The Fashion Manager

The Fashion Manager

Graduates of the four - year, full - time Fashion & Management course are trained to work as fashion managers for various types of organizations, in a broad range of positions, both nationally and internationally. The fa shion manager is a strategic business thinker, a commercially astute professional organiser, who understands the languages of both creativity and technology and can communicate at and between all levels of the business.

The qualities of a fashion manager

A fashion manager is able to:

• analyze social, cultural and economic developments and translate them for the fashion industry;
• use intuition and different research techniques to observe and to spot future business trends and translate these into strategy w ithin a financial framework;
• create the management structure to support and facilitate the creative processes in the development of a collection;
• translate branding concepts into strategic plans;
• make a collection plan as part of an overall strategy;
• work with targets to maintain a balance between quality and quantity;
• coordinate product development from start to finish;
• communicate and present ideas visually and verbally;
• provide creative input to the production process, with a knowledge of different cultures, economic developments, production and communication technologies;
• use appropriate research techniques to understand brands and markets;
• work independently or as part of a team; provide coherence and direction within a team;
• operate as a link between t he company and supplier or manufacturer;
• understand the entire production process from concept to execution;
• create and manage a financial plan; operate in an international context.

Employment

Fashion & Management graduates work in the global fashion indu stry, in a technical or commercial department of a brand, a retailer, or a production company. They are also active in associated fields such as importers, distributors, wholesalers, agencies and purchasing consortia.