The FdA Fashion Retail Branding and Visual Merchandising course is one of a group of courses in the School of Management and Science that are designed to prepare students for a particular role in the fashion industry. This course explores both the commercial and creative aspects of fashion retail branding and visual merchandising and gives you the opportunity to learn the skills to work in the industry. The course balances practical and creative skills with theoretically based brand and consumer studies, together with broader academic studies which allow you to see the context of your particular study in the wider perspectives of fashion, society and the environment. Work experience opportunities and industry-led projects and collaborations are features of the course, for example, this year there was an extremely successful ongoing collaboration with the John Lewis Partnership, a one-off collaboration with Save the Children and Harvey Nichols, and work experience placements with Ralph Lauren. The second year students have worked on a collaborative final major project with Nicole Farhi, and a selected window design concept will be displayed in the Fulham store. Students are encouraged to participate in the national skillVM competition, which is open to both professional and student visual merchandisers. Last year two students from the course won the Silver Award, and this year two students won the Gold Award. Their window concept will be displayed in Peter Jones in Sloane Square. High-achieving graduates from this course have the opportunity to do a third year of specialist studies to gain a BA Honours degree.

This course is taught on two sites: John Prince’s Street and High Holborn.

The practical aspects of FdA Fashion Retail Branding and Visual Merchandising are taught at John Prince’s Street, Oxford Circus, in the heart of the West End. The area is one of the prime shopping centres in London, with the majority of London’s department stores, including Selfridges, Liberty, Fenwick and John Lewis, within a short walk of five minutes or less. The green spaces of Hyde Park and Regent’s Park are close, as is Soho, with its many bars, restaurants and clubs, and Berwick Street market. The Wallace Collection, the Royal Academy of Arts, and the West End art galleries are all within walking distance.

The theoretical aspects of FdA Fashion Retail Branding and Visual Merchandising are taught at High Holborn, adjacent to Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Other green spaces in the area include Gray’s Inn Gardens and Coram’s Fields. Situated nearby are Sir John Soane’s Museum in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, the Foundling Museum in Brunswick Square, and the British Museum in Bloomsbury. Markets worth visiting are the weekday lunchtime markets in Leather Lane and Exmouth Market. Covent Garden, with its numerous shops, bars and restaurants, the Royal Opera House and many of the West End’s theatres, is a five minute walk away. The John Prince’s Street site with the library, Oxford Street and Regent Street are two tube stops away.

Course Units

Year One     Stage One     Level 4     120 credits 

Term One: Introduction to Study in Higher Education (20 credits); Design for Visual Retailing (20 credits);

Term Two: Introduction to Cultural and Historical Studies (20 credits); Understanding the Shopper (20 credits);

Term Three: Collaborative Project (WBL) (40 credits);

Year Two     Stage Two     Level 5     120 credits

Term One: Cultural and Historical Studies (20 credits); Visual Retail Planning (20 credits);

Term Two: Work Experience (WBL) (20 credits); The Brand Experience (20 credits);

Term Three: Individual Major Project (40 credits)

Course Outline

Year One

In the first term you will study two units.

Introduction to Study in Higher Education gives you an understanding of your personal and professional development at university, with three core purposes: to introduce you to the necessary learning skills for undergraduate study; to show you where you are situated within the College and the University; and to help you understand what you will learn on your course and how you will develop your skills.

Design for Visual Retailing introduces you to the 2D and 3D design processes by exploring creative vision through drawing and appropriate media applications. You will be encouraged to explore, investigate and analyse a variety of subject matter, which will help you to develop your design ideas through to visualisation techniques and product installation. You will learn the basic techniques and creative applications that are relevant to visual retail environments, and you will understand the importance of the relationship between design research, design development and product installation. This will give you a coherent framework for 2D to 3D visual retail concept development. 

In the second term you will study two units.

Introduction to Cultural and Historical Studies introduces you to key concepts and ways of thinking about fashion and its context in society and culture. You will attend lectures, seminars and workshops, and do a significant amount of reading of academic texts in order to complete a formal academic essay for assessment.  Completion of this unit will allow you to make an informed choice of subject for study in the second year Cultural and Historical Studies unit.

Understanding the Shopper introduces you to the nature of the multi-channel shopper as a consumer of fashion. You will explore what shoppers buy and why, through studying the motivations of shoppers and what influences them. You will learn about key consumer behaviour theories that seek to explain how the shopper makes decisions about the purchasing of fashion products. You will become familiar with the terminology used in retail branding, and acquire a detailed understanding of the various functions and characteristics of brands and what these mean for the customer. You will investigate the interaction between shoppers, products and branded retail environments.  

