Overview
Enter the transformative world of strategic foresight and futures thinking with this immersive one-month exploration into anticipating and shaping fashion’s evolution. This comprehensive course examines the methodologies, frameworks, and creative approaches that enable fashion professionals to navigate uncertainty, identify emerging opportunities, and drive long-term innovation in an industry undergoing profound transformation.
Under the guidance of industry professionals and academic faculty working with global brands, students will develop the analytical and creative capabilities to decode macro trends, interpret weak signals, and construct compelling future scenarios. The program offers a unique blend of rigorous futures research methods and speculative design thinking, where systems analysis meets creative imagination and every insight contributes to strategic decision-making.
Building on Polimoda’s pioneering legacy as the first school to launch a master’s program in fashion trend forecasting, this intensive program provides a rare opportunity to engage with future-oriented methodologies rarely offered in short fashion courses, moving beyond surface-level trends to explore the deep drivers, sustainability, technology, and socio-cultural change, that will shape fashion’s long-term trajectory.
Highlights
- Master Strategic Foresight Methodologies: Learn futures thinking frameworks, trend analysis, and scenario building techniques used by global innovation consultancies
- Systems-Driven Approach: Explore deep drivers of change through analytical research and behavioral insights rather than surface-level trend spotting
- Real-World Applications: Engage with brand case studies and industry examples demonstrating how foresight guides strategic decision-making
- Expert Instruction: Receive guidance from professionals bringing hands-on experience from global brands and innovative teaching materials
- Immersive Learning Environment: Access Polimoda’s extensive library and research resources, participate in field trips to fashion museums and research spaces
- Portfolio-Ready Outcomes: Develop a Strategic Foresight Scenario Booklet and presentation deck suitable for professional use
Who it's for
This course welcomes a diverse range of creative and strategic thinkers seeking to understand how fashion evolves and how to navigate its future:
- Aspiring and emerging fashion professionals interested in innovation, sustainability, or strategic roles
- Individuals from marketing, communication, technology, or cultural fields wishing to understand fashion’s evolution
- Designers seeking to broaden their perspective beyond product design toward long-term thinking and industry transformation
- Anyone curious about foresight, speculative design, and systemic innovation in fashion
Suitable for professional upskilling, career shifts, or expanding creative practice.
Skills
- Critical thinking developed through trend analysis and systems mapping
- Advanced research skills through environmental scanning and insight development
- Strategic thinking via scenario building and strategy translation
- Problem-solving through applied foresight exercises
- Creativity and speculative imagination through prototyping and storytelling
- Visual thinking and semiotic analysis
- Ability to envision and articulate multiple possible futures
- Understanding of aesthetics as cultural signals: color, texture, and form
- Communication and presentation skills through final project pitches
- Collaboration and leadership in group workshops and team exercises
- Adaptability when working with open-ended, uncertain futures
- Integration of design thinking and project-based learning approaches
Skills are acquired through lectures, workshops, group projects, and constructive peer feedback, supported by field trips and guest speaker sessions that provide real-world context and industry insights.
Course Structure
The program includes the following courses:
Cultural and visual insights into the concept of contemporary aesthetics
Introduces core methods and mindsets for anticipating change, exploring possible fashion futures, and guiding strategic decision-making in an uncertain world
Aesthetics: color, texture, and form as cultural signals; material forecasting and textile innovation
Visioning fashion futures through scenario development and strategic narratives, including data analytics for foresight—from signals to insights—and interpreting consumer behavior through data
A fieldtrip or guest lecture provides hands-on, real-world learning through direct experience or expert insights
Insights into graphic design and visual practice
The course combines Design Thinking, Systems Thinking, Project-Based Learning (PBL), Strategic Foresight & Futures Thinking (the dominant framework), and Visual Thinking & Semiotics to create a comprehensive learning experience.
Learning Approach
This intensive 4-week program employs multiple methodologies integrated throughout the course:
- Project Based Learning
- Design Thinking
- Strategic Foresight & Futures Thinking
- Visual Thinking & Semiotics
Teaching methodologies include short lectures with brand case studies, faculty and guest lectures with industry professionals, creative workshops, mini group and individual projects, independent study supported by Polimoda’s extensive library and research resources, field trips, and personal portfolio development in preparation for employability and career progression.
Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will have produced:
- A Strategic Foresight Scenario Booklet combining visual and written elements that demonstrate their ability to identify emerging shifts, analyze macro trends and weak signals, and construct compelling future narratives
- A Final Presentation Deck showcasing insights and strategic applications, demonstrating how foresight translates into actionable innovation strategies
- Portfolio-ready materials suitable for personal branding or professional application in fashion, luxury, lifestyle, and innovation consultancy
Students will possess a comprehensive understanding of futures studies, strategic foresight, and fashion trend forecasting, equipped to produce foresight-driven strategic concepts and scenario blueprints for diverse fashion contexts.
Career opportunities
Students who complete this course can pursue a wide range of careers within Fashion, Luxury, and Lifestyle such as:
- Foresight Strategist
- Fashion Trend Forecaster
- Innovation Consultant
- Cultural Researcher
- Strategic Designer
- AI and Data Strategist
- Material/Color Forecaster and Researcher
- Sustainability/ESG Analyst with Strategic Outlook
Suitable for professional upskilling, career shifts, or expanding creative practice.
Gateway to further study
This course can be seen as an entry gateway into the full Master in Fashion Futures & Foresight Strategies, offering a taste of the methodologies used in long-term strategic design and research.
Certificates
Students will receive Polimoda’s Official Certificate of Attendance, validating their completion of the short course and strengthening their credentials for careers in strategic foresight, innovation consulting, and fashion futures research.
Requirements
Application requirements are:
- English language proficiency
This course description and indication of fieldtrips is representative but not exhaustive of the full program. Course content can be updated throughout the program to maintain a future-oriented perspective, ensuring all courses taught are current and applicable to the evolving fashion landscape.
