Abstract
At the present stage, Kazakhstani design education in the field of costume creation is at the stage of active search for the most relevant approaches and methods of vocational training of specialists. In this process, an important role is played by the creative approach, or as it is otherwise called the creative paradigm, which is considered as one of the most important factors in the development of not only the education system, but also society as a whole. The given article tries to reveal the specifics of the creative approach to forming professional competencies in pre-service costume designers basing on Kazakhstan's national traditions within the system of higher education (the case study of Kazakhstan universities). The research is based on the methods of creative, axiological, comprehensive, and activity approaches. The research methods used are the following: MIAC (training through the content-analysis) and MHM (the mental maps method). There was established the outcome of the methodological system as well as the productivity of the tasks set aimed at developing the pre-service costume designers' creative thinking on the basis of classes in major subjects, on the example of only two described technologies in particular.