in a team, or they can choose to pursue a career in teaching and research. Students with an MA degree command cross-disciplinary skills that qualify them for professional work as a designer in a design agency, for a career in teaching and research, for free-lance work, either alone or in a team, or to set up a business of their own.
With its studios and central Campus.Workshops, HGK offers ideal conditions for combining craft curiosity, the acquisition of technical skills, and the necessary digital know-how. In addition, all students have their own 24/7 workspace in one of the spacious studios. In addition, the programme Interior Design & Scenography features an analogue and a digital workshop. The facilities are open to students 365 days a yea
Information on admission, aptitude assessment and admission to the study programme
Academical qualifications Admission to the aptitude assessment normally requires one of the following qualifications:
A Bachelor’s degree in Design or a related field of study.
A similar, equivalent degree in Design (at BA level pursuant to the “Dublin Descriptors").
If an applicant shows promising design potential, lateral entry from a different discipline is possible; in this case, please contact the Head of the degree programme.
Language of tuition International students are welcome to apply for the Master’s degree programme. The language of tuition is English and partly German (B2 level or equivalent).
To apply for a place at the HGK Basel, the required documents must be submitted by deadline 15.03.2025. Please send the specific enquiries to email address.
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Further Information Masterstudio Fashion Design MA
Further information on our events, projects and publications can be found on our blog.
International students can find further information on the website of the International Office of the HGK Basel.
Fashion Design BA
Doing fashion is a culture, and fashion design is a cultural practice. Fashion is involved in all areas that are very important to us at the moment. Alongside ...
Public transport The campus is easy to reach by public transport. The stop Freilager on BLT line 11 is immediately in front of the Campus (from Bahnhof SBB in direction Aesch)
By car Leave the motorway A2 at the junction Basel-St. Jakob and follow the sign Dreispitz. Approaching from Münchensteinerstrasse enter the Dreispitz complex through Gate 13 and park your car in one of the public car parks (Ruchfeld or Leimgrube). When setting your satnav, please note that the Freilager complex is part of the municipality of Münchenstein, Canton Basel-Landschaft.
Access by car for people with disabilities Choose the access via Florenz-Strasse in the direction of the High-rise building (Building D). To lower the bollard at the gates of the campus please ring the bell. You will be connected to our reception in Building D.
The buildings of the HGK Basel are accessible by wheelchair, stroller, and for people with walking difficulties. The entrance to the highrise building (Building D) is at ground level, the studio building (Building A) can be reached via a ramp. There is at least one lift in both buildings.
Access by car for people with disabilities: See Gender-neutral toilets: See ‘Getting there‘.
Toilets for people with disabilities:
Highrise building (Building D): Ground floor to 8th floor in the centre of the building Studio building (Building A): Ground floor to 3rd floor, southern section of main corridor
Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW Masterstudio Design (MA) ICDP Freilager-Platz 1 Postfach CH-4002 Basel
room D 4.05
Masterstudio Design (MA) ICDP
FHNW University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern SwitzerlandBasel Academy of Art and Design,
Masterstudio Design (MA) ICDP
Tower: D 4.05Freilager-Platz 1CH - 4142 Münchenstein near Basel