In the third term you will undertake the Collaborative Project unit. This gives you the opportunity to work collaboratively with other students. This mirrors the real-world challenges faced by fashion enterprises that depend on close working relationships between departments. You will consolidate the knowledge and skills that you have already acquired, and the project will give you opportunities for fieldwork and research, as well as increasing your teamwork and presentation skills. The project will be concerned with the development and expression of brands in the marketplace, will have an operational focus, and will address key themes such as sustainability, ethics, entrepreneurship and globalisation. You will begin to look at the industry from a managerial viewpoint.

Year Two

In the first term you will be able to study a Cultural and Historical Studies unit of your choice that will broaden or deepen your learning of areas relating to your interests in your chosen field. You will have the opportunity to participate in lectures, seminars and workshops with students from other courses within your School, and will read relevant academic texts and complete a formal academic essay for assessment.

Also in the first term, the Visual Retail Planning unit introduces you to the variety of media used in the planning of visual retail activities. You will be encouraged to look at commercial practice where commercial spaces are being used in exciting and innovative ways. You will learn more advanced techniques through a variety of creative applications, including computer generated applications, and the importance of the design process from research, design and design development through to 3D realisation will be emphasised. You will also consider commercial constraints on visual retail planning.

In the second term the Work Experience unit gives you experience of working in the fashion industry within a department or area that you have studied, and where you are interested in furthering your skills. You will develop your understanding of the career options open to you, and will start to focus on the direction you would like to pursue. You will acquire the research skills to find work experience opportunities and progress your career.

Also in the second term, The Brand Experience unit gives you an understanding of the retail brand as a holistic customer experience. You will focus on the in-depth management of both product and service aspects of the retail brand. The experience of the brand will be explored from concept to completion across a number of retail formats.

In the third term you will undertake the Individual Major Project, which will give you the opportunity to undertake a self-directed project that consolidates and extends your knowledge and skills. Your project will include planning, research, ideas development and recommendations, and will include elements of both practice and theory. You will negotiate the specific topic and detail of the project with your course tutor. Your project brief will allow you to demonstrate creativity and entrepreneurship, at the same time as producing an outcome with a feasible and realistic commercial application. 

Future Careers and Graduate Prospects

High-achieving graduates from this course have the opportunity to do a third year of specialist studies to gain a BA Honours degree.

Many graduates prefer to seek employment as soon as they have completed their undergraduate studies. This is the first final year of this course so as yet there are no known graduate destinations, however we are confident that students from this course will be employed in the relevant sector of the fashion industry.

Developing your skills

All our undergraduate courses are concerned with the development of your personal and professional skills. On your course you will evolve from learning basic skills in your discipline through to a position where you are an independent creative thinker capable of making an effective contribution to the relevant sector of the fashion industry. PPD (Personal and Professional Development) skills are embedded in all units on every course. Speaker programmes with contributions from alumni, members of industry and others are a part of many courses, as are work placement opportunities in industry. Where relevant, students have the chance to attend trade fairs, enter industry competitions, visit exhibitions and go on field trips and visits. The central position of our John Prince’s Street site in the West End affords students easy access to all sectors of the fashion retail market. In addition, our position as a constituent College in the University of the Arts London means that our students have access to the wide range of activities and events that occur in all the Colleges and at the University’s centre. Last but not least, being in London gives every student opportunities to explore and be inspired by the cultural, intellectual and social life of one of the great capital cities of the world.

Resources

Our excellent resources for educating our students are two-fold: people and premises. People includes everyone at the College who contributes directly in some way to your education, whether as a subject tutor, a technician, an Open Access Officer, a librarian or a study support tutor. Premises include the buildings and the facilities contained in them, such as specialist machinery, design studios and workshops, lecture and seminar rooms, and the library.

For this course there is a dedicated space to facilitate the more practical elements of the course. The windows studio is designed specifically to echo the creative shop environment. There is also a visual merchandising workshop area which provides you with the facilities to experiment with props and 3D displays. The VM studios have timetabled open access outside the normal working day so that you can work on your projects on some evenings and Saturdays.

Sarah Bailey is the Course Leader and has an honours degree in Visual Arts and Media. She has thirteen years of experience in visual merchandising and display working for some of the biggest UK fashion and interiors blue-chip retailers. Her consultancy work has taken her around the world and includes launching international fashion brands into new international markets and coordinating new retail store openings.

Dan Henderson is the Programme Director and his fashion industry experience includes working at Marks and Spencer and Debenhams as a Senior Buyer in Menswear and at Blacks Leisure and Fat Face as the Head of Buying for Clothing. His research interests centre on the role that fashion plays in the social hierarchy of football and rugby club supporters, and the impact this has on clubs managing their ‘own-label’ branded merchandise.

Rosemary Varley is the Subject Director for the School of Management and Science and is responsible for academic curriculum development and fashion industry collaborative curriculum-embedded projects. She teaches fashion brand strategy across courses and her research interests focus on the relationship between fashion brands and their retail environment. She has authored Retail Product Management and co-authored Principles of Retail Management.

