Fashion merchandising??

Anyone here have any experience in this field?? D21 has recently brought this up as an area of interest. Up until now, she talked mostly about communications/creative writing. The thing is, seems mostly large state U’s that have fashion offerings and she seems to be leaning towards smaller schools. My main question at this early point…does major really matter? Could she get internships majoring in communications? I majored in sociology and have worked in finance my whole life, so my gut is a merchandising major isn’t needed. Just wondering if anyone here has any experience in the field?? TIA!

My cousin majored in fashion merchandising at Auburn in the late 80s, but ended up working as a teacher. A friend of my daughter’s got a communications degree, and is now working as a buyer for TJX, the corporate owner of TJMAXX. So yep, there is some crossover in these fields. But your daughter is young and will change her mind several times before choosing a major.

If you can, read “paying for the party”. This is a major mentioned by the researchers in the book. The discussion of why schools offer it and who may be able to use it was interesting and could be a reference point for you and your D.

@NJWrestlingmom, Fashion merchandising is a loose title for a wide range of apparel retail and brand management positions. Generally speaking merchandising is a different channel from marketing. Merchandising focuses more on developing and buying the product; marketing on promoting and selling the product. There is a good deal of overlap and interaction among merchandising, design, sourcing, sales, marketing, and the scope of the job varies widely depending on the size and culture of the company.

In retail organizations, merchant is synonymous with buyer, the person who makes decisions on what to buy, how much and how to set the prices. The merchant is responsible for achieving the organization’s profit goals in his or her product area. In wholesale brand organizations (i.e., those that create product and sell to retailers) the merchandiser is the link between the design, product development and sales teams.

The successful merchants that I’ve worked with over nearly 50 years in the fashion industry have had wide and varied educational backgrounds, but all share a passion for their products. Common characteristics would be an advanced taste level, a dedication to understanding their target consumer, a willingness to put in long hours and most importantly an ability to articulate and present a point of view.

Unless your daughter is interested in pursuing design per se, she would be well served by a general liberal arts degree, supplemented by plenty of retail experience during summers and breaks. Many retail and brand organizations hire summer interns and a notable few have training programs that expose graduates to all phases of product development and buying.

Hello
In Philly, Now named Jefferson u has a Fashion Merchandising major
That college started out as Phila Textile then became Philly U but Jefferson the Hospital just merged with it
Hence the name change
Half of the schools majors are in the design and fashion type industries
Located in a nice area of Philly

Great reputation for job placement in the fashion field
Good luck

Forgot to mention that it is right down the street from the best cheesesteak shop in the city
Dalessandros

^ @fleishmo6 – may be the most interesting advice on CC for me of late. Will let you know if Genos and Pats become so 2018!

Definitely a must stop when you are in town.
Those others are the most tourist trap of tourist traps
Each area of the city has its favorite but Genos and Pats most likely will not make the list lol

Take a look at Centenary College (NJ), Immaculata (PA), Buffalo State (Not SUNY Buffalo University), LIM in Manhattan, Marist, Montclair State (NJ) Stevenson (MD)

Thanks all! I knew CC would have some info!
I know she will probably change majors a million times, but S17 never has! Just trying to prepare in case it sticks!

Marist is definitely on our list, but likely unaffordable, but we’ll look. I didn’t know about Montclair, so thanks for that! We will keep the options open and look at a variety of schools, but she is definitely the type I see leaning more towards small LAC instead of large State U.

My daughter LOVED Immaculata and its program when we visited. It’s a small Catholic LAC near Philly.

Then, of course, she changed her major and it fell off the list.

Kent State starts out pretty reasonable $28,000 and merit is possible.

IUP has fashion merchandising I believe and lots of other majors. She night qualify for honors.

@mommdc Kent is definitely on the radar. Based on current stats, she would qualify for a lot of merit there so it would definitely be in budget.

Look at SUNY FIT

I think my son paid $25 to apply to IUP. He didn’t apply to honors but still got some merit. Might be worth sending in an application.

Kent State has one of the best fashion design and merchandising schools in the country. Know many who have gone through it and they all come out with jobs in the industry.

You don’t need a fashion merchandising degree to work in Apparel. It’s a tough industry and so many of the buying jobs are gone with all the department store mergers. As @momrath said above, most people in the industry have degrees in other areas (or no degree at all) and land in the industry because they are drawn to it. Experience counts more than the major on your degree.

@Hownowbwncow is correct that the number of department store buying positions have shrunk, however, other opportunities have opened up in merchandising and product development with specialty retailers and on-line retailers.

I would also point out that FIT offers a one year associate degree in fashion business management which could be layered on to a BA from a traditional college. I haven’t checked other fashion and design schools, but presumably they would also offer one year courses that are specifically geared to merchandising and the business side of fashion.

Thanks @momrath - I actually mentioned that option to D this weekend. She is definitely not 100% on the fashion as this point. We’ll see what the next year holds!

@NJWrestlingmom I wanted to toss Iowa State into the ring. They have the number 1 fashion merchandising program in the Midwest, ranked 2nd in the country. They offer great merit and need based aid for out of state students. They have a huge student-run fashion show every year.
https://www.aeshm.hs.iastate.edu/
https://www.aeshm.hs.iastate.edu/fashion-show/

My son is interested in the fashion industry, and has decided to major in business and minor in Apparel, Merchandising and Design. He hopes to get an internship at Kohl’s next year, and become a buyer for them or Von Maur, at least to start out.