Fashion Buying with Marketing

Fashion buying requires both strong commercial understanding as well as theoretical knowledge. After looking at the roles and responsibilities of buyers – from design concept to point of sale – you’ll focus on the business side of fashion, building your knowledge of planning, branding, public relations/communications and social media platforms.

You will study computer-aided design (CAD) to ensure that your design and marketing concepts can be presented and communicated in a professional, and industry-recognised, style. You will also cover report writing, data selection, presentation and critical analysis.

Develop the practical skills needed to take on the challenges of our rapidly evolving industry, focusing on the shift in consumer demand from high street to online shopping. With an emphasis on sustainability and social responsibility, we aim to give you the tools you will need to drive innovation at all stages of the buying process.

Key features

• We are recognised as one of the country’s most sustainable fashion and textiles schools (Green Gown Awards, 2021) and one of the best fashion schools in the world for 2022 (CEOWORLD, 2022).

• Work on live projects with industry partners to learn from buying, marketing and creative experts. Previous briefs include sustainable projects with Stella McCartney and Ted Baker, and a trend forecasting project with Next.

• Learn how to analyse consumer behaviour in order to develop targeted marketing and promotional campaigns for retailers.

• Enhance your career prospects by choosing a year-long placement. Our students have worked at Next, Urban Outfitters, Mamas & Papas, Joules, Yours Clothing and O’Neill.

• Our graduates have gone onto work at companies including Reiss, Next, Marks & Spencer, River Island and Selfridges, while others have started their own successful companies.

• Develop highly sought after CAD skills in our state-of-the-art labs to enhance your fashion industry prospects.

• Take part in our international experience programme, DMU Global. Students have benefited from trips to Porto, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Hong Kong and New York, meeting key influencers at top fashion brands.

• Utilise an award-winning workshop and design space – the Vijay Patel Building – containing specialist facilities to foster fresh ideas and creativity.

If you are interested in advanced entry into Year 3 of this course, please visit the DMU website for the course details: https://www.dmu.ac.uk/study/pre-edu-2030/fashion-buying-with-marketing-ba-degree/fashion-buying-with-marketing-ba-degree.aspx

First year
Block 1: Fashion Consumer and Marketplace
Block 2: Fashion Business
Block 3: Fashion Lifecycle
Block 4: Sustainable Futures

Second year
Block 1: Buying and Professional Practice
Block 2: Design Innovation and Sustainable Futures
Block 3: Introduction to Global Sourcing Skills
Block 4: Marketing, Communications and Branding

Third year
Block 1 and 2 Sustainable Sourcing and Supply Management, and Strategic Fashion Marketing
Block 3 and 4: Major Research Project

We want to ensure you have the best learning experience possible and a supportive and nurturing learning community. That’s why we’re introducing a new block model for delivering the majority of our courses, known as Education 2030. This means a more simplified timetable where you will study one subject at a time instead of several at once. You will have more time to engage with your learning and get to know the teaching team and course mates. You will receive faster feedback through more regular assessment, and have a better study-life balance to enjoy other important aspects of university life.

Structure
This includes design studio practice, formal lectures, group seminars, tutorials, lab work and practical workshops. There are regular tutorials and reviews which allow you to reflect and develop your work ready for your final presentation at the end of the year.

Contact hours
You will be taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials, seminars, group work and self-directed study. Assessment is through coursework (presentations, phase-tests essays and reports) Your precise timetable will depend on the optional modules you choose to take, however, in your first year you will normally attend around 15 hours of timetabled taught sessions (lectures and tutorials) each week, and we expect you to undertake at least 25 further hours of independent study to complete project work and research.