Graduate - Fashion Business & Management

With an average full-time cohort of just 18 students, FIT’s MA Global Fashion Management is the smallest programme of its type on BoF’s Top Fashion Schools list. The course is offered in collaboration with Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Institut Français de la Mode in Paris, with all three schools hosting seminars on their city’s unique role within the fashion industry. The programme prepares existing industry professionals for progression into executive roles. Taught by a mix of academics and professionals, the course culminates in a capstone project where students must respond to a realistic operational challenge using inter-disciplinary skills. Students and alumni report 100 percent satisfaction rates with the breadth of curriculum, programme organisation, learning resources and the tools and technology on offer. However, compared with other featured programmes, students and alumni expressed low satisfaction with long-term value measures such as available career services and that their overall objectives were met.

Situated in a global fashion epicentre, Institut Français de la Mode makes the most of its Parisian connections with corporate partners such as Chanel, Chloé, Dior, Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Saint Laurent offering career guidance, scholarships, internships and recruitment. In an echo of the industry placements available to students, IFM structures of the three disciplines available for study (management, design and craftsmanship) in a way that mimics that of a fashion company. Furthermore, Fashion Management students have a number of projects and workshops in collaboration with Design students, which allows for mutual understanding of the intersection between left-brain and right-brain thinking. IFM has established national and international acclaim as one of France’s Grandes Écoles, and with an acceptance rate of just 26 percent for its Master's Fashion Business and Management courses, it is one of the more exclusive schools on BoF’s Top Fashion Schools.

Istituto Europeo di Design (or IED) operates campuses across 11 cities in Europe and South America, and the school’s Business and Management MA programme is available in Milan, Barcelona and Madrid. Initially established in Milan over 50 years ago, the school maintains strong connections to the “made in Italy” tradition, while fostering partnerships with over 200 Italian and global firms including LVMH, Kering and Valentino. Industry networks are also strengthened through the teaching staff, many of whom are also working fashion professionals. An acceptance rate of just 6 percent makes IED’s MA Fashion Business & Management programmes the most exclusive on BoF’s list. Available to any professional with two years’ experience in fashion, students learn through case studies and real-world projects commissioned by large multinationals or local companies with an international reach. The programme culminates in a personal research project, with the option to combine this with a three-month internship.

The Milanese heritage, identity and 80-year history of Istituto Marangoni ensures strong connections to Italy’s fashion industry. With campuses now in Milan, Florence, Paris, London and Miami, students from 107 countries and courses taught in Italian, English, French and Mandarin, Istituto Marangoni has expanded to represent an international network across several fashion capitals. Marangoni’s average full-time cohort of 393 Fashion Business & Management students makes it the largest programme of its kind on the BoF list. The MA Fashion and Luxury Brand Management course structure offers a project-based mode of study that combines conceptual research with teaching by industry specialists and practicing professionals. Similarly, the MA in Contemporary Fashion Buying engages students critically in the global fashion retail industry and the evolving role of the buyer.

Since it was founded 80 years ago, LIM College has focused exclusively on the study of business and fashion. Based in the a fashion capital of midtown Manhattan, the college has a history of rigorous academics combined with experiential education. LIM is also partnered with about 800 organisations in the fashion and fashion-adjacent industries. The programme admits current or aspiring fashion professionals with a bachelor's level degree. With modules including Marketing Management, PR Strategy, Consumer Behaviour and Supply Chain, LIM’s teaching combines theoretical business with industry experience, to help students “graduate with a resumé.” While its acceptance rate of 67 percent makes LIM’s MPS Fashion Business & Management programme the least exclusive on the list, the school boasts a low student to faculty ratio of 7:1 and average class size of 16. Students and alumni report high rates of satisfaction across the board with the teaching.

A constituent college of the University of the Arts London, LCF is unique as an arts college in that its Business course is part of a dedicated Fashion Business School. Established in 2015, the Fashion Business School aims to marry the creative and business sides of fashion through immersive and experiential models. Now, over half of all its programmes are non-design in their focus. Courses such as LCF’s MSc Strategic Fashion Management are accredited by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and provide students with the opportunity to gain further qualifications including a CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting, Adobe Certified Associate InDesign and CMI Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership in addition to their degree. The school also works with LCF’s Centre for Fashion Enterprise, a business incubator, to encourage entrepreneurship and help MA students to fast-track their business ideas.

Please note this assessment was completed without this school's active participation

The MA Fashion Business & Management programme at Polimoda offers a project and industry experience based programme resulting in a portfolio presented through a show, installation, book or performance, reviewed by industry partners like Gucci and Richemont. The programme focuses on aspects such as luxury business, retail management and international fashion business. With a low acceptance rate at 28 percent, the MA programme is one of the most exclusive on BoF’s Best Fashion Schools in the World list. Polimoda students work with companies and NGOs including LVMH, the CFDA and Pitti Immagine through applied projects, numerous workshops and specialist events. The school’s “Rendez-Vous” lecture series attracts speakers such as Renzo Rosso, Marco Bizzari and Laudomia Pucci. Polimoda provides full-tuition master scholarships, a talent incubator funding start-up, CFDA mentorship, and access to extensive museums and archives. MA graduates are frequently recruited by brands such as Louis Vuitton, Bulgari and Richemont, among others, resulting in a 91 percent career placement rate within 12 months of graduation.

Melbourne’s RMIT attracts international graduate students to train in a stronghold of the Asia-Pacific fashion industry. The MA programme builds on BA fashion knowledge, focusing on technology and sustainability through student-led collaborations with local and global fashion business experts. Its flexible core and elective course structure suits the needs of both full-time students and those currently employed within the industry, simultaneously facilitating networking opportunities. Students gain insight into different cultures, fashion diplomacy and business environments through courses with a global focus, with topics including supply chains in Asia and global market strategies. Students develop business models relevant to global cultures, micro practices and SMEs, and present their research at an annual entrepreneur symposium. Graduates are recruited by the likes of Zara, Myer and the Cotton On Group.

The Savannah College of Art and Design offers one of the only MA and MFAs in the specialized field of luxury and fashion management in the world. Students from over 100 countries study at the Savannah, Atlanta, Lacoste and Hong Kong campuses, in small cohorts capped at 16 per class. Students create business solutions for the international market, supplementing their studies with cross-disciplinary minors. Working professionals may pursue an MA online through an eLearning programme. The university hosts fashion events, including a film festival, fashion week, art exhibition and SCADstyle at its various campus locations, notably welcoming the likes of Polo Ralph Lauren and DKNY executives, as well as Shanghai Tang in Hong Kong. The Atlanta campus also offers a museum of fashion and film with exhibitions by Oscar De La Renta and Carolina Herrera.

Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia ensures students experience and learn from other businesses before starting their own. The 100-year old university offers opportunities in NYC, and students also study global market place dynamics in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Lake Como, Milan and Tokyo. Its vast pool of alumni link to the likes of PVH, Coach, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, who also recruit, collaborate through industry-sponsored projects and return as guest lecturers. TJU’s research-focused 18-month Fashion Design Management programme teaches students to analyse the design and product development timeline, as well as the interaction between design, merchandising and social media marketing through hands-on simulations of the development cycle. The programme is developed in partnership with Politecnico di Milano, where students spend their last semester. Students and alumni report high satisfaction with the available resources at the school.