Fashion Marketing BA

This module defines key marketing theories, processes, and concepts, their strengths and weaknesses and their use in different organisational contexts. It analyses the role and function of marketing within organisations to identify market trends and explain marketing practice and fashion trends. The module recognises the role and importance of customers in marketing decision-making and applies marketing theory to suggest and justify marketing mix decisions.

This module introduces the students to the essentials of brand management and how it relates to the function of creative communications within an organisation to determine what a brand is and how it works. Throughout the module students will discover what brands mean to organisations, how to talk about brands, and consider multiple communication platforms used to create marketing strategies.

This module considers the role of Fashion Marketing in historical perspective in shaping the global production and consumption of clothing. The module considers how industrialisation, mass production and distribution have created exploitative contemporary fashion business systems and how the sustainable fashion sector evolved. We consider how Fashion Marketing has worked with both positive and negative impacts of the supply chain from both retail and consumer perspectives.

This module will introduce students to different ways of looking at and thinking about fashion, providing an introduction to key themes, narratives and concepts, and considering their historical and theoretical underpinnings. You will be encouraged to draw connections between fashions from the past and the present to encourage you to understand the rich cultural and social meanings of clothing and adornment in global fashion traditions. We cover a broad range of visual and material research methodologies, enabling you to be resourceful and explore different archives and historical collections in a hands-on way, making context the centre of students’ creative and professional practice.

Driving change through socially inclusive marketing there is a focus on identifying gaps in terms of industry and how brands represent the consumer. We explore the history, language, and the semiotics of fashion on a global scale. We examine evolving business models as adopted by both fast fashion and the luxury fashion markets to consider what is the role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Fashion? How do fashion brands represent our LGBTQ+ community? Is disability visible? Are brands size-inclusive? Do they approach modest fashion? How do brands ensure their production is not exploitive?

This module develops the concepts from socially inclusive marketing and analyses on how brands can market the environmental claims of fashion manufacturing responsibly. Eco-claims, standards, global labelling initiatives and certifications are identified and examined. The module considers the impacts of Circular Fashion, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) reporting on the fashion and textiles industries and the relationships between Fashion Marketing and environmental activism.

The module aims to will equip students with the key skills required for the management of brands in the digital age by providing a holistic view of branding concepts and theoretical frameworks. As brands continue to play an increasingly important role in creating and influencing consumer expectations, there is a need for brands to create greater emotional links with consumers in order to develop increased levels of loyalty and engagement. Students will explore the art of brand storytelling across multiple digital platforms, and the shared brand narrative approach which emotionally links with consumers aspirations, as well as create and nurture brand value in today’s globalised and dynamic digital era.

This module considers contemporary approaches to experimental and immersive marketing used to promote fashion brands and enables students to experiment with adopting sensory and digital approaches to marketing a responsible fashion brand of their choice.

To build upon the core academic research and communication skills introduced in the Fashion History and Social Identity module, students will develop specialist knowledge and understanding of critical issues in contemporary fashion, related to the production, consumption and mediation of fashion as a global aspect of both culture and industry. The module adopts a decolonial perspective to explore and develop how contemporary debates, themes and concepts influence the material, visual and consumer cultures of fashion, challenging dominant historical narratives and unpicking fashion’s mythologies from a global perspective. Students will develop their own independent research interests in contemporary fashion cultures and industry, and a critical awareness of the fashion industry, helping them to position their creative work in an ethically-informed, responsible, and culturally competent manner.

This module will enable you to undertake a period of work experience within a field of fashion (marketing) scheduled at the start of the second term and running until the end of London Fashion Week. Academic staff support and encourage students in identifying possible career networks and areas of employment and develop key employment tools. The project set whilst on placement also asks students to investigate the organisation in terms of its ethical and sustainable focus and commitment and will give students practical industry experience to contextualise key themes across the programme.

This optional module allows you to undertake a year-long internship in the field of fashion industry before returning for your final year of study. You will utilise an employment experience to provide an insight into the work methods and operation of a fashion business or freelance role in the field of your degree specialism. You will carefully document the experience engender an understanding of the principles of reflective practice and the application in a professional context and network building.

This module is underpinned by the ethos that ‘Entrepreneurship’ is now a career choice for many students in these challenging, dynamic and uncertain times. This module is designed to foster entrepreneurial talent and encourage and develop entrepreneurial new venture management skills as a Marketing Consultant for the fashion industries. It also aims to make students aware of opportunities in the marketplace and how to use Effectual Entrepreneurship to implement and generate sustainable incomes in a world outside the academic environment.

This module offers the opportunity to develop collaborative peer communities across the Design and Marketing departments at Middlesex and wider networks of emerging designers and creatives. You will be tasked with gathering and analysing market insight to create original campaigns and strategy and position your live client within the industry. You will develop an understanding of the designer’s creative process, how to practice effective consultancy, and negotiate a valuable set of outcomes for your client.

Adopting a collaborative design approach with live industry partners, this module focuses on strategic market and consumer research methodologies to identify and analyse emerging trends and initiatives evolving in the responsible fashion industry to anticipate and drive the future of responsible consumption. Students are encouraged and empowered to learn from mistakes, reflect on action, and employ iterative co-design approaches with multiple stakeholders to propose speculative futures for a more responsible fashion industry.

This project will allow students to engage with the identification, organisation and development of a substantial, in-depth, self-directed research project (Dissertation) with a clear and sustained critical argument. We encourage the pursuit of a research topic related to issues explored in students’ own practice in any area of fashion visual cultures. They will further develop critical awareness and self-reflection of historical and/or contemporary contexts of the discipline and research topic, building on primary and secondary research skills embedded at levels 4 and 5, and developing their ability to identify, analyse and critically evaluate appropriate sources and research methods.

This module builds on learning from prior modules and provides further collaborative experience working on a live client-driven consultancy project. External clients will provide the project brief and students will work in teams to develop practical solutions. This is an opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge to real organisations and facilitate the practice of effective team working, problem solving reflective and presentation skills. You will also develop an understanding of the complexities relating to client management and project deliverables.