Course description
Structure
The knowledge gained throughout this course will enable you to strategically plan, manage and promote the use of design and fashion throughout a company and to all stakeholders.
The effective use of design in the fashion business will allow you to make a valuable contribution to the delivery of creative organisational management, fashion research forecasting, product development, manufacturing and brand communication.
In this context, MA Design Management for the Fashion Industries covers relevant subjects in five specialist units of study, which comprise the first stage taught framework. Design Compliance, which covers key areas of Intellectual Property, IT & Design Management strategies for e-commerce, Corporate Social Responsibility and ethical perspectives in fashion. Creativity, Innovation and Product Development covers the practice of innovation and creative problem solving, as well as theories of risk analysis in product research and development. Two units are shared with the MA Strategic Fashion Marketing course. These are Fashion Brand Marketing, which considers the design, development and marketing strategies of diverse fashion brands and Marketing Communications, which considers new and old media ways of communicating fashion brands to different consumer target groups.
Supporting the development of your study is the Research Methods unit, which covers the academic disciplines underpinning a variety of research approaches on the programme. The Contextual Studies unit provides a breadth to your studies with themes including cultural, historical, design and global perspectives on fashion futures. The course culminates in the Masters Dissertation of 15,000-18,000 words on an original topic or relevant design management practice-based project with 12,000 word reflective report. Both of which are proposed and negotiated by the student and developed under tutorial supervision. For example, previous topics have included:
'A practice-based study of the B2B supply chain for ranges of SME jewellery by testing the validity of the range pyramid model'
'High-end Brands at High-Street Price: A new trend for celebrities and designers'
'Establishing brand equity for independent menswear designers in the online e-tailing environment.'
Career Prospects
Graduates from this course have an acknowledged advantage in the employment market, obtaining work in a range of fashion industry fields. The MA also provides an excellent preparation for higher level research degrees (MPhil or PhD), with an increasing number of graduates undertaking research in fashion related subjects, in practice or theory or entering into education as lecturers.
