What it’s about:

The major in fashion merchandising introduces you to all areas of the industry, including design, product development, textiles, buying, marketing, advertising, importing and exporting, sales and retail management. You learn how to identify and acquire the fashions that customers want, and to sell those fashions.

What the study of this major is like:

The fashion merchandising major prepares you for a wide variety of career opportunities in the business of marketing and distributing fashion products. Fashion merchandising is an exciting field, reflecting a fast-paced global industry that shapes worldwide trends. The glitz of fashion shows and fashion magazines is the result of creative and analytical thinking, market research, and hard work.

You can learn to manage a retail firm, buy goods for a firm, or work with designers in planning an apparel manufacturer’s fashion message. To acquire the communication, analytic, and computer skills necessary to succeed in this competitive industry, you will probably begin with courses in writing, speech, mathematics, history, social science, and natural science. During your first and second year, you take courses such as fashion analysis and textiles, which provide an introduction to the field. In advanced courses, you learn to organize and operate a retail clothing business; to plan, promote, and manage merchandise inventories; and to calculate retail figures for a profitable business. You may also study historical and multicultural costumers-you can later draw on this interesting subject to develop special promotions or store events.

Fashion merchandising programs can lead to either two-year (associate) or four-year (bachelor’s) degrees. Associate degree programs generally include courses on the fashion industry, textiles, buying advertising, sales, and retail management. Sometimes students who have earned a bachelor’s degree in another field obtain an associate degree in fashion merchandising. Bachelor’s programs in fashion merchandising include traditional liberal arts courses and professional courses in product development, importing and exporting, marketing textile, product design, retail management, and business law. At some colleges, you can minor in marketing, textiles, and design. Many programs offer field experiences for college credit. Associate degree programs generally offer one opportunity for an industry internship. In bachelor’s programs, you may be able to take more than one internship, as well as to study abroad for a semester.

The program is a combination of traditional academic courses and less traditional fashion merchandising courses. The academic courses, which are generally lectures and discussions or laboratory sessions, usually require tests and papers. The fashion merchandising classes generally include lots of hands-on work. Most faculty members and academic advices have extensive industry experience and do not teach only from textbooks. Fashion merchandising courses are often enriched by field trips and guest speakers. Some programs offer study tours of guest speakers. Some programs offer study tours of major U.S. fashion markets (such as New York, Dallas, and Los Angeles) or of European fashion centers. In advanced courses, you are assigned group projects to help you become an effective team player. Many fashion merchandising majors hold jobs while carrying a full-time class load.

Some colleges offer only associate degree programs; some offer only bachelor’s degree programs; and some offer both. Certain colleges allow you to move from an associate degree directly into the bachelor’s program with no loss of credit. Other associate degree programs provide credit transfer arrangements with four-year colleges.

Career options and trends:

Fashion designer; buyer*; fashion marketing executive*; showroom account executive*; fashion editor; textile designer*; import/export specialist; fashion advertising director; visual merchandiser*; merchandise manager.

Many majors think that the only careers open to them are fashion design and retail buying. However, a survey has identified 31 additional fashion careers, including computer-assisted apparel design; color forecasting; storyboard design; catalog production; mall management; private label development; web-based retailing; online direct marketing; and fashion consulting. Experience on the job and good  networking skills should lead to promotions and future job offers.

Source: CollegeBoard 2012 Book of Majors