Your Future in Fashion: Introducing Level 4 Fashion Business

Whether you’re an aspiring buyer or a visual merchandiser in the making, succeeding in fashion means keeping up with the ever-changing retail industry. Our new Level 4 Fashion Business (with Marketing) diploma has been carefully designed to provide you with a comprehensive overview of the industry, to give you the best chance of succeeding in a range of roles.

This well-rounded, varied and wide-ranging course takes one year to complete. You'll study the whole lifecycle of a product from head office to shop floor. If you’re looking to get into fashion retail, our Level 4 Fashion Business (with Marketing) course can help get you there.

Level 4 Fashion Business (with Marketing) Course Content

We created this new course to teach our students a solid base of knowledge, spanning the entire fashion retail supply chain. Whatever you choose to do next, you’ll be well-informed about what’s happening elsewhere in the industry. Ultimately, you’ll gain a clear picture of the retail landscape, all the way from concept to consumer. You’ll learn about key areas of the industry including store operations, management and data analytics, alongside modules on:

• Buying
• Visual merchandising
• Merchandising
• Digital skills and technologies

Your course will begin with a module to develop your understanding of the history of fashion retail and its cultural influences. You’ll discover the fundamentals of consumer behaviour and buying habits, learning how to increase customer loyalty using marketing and branding. We'll introduce you to core digital marketing principles such as analytics, and you'll start to appreciate how customers consume brand messaging across platforms. Throughout the course, you'll learn about the commercial challenges fashion brands face, and how to analyse data to inform business strategy.

The course is highly practical, and you'll develop all the skills you need to transition seamlessly from college to career. As well as classroom lessons, we'll give you interview training and guidance on creating your professional portfolio.

When you study with us, your day-to-day life is varied and exciting. One day you might be shopping on Oxford Street to experience real-world retail environments, and the next you’ll be getting stuck into customer profiling to help you understand target markets.

Another fantastic element of the course is our industry placement programme. You'll be given the opportunity to complete three weeks of work with an established retail brand, giving you essential contacts and practical skills to take with you into your career. You'll also benefit from talks, masterclasses and industry-set projects integrated throughout your course. These experiences will help you stand out from the competition during the competitive job application process.

Job Progression

Our Level 4 Fashion Business course sets you up for a range of job opportunities throughout the fashion retail supply chain. When you finish studying with us, you’ll be qualified for a number of roles, including (but not limited to):

• Buying Admin Assistant
• Merchandising Admin Assistant
• Digital Marketing Assistant
• Visual Merchandising Assistant

Entrepreneurship is an increasingly popular route in fashion and retail, and this course also thoroughly prepares you for setting up your own fashion label or business. You’ll have exclusive insight into how to identify potential target markets and implement a successful business plan to help give you a kickstart in those crucial early stages.

Find out more about our Level 4 Fashion Business (with Marketing) course as well as the other courses we offer here at the Fashion Retail Academy.