Textiles

Embellish, transform and enhance the body or surroundings

Combine your interests in fashion, art and creativity. In this major, you’ll explore textiles in relation to the body, sculpture, performance, design, costume and habitable space. You’ll be introduced to historical and traditional processes and theories and explore these potentialities within a broad contemporary art and cultural dialogue.

Throughout your studies you’ll experiment with various techniques and processes which may combine your interests in fashion, art, design and other creative disciplines. There is an unlimited potential for textiles so innovation and excellence are highly encouraged.

In a contemporary sense, textiles can include highly refined tensile structures to detailed sensuous cloth. This major will offer you the opportunity to engage with surface design and textile structures, computerised and traditional embroidery, embellishment, print, dye, tufting, felting, fusing and many other textile processes.

Many of our graduates have exhibited their work nationally and internationally. They have won numerous national competitions, established successful business ventures and become highly respected artists, designers and art education specialists.

Textiles is offered as part of the Bachelor of Arts. You can enhance your studies with a secondary major or choose from a range of elective units to support your career goals.

When coupled with Entrepreneurship you can complete this major as part of our Bachelor of Arts or our Bachelor of Commerce. Your choice will determine your core units.

Why Textiles?

• This was the first Textiles course in Western Australia. It boasts a formidable graduate success rate; a long-standing, highly respected national status; and a well established reputation for attracting international students. Staff and graduates make significant contributions to local art and design culture and have achieved national and international reputations.
• There is a high level of diverse graduate opportunities. “Textiles and its associated industries [and practices] constitute one of the largest sources of employment in the world.” Colin Gale & Jasbir Kaur, The Textile Book, (Berg, Oxford and New York), 2002, pg. six.
• You will work with materials that have the potential to adorn, embellish, transform and enhance our bodies, interiors and surroundings.

Credit for previous study

If you have previously worked or studied in this field, you are encouraged to contact the Faculty to discuss eligibility for recognition of prior learning.

Try our RPL search to find out what credit you might be eligible for.

Possible careers

Textiles Designer for Fashion, Interiors, Products, Objects and Accessories

If you are seeking a career in this field you may wish to consider a double major in:

• 3D Design
• Fashion
• Entrepreneurship

You may also complete a single major with electives in:

• Fashion
• Fine Art
• Visual Culture
• 3D Design
• Literary and Cultural Studies
• Anthropology and Sociology

Arts Specialist Educator

If you are seeking a career in this field you may wish to consider a double major in:

• Fine Art
• Visual Culture
• 3D Design
• Fashion

You may also complete a single major with electives in:

• Fine Art
• Visual Culture
• 3D Design

Artist

If you are seeking a career as an artist you may wish to consider a double major in:

• Fine Art
• Visual Culture
• Anthropology and Sociology

You may also complete a single major with electives in:

• Fine Art
• Visual Culture
• Digital Design
• 3D Design
• Literary and Cultural Studies
• Anthropology and Sociology

• Australian & NZ students
• International students