Fashion Start-Up

This postgraduate level course is designed to train future managers and leaders of the fashion industry to understand, analyse and run the key areas of a fashion and luxury start-up.

Participants at this level already have an eye on what designs they want to develop, which products or collections to launch, or simply where they see their management strengths developing in the industry. This proframme backs up these new ventures with solid business acumen and key planning and marketing methods essential to developing a scalable business model, and to ensure a fast-growing business enterprise. Through collection building, production methodologies, budgeting, marketing and communication, participants learn theoretical, innovative and future-thinking practical approaches aimed at creating, making and launching a product or collection on the global market. They learn how to appraise the concept of creativity applied to fashion and luxury products and evaluate how companies manage product design, manufacturing processes, commercialisation and promotion. Fashion Business covers the key strategies and production methods necessary to put together a successful collection. Participants examine trends and consumer demands, and work on image, branding and brand management. The principles of economics and finance, retail network and distribution channels, as well as negotiation techniques with suppliers, quality control, and pricing are also covered. Fashion Marketing & Communication focuses on the technical and theoretical concepts needed to create a professional communication campaign appropriate to a start-up, studying fashion and luxury marketing management, public relations and advertising. Understanding the connection between consumers, the product, and markets in which they operate is key. Fashion Law investigates the legal issues attached to the lifecycle of a garment from inception to brand protection looking at subjects such as licensing, import & export, distribution and franchising agreements, intellectual property rights, and sustainability issues to ensure that legal and ethical issues are respected. This course is for participants that have previous undergraduate level study, or proven work experience, completing the course with professional business planning skills, ready to launch, establish or re-invigorate their own brand, start-ups, SMEs, and family businesses in the fashion, luxury and creative industries.

• Fashion business manager
• Product manager
• Entrepreneur
• Project manager
• Strategic planner
• Brand manager
• Business consultant

• Luxury brand analyses and marketing strategies
• Strategic branding and innovation management
• Creativity and product innovation
• Fashion law and finance
• Licensing, ethics and sustainability
• Contemporary issues in fashion
• Fashion advertising, promotion and public relations
• Digital marketing
• Communication, time management, leadership
• Professional research methods

Badges of Excellence recognise a school’s strengths in four key areas: Best Overall, Best in Global Influence, Best in Learning Experience and Best in Long-Term Value.

• Global Influence – The global reputation and influence of a school, based on the selectivity of a school in admitting applicants and the enrolment rates of admitted applicants.
• Long-Term Value – The students' preparedness for the real world, based on student progression rates provided by the schools, assessing student satisfaction around employment, career preparedness and accessibility of alumni.

An Overall BoF Score was then awarded to each institution based on the sum-weighted score across all three key indices.