Michael
What are the basics of fashion merchandising?
I want to become a fashion merchandiser because I am very interested in clothing and creating my own brand. I believe you have to have a bachelor's degree in fashion merchandising to begin the career. What other steps should I take to help me pursue my career.#nextralphlauren #fashionmerchandiser #imupnext #business-operations #fashion #apparel-and-fashion #fashion-industry #business #branding
3 answers
Nancy Shumsker Neipris
Nancy’s Answer
This field is the business side of the fashion world that involves marketing and selling of clothing and accessories. You need to keep on top of the latest trends. You need to know about textiles, fabrics, the fashion industry and its cultures that inspire them. Merchandising involves trends, manufacturing and selling. You are involved with developing, initializing the design all through to production. Like anything, there's a lot of info on the web. Hopefully, you are able to attend a school with this particular course of study. Wishing good luck!!
Rodrigo Oliveira
Rodrigo’s Answer
I would agree with your plan to take a specific degree to have the technical knowledge to make it happen. And I'd assume that the course will provide you some basics about business administration as well. And here is where I believe I can provide you some guidance.
Creating a brand and make it a successful one is not an easy job. You will have to create great products and be able to sell them with a positive financial result. :)
It might sound something simple, but it's not (at all). You will need to have a solid marketing plan to understand which market or niche you will focus, with which range of prices, which raw materials (and its quality levels). So, if you want to really focus on the technical part of creating clothing, you may want to be associate to people with business management background.
And, who knows, this can end being helpful to the next Ralph Lauren. Success!
Londyn Pe
Londyn’s Answer
Hi Michael!
Before actually getting a degree in Fashion, I would start with the basics and that would be getting a retail job at company’s such as Macy’s, Nordstrom’s, Forever21, Zara, etc. Everyone has to start somewhere and learning basic terminology while seeing what it takes to be a merchandiser is the primary step. When starting or even interviewing, communicate your interest in merchandising and then find time daily to partner with merchandisers to see what their position entails. The best way of learning is to actually be working in the environment. Growing within a company not only shows your commitment, but also has so many different avenues for you to take in the industry. The major key for companies nowadays is talent development. Hope this helped! Good luck!