Overview
This course is ideal for graduates with a fashion, textiles or business degree who aspire to a fulfilling career as a leader where you can set the pace and direction within this broad and competitive sector. Our programme aims to equip you with the specialist skills and real-world expertise you need to confidently offer creative solutions to industry challenges.
Learn key strategies for fashion marketing and gain a thorough understanding of integrated brand management by exploring sensory, emotional and spiritual branding. You will advance your understanding of how products are developed to commercial quality standards from concept to production by focusing on sourcing approaches, critical path management and customer analysis.
Examine the impact of ethical and environmental considerations on designed products, garment production and business ideology and develop your own critical position on the major sustainability issues facing the sector.
Our teaching experts are at the forefront of commercial and research activities, ensuring latest practice informs the curriculum and that your work is responding to contemporary industry issues. Your learning will culminate in a major project that allows you to contextualise your studies and support your career aspirations.
Key features
- We are recognised as one of the country’s most sustainable fashion and textiles schools (Green Gown Awards, 2021).
- Develop a technical understanding of the fashion industry, combined with a solid foundation of management principles and customer marketing
- Benefit from the expertise of our highly experienced academics and valuable insights of guest lectures from leading professionals in the sector
- Undertake a work-based project in a real-world setting to develop your chosen specialism, while putting your skills into practice at a professional level
- Take an optional year-long work placement to gain essential practical experience to set you apart from the crowd in this competitive sector
- Join our close-knit interdisciplinary community which fosters a supportive learning environment for students from around the world
- The award-winning Vijay Patel Building provides both the space and the facilities to foster creative thinking, where ideas can develop and flourish for all of our art and design students.
- Applicants will typically hold an undergraduate degree with a minimum pass of 2:2 or equivalent overseas qualification.
- Professional qualifications deemed to be of equivalent standing will be considered on an individual basis.
- Work experience is not a requirement. However, applications from those without formal qualifications but with significant professional experience in the relevant field will be considered individually.
If English is not your first language an IELTS score of 6.0 overall with 5.5 in each band (or equivalent) when you start the course is essential.
English Language tuition, delivered by our British Council-accredited Centre for English Language Learning, is available both before and throughout the course if you need it.
Course modules
Research Methods (Compulsory)
Teaches you a range of conceptual and practical research skills, such as questionnaire design and interview techniques. As part of this module, you will formulate your major project proposal, specifying your aims, objectives, research methods and expected outcomes. You will also learn how to undertake the literature review for your major project.
Global Markets: Designing businesses for international growth
Examines the key issues involved in developing new international markets and the role of the design manager and entrepreneur in enabling design and creative businesses to compete effectively in the global economy.
Fashion Promotion and Marketing
The module reviews both theoretical concepts & current approaches to communication and commerce in global fashion markets. Exploring key aspects of fashion marketing and promotion via case studies of retailers, brands and designers, to enable you to develop creative strategies and commercial solutions to real-life industry challenges.
Global Fashion Management 1
This module focuses upon the management of the various activities involved within the product development process, from concept to production. Exploring sourcing strategies, critical path management and customer analysis along with practical elements to develop an understanding of the processes to develop products to commercial quality standards. A contemporary vision of the global fashion industry is also gained through reflecting on future market and industry trends.
Global Fashion Management 2
This module builds on Global Fashion Management 1 and focuses upon the supply of products from production to consumption. You will explore a range of global supply chain activities, including the management of all of the processes to ensure that the products are produced at the right time, in the correct quantities and are available by specified deadlines while working to tight budget constraints and maintaining the expected quality standards.
Critical Perspectives in Ethical and Sustainable Fashion
Investigates the impact of ethical and environmental considerations on designed products, garment production and business ideology. It will enable those looking to work in fashion manufacturing or retail to provide future designers and buyers with a clear overview of the major sustainability issues within the industry.
Term two: You will select one module from the indicative optional modules
Managing a Web Presence
Provides a critical appraisal of web design and promotion along with related creative and management processes and production techniques in a business context. The module also focuses on promotion and selling in B2B and B2C environments together with the relevant interface theory and design methods relevant to their practice as design entrepreneurs.
Integrated Brand Management
Provides a thorough understanding of brand management with special emphasis on brand narrative, which defines and delivers the total brand experience. The module explores the holistic approach to brands and examines sensory branding, emotional branding, spiritual branding, and experience design.
Final Project: Dissertation
The course culminates in a Dissertation; a research project allowing you to focus on a specific subject area of your choice often focused upon a topic associated with future career objectives. This is an opportunity to deepen your knowledge and understanding to demonstrate critical understanding of your chosen area of investigation.
OR
Work based project/Live-Project
This work-based/live-project module allows you to use the skills developed during your course and enables you to undertake a negotiated investigative project in a real-world setting. You will be expected to demonstrate that you can exercise initiative, take personal responsibility, embrace complex decision-making processes and act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks at a professional level. As part of the project, you will be required to produce a project proposal, 10,000 word report and a 30-minute presentation. (Note that students are responsible for securing their own suitable work experience)
Note: All modules are indicative and based on the current academic session. Course information is correct at the time of publication and is subject to review. Exact modules may, therefore, vary for your intake in order to keep content current. If there are changes to your course we will, where reasonable, take steps to inform you as appropriate.
Teaching and assessment
Overview
The programme is delivered primarily through lectures and seminars as well as tutorial guidance. Lectures deliver a discourse on a particular subject followed by seminars which are used for holding discussions or for the exchanging of information in a smaller group. Tutorials are provided usually to discuss a subject on a one to one basis between the tutor and yourself; however you may find yourself in a small tutorial group to benefit from the contribution of others.
The Fashion Management with Marketing MA is a theoretical programme and assessments are mostly by the submission of fully referenced and structured reports. Presentations are also fundamental as an opportunity for you to present your work to others either for assessment or within a scheduled class activity. One module also includes the formulation of a weekly blog for you to keep abreast of topical issues and sometimes to provide a framework for seminar discussions, as well as being an assessed module component. You will be required to submit a project proposal which will act as your plan for future research, especially for the dissertation.
As a postgraduate student you will be expected to conduct a substantial amount of self-directed learning. This is important for you to contextualise your studies and to broaden your knowledge. It is the breadth and depth that will add so much to your work and your studies.
Through receiving feedback on your work, you will be able to reflect on aspects of your learning and develop an action plan that will help you to progress.
The fashion and textile business is highly competitive and we encourage you to develop networking opportunities by becoming a student member of trade associations and to engage in conferences and seminars delivered by industry members. We expect you to be proactive an`d attend presentations provided by visitors from the fashion and textiles business to the university, as extra curricular activity.
Throughout the programme the curriculum is enhanced by visiting lectures from a variety of business experiences, where appropriate to the module curriculum.
Contact hours
In your first two terms you will normally attend around 12 hours of timetabled taught sessions including lectures, tutorials and workshop and studio sessions each week, and be expected to undertake at least 23 hours of independent study each week. Your third term will be pre-dominantly self-directed (including meetings with your supervisor), during which you can expect to undertake 35 hours of independent study each week.
Meet your programme leader
