The same three main artistic subjects are taught in the second year. Fashion design, graphics and tailoring/ pattern design. From the rich history of dress until 1940, each of the students has to choose a historical figure with a costume typical for the period.

Then, they have to do thorough research on the historical figure they have chosen and on his or her period, including the political, cultural and social structures of the time, as well as a detailed study of the fabrics, materials, patterns and characteristics for the age. The students then spend the first term recreating this historical costume down to the smallest details, including underwear, accessories, hair and make-up. This rather time-consuming technical assignment prepares the student for the work they will have to do during the next two terms, in which the emphasis lies on the more creative aspects of the main assignment, which is: the creation of an ‘avant-garde’ fashion collection of five silhouettes. This consists of drawing and making complete outfits and selecting colours and materials, inspired by the research carried out in the first term.

The drawing course covers two specific subjects: the history of dress from the Renaissance to the present, and modelling/ draping. In this course the students acquire the skill of modelling and draping, working with materials directly on live models or dummies, without the aid of pencil and pattern paper. Not that the two disciplines are incompatible, quite on the contrary: by using materials to create forms and volumes directly, the students acquire a more direct knowledge of the art of tailoring, which they can then use in two-dimensional pattern drawing.

Seminars on shoemaking, millinery or glove-making and other projects add variety to the programme and may also be useful in the students’ later careers. Finally there are theoretical subjects: contemporary art, art history, philosophy, sociology and psychology.