Do you love fashion and have the drive, desire and determination to develop the skills to lead you into a pivotal fashion role? Do you aspire to work for a global fashion brand or an international retailer, or for yourself as an entrepreneur in the fast-paced and exciting fashion industry?

Studying on this course will give you the opportunity to:

• Creatively manage the buying process using a unique skill set. We provide an environment where you can experiment and personalise your learning to develop a wide range of skills to help you become a confident player in this exciting international business.
• Participate in innovative focused projects that simulate industry practice to develop the experience you'll need to succeed in the global industry. You'll be equipped to research new solutions, identify market opportunities, solve problems creatively, work collaboratively, manage professional business relationships effectively and take the initiative in all aspects of fashion business.
• Experience reflective industry practice and as such you will work collaboratively as well as individually on a variety of projects.

Our course gives you the skills and knowledge to develop your creativity and expertise within a commercial framework that directly reflects current fashion industry practice. The dynamic environment of fashion buying provides diverse, challenging and exciting opportunities in roles such as trend analysis, fashion buying, merchandising, new product development, and sourcing.

Placements

The course offers an optional one-year (36 weeks minimum) work placement after the second year, in the UK or abroad. This will give you the opportunity to gain valuable hands-on experience, insight into your chosen career and open up your graduate employment prospects. Our Placement Unit and academic staff have excellent industry links and can support you in applying for and finding your placement(s), as well as during your placement year.

Students from our suite of fashion courses have previously taken up placement opportunities with companies including: Andrew James, Anthropologie, J Barbour & Sons, Boden, Dr Martens, Paul Smith, Missguided, Jimmy Choo, George, and Tesco and internationally at Karl Lagerfeld (Amsterdam), Next and Ferragamo Retail (Taiwan).

Alternatively, if you are a student from within the UK or the EU, you may consider starting your own small business by applying for our unique Enterprise Placement Year in conjunction with the University's Enterprise Team. The Enterprise Placement year immerses you in real-world fashion entrepreneurship, and you will benefit from bespoke business advice, mentoring, and networking sessions. This is an exciting and innovative course option that could lead you and your business idea to the very top of British fashion. You can find out more information on the Enterprise Placement Year here.

Your Career

Graduates from this subject area have gone on to enjoy successful careers in buying, merchandising, product development, sourcing, e-commerce and management consultancy. Fashion graduates have gone on to work for companies including Burberry, Ted Baker, Next, Missguided, Zalando, ASOS, M&S, Tesco, Boohoo, White Stuff, and Arcadia group brands Topshop and Topman.**

We've also had students delivering exciting live projects for brands such as Coach, L.K. Bennett, Topshop, and Primark. Enriching your learning will be a series of field trips to exhibitions and other appropriate cultural and commercial events; these will complement your studies and inspire your ideas