Fashion Merchandising Schools and Colleges

Do you like to spend your free time sifting through flea markets for the latest retro fashions? Do your friends always want to borrow your chic shoes and your funky accessories? If so, maybe you should take a walk down the fashion runway. As a student in fashion merchandising, you'll not only learn about fabrics and textiles, but you'll also get to study the cultures and subcultures that shape the way people dress.

What results from a fashion merchandising degree program? You'll graduate as a savvy business professional from a fashion school with your finger on the pulse of the fashion world.

Students at fashion merchandising schools learn how to manufacture, buy, promote, and sell fashion items, from clothing and jewelry to cosmetics and furniture. They also learn about textiles (fabrics and the fibers used to make them).

What is Fashion Merchandising?

While fashion designers take the spotlight in the fashion world, it is fashion merchandisers who sell those designs to the mass public.

Fashion merchandising consists of all of the activities that are necessary to bring fashion apparel and accessories to the public. It involves giving customers what they want to buy, when and where they want to buy it at prices that they are willing to pay. Fashion merchandising entails:

• Understanding the customer
• Selecting merchandise to sell
• Promoting fashion goods to potential customers.

The term fashion merchandising is normally used for apparel for men, women and children, in addition to home fashions, cosmetics and fragrances.

There are many different career paths for individuals interested in fashion merchandising. The first step is getting an Associate or Bachelor Degree in Fashion Merchandising from an accredited college or degree program. It must be noted that since the fashion design and fashion merchandising are desirable industries right now, there is the chance of encountering scam schools that are trying to take advantage of people's interest in this career field.

Degree programs in Fashion Merchandising will prepare students to:

• Forecast fashion trends
• Promote new styles of clothing to customers
• Operate within a budget
• Select appropriate apparel for different types of people
• Put customers in the right mood to buy.