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Manufacture and Design Ethics in the Fashion Industry

Understand how ethics influence different manufacturing and design processes in fashion and how this affects the global industry.

A woman styles a mannequin with a colourful patterned dress in a room full of styled mannequins.

Manufacture and Design Ethics in the Fashion Industry

  • 4 weeks

  • 2 hours per week

  • Digital certificate when eligible

  • Open level

Find out more about how to join this course

  • Duration

    4 weeks
  • Weekly study

    2 hours
  • 100% online

    How it works
  • Unlimited subscription

    $244.99 for a whole yearLearn more

Explore the ethical decisions fashion designers face

There are many ethical decisions that fashion designers have to make in product development, sourcing, and manufacturing.

On this four-week course from Bloomsbury Academic and authors V. Ann Paulins and Julie L. Hillery, you’ll delve into the various methods implemented in fashion design processes, and explore the role of ethics for each one.

With this knowledge, you’ll understand the different inspirations and development processes that influence fashion design. You’ll also explore how to address the ethical dilemmas designers may face.

Discover the processes and pitfalls in fashion design and product development

Delving into the fashion design process and product development, you’ll uncover some of the common pitfalls in these processes and how to avoid them.

You’ll also examine the roles that designers play in branding and brand representation.

Unpack sustainable design

You’ll explore the ways in which environmental and economic sustainability are related to fashion design.

With this knowledge, you’ll learn to define principles that comprise circular, sustainable design.

Explore ethical dilemmas in a global fashion industry

Delving further into the ethics within the design and manufacturing process in fashion, you’ll explore a variety of issues including human rights, workplace safety, sweatshops, and animal welfare.

This knowledge will help you explore the cultural, governmental, and NGO influences on global labour practices and standards. With this understanding, you’ll learn to communicate ways to engage in ethical fashion design.

You’ll finish the course with a strong foundational knowledge of the relationship between ethics and design and manufacturing in the global fashion industry.

What topics will you cover?

  • Week 1 - Processes And Pitfalls In Fashion Design and Product Development 1
  • Week 2 - Processes And Pitfalls In Fashion Design and Product Development 2
  • Week 3 - Manufacturing And Sourcing Fashion Products In a Global Industry 1
  • Week 4 - Manufacturing And Sourcing Fashion Products In a Global Industry 2

When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

  • Available now

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Identify inspiration and development processes that influence fashion design as well as differentiate among various methods implemented in design processes
  • Identify ethical decisions that fashion designers make and explore ways environmental and economic sustainability are related to fashion design
  • Explain principles that comprise circular, sustainable design and explain the definition and concept of intellectual property
  • Explore the role designers play in branding and brand representation and describe the difference between design inspiration, creating knockoffs, and copyright infringement
  • Explain the relationship between developing intellectual property and participating in the fashion adoption process and recognize ethical fashion design
  • Describe the relationship between design and manufacturing and describe a variety of manufacturing and sourcing issues presenting ethical dilemmas in the fashion industry
  • Identify the role of human labor and human capital in the production of apparel, textile, and other consumer products and thus be able to define “sweatshop” “fair labor” and “fair trade”
  • Compare government and non-government (NGO) regulation guidelines, offices, and organizations that pertain to apparel and textiles manufacturing and summarize various cultural influences on global labor practices and standards

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for anyone interested in the fashion industry and the design and manufacturing processes.

It will also be of interest if you want to learn more about ethics in the global fashion industry.

Who developed the course?

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Bloomsbury Publishing

Bloomsbury Publishing is a leading independent publishing house, established in 1986, with authors who have won the Nobel, Pulitzer and Booker Prizes.and is the originating publisher and custodian of the Harry Potter series. Bloomsbury has offices in London, New York, New Delhi, Oxford and Sydney. Within Bloomsbury’s Academic division, it publishes under Bloomsbury, as well as under a number of prestigious and historic imprint names.

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Fairchild Books

With a history stretching back over more than 100 years, Fairchild Books is a world-leading publisher in the fields of fashion and interior design.

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FutureLearn

FutureLearn is a leading social learning platform and has been providing high quality online courses for learners around the world over the last ten years.

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Ways to learn

Choose the best way to learn for you!

Subscribe & save

$244.99 for a whole year

Automatically renews

Develop skills to further your career

  • Access to this course
  • Access to 1,000+ courses
  • Learn at your own pace
  • Discuss your learning in comments
  • Digital certificate when you're eligible

Cancel for free anytime

Buy this course

$79/one-off payment

Fulfill your current learning need

  • Access to this course
  • Learn at your own pace
  • Discuss your learning in comments
  • Printed and digital certificate when you’re eligible

Limited access

Free

Sample the course materials

  • Access expires 5 Mar 2025

Find out more about certificates, Unlimited or buying a course (Upgrades)

Sale price available until 3 March 2025 at 23:59 (UTC). T&Cs apply.

Find out more about certificates, Unlimited or buying a course (Upgrades)

Sale price available until 3 March 2025 at 23:59 (UTC). T&Cs apply.

Learning on FutureLearn

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  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
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  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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