Fashion Merchandising: Diploma Description

About this article
A Fashion Merchandising Diploma trains a student how to set up displays and market fashion. Once a student graduates with this diploma he or she can enter the fashion world as a visual merchandiser or fashion marketing rep. The classes a student is likely to take while pursuing this diploma are: visual merchandising, marketing, fashion marketing, fashion history, retail buying and accounting. More information is available in the following article.
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Why Earn a Diploma in Fashion Merchandising?

The world of fashion encompasses more than just creating the clothing and accessories that fashion models wear on the runways of the world. It also involves the selling, marketing and displaying of that merchandise. A student fully trained in fashion merchandising will know how to display fashion and accessories in such a way that it will be pleasing to the shopper's eye and encourage sales. Merchandising also involves marketing fashion through various methods to encourage sales of those products.

Career Possibilities

Occupational Outlook for Fashion Merchandising

The fashion merchandising industry is not expected to produce a lot of jobs in the foreseeable future. Factors that are affecting the industry include offshoring, automation, rise in the number of warehouse and discount stores and the Internet.

Salary Information for Fashion Merchandising

Retail buyers can earn anywhere within the range of $24,380 to $79,340 according the amount of experience and education. A student majoring in marketing may get a position starting at $33,873 and a student majoring in advertising may get a position starting at $31,340. Salaries for fashion merchandisers range from $15,000 to $100,000. All statistics are taken from BLS.

Degree Specifics

Coursework for Fashion Merchandising

Those who wish to pursue a career in this area of the fashion world need to have a keen eye for detail and a keen sense of what consumers are looking for. Courses for this diploma may include:

  • Fashion Journalism
  • Retail Principles
  • Textiles
  • Fashion and Interiors
  • Fashion Mathematics
  • Accounting
  • Fashion Creation
  • Fashion Design
  • Creating Fashion Displays
  • Visual Merchandising Principles
  • Marketing

Skills Learned with a Fashion Merchandising Diploma

Students graduating with this diploma will be able to present fashion and apparel in such a way that it sells merchandise. Skills that graduates of this program may have acquired include:

  • Fashion Marketing
  • Visual Merchandising
  • Communication Skills
  • Drawing Skills
  • Ability to predicts trends and change in style
  • Display Creation
  • Visualization Skills
  • Supervisory and Teamwork Skills
  • Project Management Skills
  • Accounting
  • Mathematics
  • Planning Skills
  • Organizational Skills
  • Problem Solving Skills
  • Fashion Design
  • Textiles and their Usage