Marketing & Merchandising for Fashion with a

Fashion illustration is vital in the product development and marketing of apparel and accessories. Illustration represents the product visually: it is a form of stylized drawing that communicates not only an artistic representation but also a sense of style. In this course, students will learn the basics of this fashion art form: • Illustration as a form of fashion communication • Fashion illustration basics • Fashion body vs. human form • Croquis and technical drawings

Students will explore natural and synthetic fibres, their characteristics and properties, the transition between fibre to fabric, fabric names and usages, care, labelling, life and handling, yarn production weaves, knits, printing, dyes, and new technologies in fibre production with an emphasis on 21st Century trends.

This course introduces students to basic fashion marketing principles. Fashion Marketing is defined as more than just “selling”: it is creating in the consumer the need and want to purchase fashion goods using a strategy of correct pricing and placement of goods, product offerings and promotional techniques targeted to the marketing segment.

This course is an overview of fashion history, its effect on contemporary trends and the marketing and merchandising of fashion apparel and accessories. Students learn the roles of costuming through the ages, the influence of costuming on designers, fashion as an evolutionary process, and costuming in fashion promotion, styling, product development, and visual display.

This course introduces students to print-based media and develops the skills to write promotional or reporting material for fashion by learning writing in the communication process, newspapers and fashion journalism, fashion advertising, and new media and blogs.

In this course students will learn mathematical concepts and procedures and how they are applied to achieve profitable fashion retail merchandising.

Fashion forecasting is a process that includes knowledge of changing colours and styles, lifestyles and consumer buying patterns, and varying methods of retailing merchandise. Students learn the components of fashion forecasting, decision-making in the apparel industry, the role of fashion forecasting in the textile apparel industries, forecasting techniques and technologies, and limitations of forecasting.

This course explores the consumer buying process and the fashion industry: consumer behavior, internal and external factors influencing fashion consumers and consumer buying decisions.

Public Relations (PR) is the management and marketing function that links the fashion business with the buying public. Publicity is a communication method that tells the public about an apparel line, an emerging designer, a service, an event or an idea. In this course, students learn to generate effective PR in fashion through public relations, planning, budgeting and scheduling, news releases, media kits and announcements.

Visual display and merchandising is the artistic staging that makes the shopper stop, look and buy. All promotional marketing ends up with this point-of-sale display of merchandise. Students learn the role of visual merchandising in effective marketing, visual displays, planning, budgeting, mannequins, window and in-store displays.

This course introduces students to brand development and management within the fashion and related industries by exploring brand creation, perception, branding principles and techniques such as logos, colour, semiotics, retail spaces, web presence, promotion and marketing, product development, brand alliances and language. Students learn to identify a successful branding strategy and will propose a new branding strategy for an existing brand.

Buying involves complex decision-making involving fashion forecasting, consumer buying trends, vendor selection and negotiation, pricing, sales, inventory record-keeping and ordering. This course introduces students to retail buying and the role of the buyer who makes daily merchandising decisions, the responsibilities of a buyer, fashion buying for retail outlets, applying marketing research, merchandising mix, buying plans, inventory control, and negotiation.

Product development is a process that begins with a design concept and follows through to production. In this course, students are introduced to technical drawings, technical specification packages, production boards, garment design elements and product organizational flows, all of which are integral to the manufacturing, marketing and merchandising of apparel.

Fashion shows produce to sell merchandise and are one of the most visual forms of promotion, making a statement to consumers at all levels: retailers, buyers, manufacturers, and designers down to the fashion-forward customer. In this course, students learn to plan and execute a fashion show as a promotional tool.

Fashion is an industry that involves teamwork and working with diverse people making communication skills essential. This course focuses on written, verbal, and non-verbal communication skills as they apply to new media, resume writing, interview skills, customer service, the workplace, ethical and social responsibilities, and conflict resolution. Students learn communication using new media and negotiation and conflict resolution skills.

Fashion students gain knowledge of ready-to-wear apparel production: critical paths, quality control, mass production techniques, garment sequencing, assembly and costing, private labels, branding, and industry-standard product and garment specifications.

24/7 is a fashion business buzzword, and e-business provides the solution to satisfy this vital consumer need. This course focuses on the product, placement, pricing, promotion and how the consumer purchases in the cyber world.

In this course, students examine the movement of goods into the international marketplace from a Canadian perspective, focusing on the legal, political, socioeconomic and cultural aspects, the development of a marketing campaign, global marketing and the fashion business, and marketing strategies in the international marketplace.

In this course, students will first develop a professional fashion portfolio demonstrating their skills in fashion marketing or merchandising.

Fashion stylists are responsible for organizing and preparing people, accessories and garments worn by models at photoshoots. In creating “the look,” stylists must be up-to-date in all aspects of fashion forecasting. Students learn styling and trend forecasting, apparel advertising, theory, and practice while working on a photo shoot and magazine spread, which will become a portfolio piece.