Graduate Diploma Fashion Management

at University of the Arts London

Block One: 

For the first 15 weeks of the course there is focus on providing an understanding of the fashion industry through theoretical frameworks.

Unit 1: Fashion Contexts (Weeks 1- 5) 20 Credits

This unit focuses on the consumer of fashion in a cultural and commercial context. It is delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars and formative assessment. This unit provides the academic framework to develop curiosity, the enthusiasm to seek out new perspectives and to create and build on existing knowledge through systematic academic enquiry. Within this unit there will be an individual essay and a team presentation on which you will be marked separately.

Unit 2: Fashion Organisations (Weeks 6 – 15) 20 Credits

This unit looks at the internal operations of a fashion organisation; including its business structure, supply chain and issues of sustainability. It will also look at the various roles within the fashion organisation such as the role of the buyer and designer. The unit shows the fashion organisation as one that can accommodate constant change, how a business must be open to encouraging openness and agility. This unit is delivered through a series of lectures, seminars and formative assessment opportunities.

Unit 3: Fashion Communications (Weeks 6 – 15) 20 Credits

This unit looks at the outward facing communications of a fashion company; its ability to fulfil customers’ demands. This unit will also develop your ability to collaborate with others, create networks and contribute to communities of practice. This is contextualised through teamwork and the understanding of how companies segment, target and position themselves and communicate with their customers.

All three units are linked; the second two units run concurrently and refer to the types of consumer identified in the first unit.

Block Two:

Graduate Diploma: Final Major Project (60 Credits)

In this Block you will complete your Final Major Project (FMP). You will be given the opportunity to choose between either a dissertation or a business report. Both options will give you a valuable body of work to present to either a prospective employer, or as part of an application for future study. Both options allow you to demonstrate proactivity, initiative, hard work and passion through the investigation or study of an emerging issue or new proposal. You are expected to demonstrate resourcefulness in pursuing these opportunities for an ethical and sustainable outcome and will be given the opportunity to present your work to a panel for formative feedback.

As part of this unit you will also submit a professional portfolio, which will include a personal statement reflecting on your experience of the course and demonstrating how this has informed future career aspirations. Your Professional Portfolio will allow you to demonstrate academic and personal skills in your chosen field.

The Final Major Project and the Professional Portfolio are submitted as two elements and marked separately.

Showing your work:

All students are advised to set up a profile on the UAL Portfolio platform, which can be done at any point during your time at LCF and will last for up to 2 years after graduation. This platform is often used to source student work for promotional use on the website, social media and for print and can be a great way of getting your work seen.

The standard entry requirements for this course are as follows:
 

• First degree (2:2 or above) or FDA with a merit/distinction profile in any discipline, or equivalent qualifications / awards.

APEL (Accreditation of Prior (Experiential) Learning)

Applicants who do not meet these course entry requirements may still be considered in exceptional cases. The course team will consider each application that demonstrates additional strengths and alternative evidence. This might, for example, be demonstrated by:
 

• Related academic or work experience

• The quality of the personal statement

• A strong academic or other professional reference

• OR a combination of these factors

Each application will be considered on its own merit but we cannot guarantee an offer in each case.

English Language Requirements

IELTS level 6.5 with a minimum of 5.5 in reading, writing, listening and speaking.

Home fee
£11,000

International fee
£20,710

Our students mainly go onto managerial positions within the fashion industry, these can be in the following areas:
 

• Digital marketing and communications
• Product management and sustainability
• Retail operations and omni channel strategy

Graduates of this course have gone on to work in a number of roles within the industry, at companies including Burberry and Salvatore Ferragamo. Graduates from this course are also equipped to develop and further their academic lives through Masters courses, and some to continue on to Research Degrees and PhDs.

With support from LCF Careers and the Centre for Fashion Enterprise, students are supported throughout the course to progress into the fashion industry or onto further postgraduate study.