Hey everyone, I’m preparing my fashion portfolio for applications to Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, KABK Den Haag, and Gerrit Rietveld Amsterdam for 2027 intake. I’m 22, based in Germany.
Some context: I already applied to ArtEZ Fashion Design this year with less than a month of preparation and made it to the second round of admissions. The committee said they saw potential but weren’t sure if I was ready yet — so I decided to take a full year to prepare properly before applying again to schools. I have existing portfolio work including conceptual menswear sketches, sketchbook pages with process documentation, and a moodboard. I’m also doing basic courses in fashion drawing, fashion design and sewing in my city alongside this.
I’m deciding between two options at UAL/CSM London:
Option A — Two 4-day courses 24 hours each (£1,450 48hours in total)
First: Ian Kettle’s 4-day course (£720) — individual portfolio review, personal design language guidance, texture sourcing workshop, runway deconstruction, figure drawing. Ian has a BA from CSM and MA from Royal College of Art, 20+ years teaching menswear at CSM.
Second: Nicole Zisman & Evelyn Bennett’s 4-day sketchbook course (£730) — anatomy for quick spontaneous drawing, silhouette, textiles, print, draping, pattern cutting, full sketchbook as output.
Option B — One 10-day intensive course (£1,490):
Ian Kettle + Daniela Bomba together — drawing, research, 3D development, textile and print, portfolio preparation. ~59 hours total. Described as excellent preparation for further studies in fashion education. Option A feels more personal and directly targeted at what Antwerp and KABK evaluate. Option B has more hours and includes 3D development but is described primarily as CSM preparation.
Which would you choose and why? Has anyone here applied to Antwerp or KABK and can share what helped most?