Course Entry Requirements

Applicants who are selected for interview are asked to bring some examples of work or images that communicate their understanding of the subject area.

Opportunities for All

We are committed to making university education an achievable option for a wider range of people and seek to recruit students from diverse socio-economic, cultural and educational backgrounds. We are committed to supporting all our students in achieving their potential both during and after their courses. 

Student Selection Criteria

Entry to this course is highly competitive: applicants are expected to achieve, or already have, the course entry requirements detailed below.

One ‘A’ level pass (80 UCAS tariff points required) PLUS three GCSE passes in other subjects at grade C or above (including English and Maths)

OR

BTEC National Diploma in a fashion related subject

OR

NVQ level 3 in a related subject

OR

A one year Foundation Diploma in Art and Design PLUS five GCSE passes at grade C or above

OR

Access course in a relevant subject

OR

Equivalent awards. For international qualifications see the International Qualifications Guide [PDF - 1.9mb] 

Preferred subjects include Art, Craft Design Technology, Maths, English and / or Business..

This course requires a minimum 80 UCAS tariff points.

Exceptionally, applicants who do not meet these course entry requirements may still be considered if the course team judges the application 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.

English Language Requirements

All classes are conducted in English. The level required by the University for this course is IELTS 5.5 with a minimum of 4.5 in any one skill.

For more information, read the University's English Language requirements page.

International Applicants

For specific details on how to apply as an international applicant please click on the following link:

http://www.fashion.arts.ac.uk/lcf-international.htm

The International Recruitment Office at the London College of Fashion will help to guide you through the application process and answer any specific questions that you may have regarding our courses. This may include portfolio advice, the application process and fee advice. We offer a ‘drop-in’ facility for applicants who may be in London and wish to obtain further course and admissions information. Please contact us for further information on this facility. We can also arrange a tour of our facilities if we are given prior notice.

Our contact details are: International Recruitment Office London College of Fashion 20 John Prince’s Street London W1G 0BJ

T +44 (0)20 7514 7656/7678/7629 F +44 (0)20 7514 7678 Email: international@fashion.arts.ac.uk  

What We Look For

The course team seeks to recruit students who can demonstrate:

• A strong interest in and understanding of retail branding and visual merchandising
• Fashion industry experience
• The potential for creating original visual merchandising concepts
• An ability to work as part of a team
• An ability to undertake self-directed study
• A motivation to succeed on the course

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.

Interview Advice

Applicants who are selected for interview are asked to bring some examples of work or images that communicate their understanding of the subject area. Before the interview you will be asked to complete a short numerical test on ratios and percentages and provide written answers to a few short questions on shop layouts and visual merchandising. Applicants will be expected to demonstrate the following at a group interview: an interest in fashion; an understanding of retail branding and visual merchandising; visual awareness evidenced through work brought to interview; a motivation for working in this sector of the fashion industry; and a motivation to succeed on the course.

Home/EU Applicants

You apply online through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).  

Go to ‘Apply’ from the UCAS home page, where you will be able to register and create a password that gives you unique access as you complete your application form.

The University code is U65.

The UCAS code for this course is W213.

The deadline for equal consideration of your application is 15 January. 

If you have a question, you can contact our Enquiries Office by calling +44 (0)20 7514 7563 / 7344 or by completing our Online Enquiry Form.  

International Applicants

For specific details on how to apply as an international applicant please visit our international student pages 

The International Recruitment Office at the London College of Fashion will help to guide you through the application process and answer any specific questions that you may have regarding our courses. This may include portfolio advice, the application process and fee advice. We offer a ‘drop-in’ facility for applicants who may be in London and wish to obtain further course and admissions information. Please contact us for further information on this facility. We can also arrange a tour of our facilities if we are given prior notice.

If you have a question, you can contact our International Recruitment Office by calling +44 (0)20 7514 7656 / 7678 / 7629 or completing our Online Enquiry Form.   

Deferred Entry

Deferred Entry is normally only allowed in exceptional circumstances. Please contact us before you submit your application if you are considering applying for deferred entry. 

What Happens Next?

All application forms, personal statements and references are read and considered by the course team against the selection criteria listed under What We Look For. If the course team wish to consider your application further, you will be invited to the College and asked to complete a short numerical test on ratios and percentages and provide written answers to a few short questions on shop layouts and visual merchandising. This is followed by a group interview with examples of work that show your interest in and understanding of the subject area. If you are successful at the interview stage you will be offered a place. Applicants are not guaranteed an interview.

Please note that if you are unable to attend the College may not be able to re-schedule.

If you applied through UCAS the result of your application will be communicated to you via UCAS through ucastrack. You will only receive further communication directly from the College if your application has been successful. This will be in the form of a full offer pack including details of accommodation, fees, and other important information.   

Additional Costs

Some courses charge a fee for the bulk purchase of materials and/or equipment used on the course. Further details will be supplied at a later date.