International Fashion Management

The Ecosystem of the Fashion Industry

This course provides a broad and sometimes provocative introduction and overview to the whole master's degree. It intentionally introduces issues that should cause you to question your assumptions and understanding of fashion and the fashion industry. We will present and critically discuss the Fashion Ecosystem/organizational life cycle as a framework for understanding the evolution of organizations within the local and global fashion industry – both operationally and strategically. We look at segments and positioning but also what it means to be sustainable, operate digitally and be an entrepreneur.

Digital Marketing and Branding

This course aims to critically examine the relationship between distribution and branding within the evolving and dynamic fashion economy. The curriculum will cover forms of retailing and the traditional and emerging routes to market. It will explore the role of technology within the distribution process and across the range of brand marketing touch-points.

Financial Management

In the first part, we introduce the Law of One Price to derive a central concept in financial management: the time value of money. We explain how to value a stream of future cash flows and also introduce net present value (NPV) as the basis of the course’s unifying framework. We discuss key determinants of interest rates and their relation to the cost of capital. In the second part, we apply the tools for financial decision making to one of the most important financial decisions facing a financial manager: the choice of which investments the corporation should make.

Financial Planning

Part 1: To emphasize the daily financial management of a fashion company; which tools are needed, what is to be understood. Being able to set up/read a financial budget, included cash flow statement, as well as the financial dashboard as a tool for the (daily) financial management.

Part 2: The financial management of a fashion company course provides student with a very hands-on approach to company finances and management in general. The course draws its contents from the day-to-day managerial experiences of the lecturer, rather than textbooks.

The Fashion Supply Chain

Global Leader Supply Chain Management (SCM) is a crucial part of modern textiles and apparel business. In addition to the traditional concepts on improving the production efficiency, quality control, and product design, supply chain management focuses on enhancing the collaboration and cooperation among all companies in the supply chain with a goal of satisfying what market wants (Choi, 2012).

Fashion and Law

This is a unique course that is responding to legal challenges in the fashion industry, in which the following topics will be discussed in detail: Creating IP value, collaborations such as licensing, distribution and franchise, fighting counterfeits, the legislative framework for e-commerce and new technologies such as 3D printing and virtual reality, general principles on starting your own business, Tax Shelter, crowd funding, pop-up stores, and fashion law in Brazil and in France.

Entrepreneurship and Business Modeling

The goal of this course is to acquaint students with practicalities of setting up a business in the fashion industry, with a specific focus on two key elements that are of vital importance for successfully managing within the fashion industry: business modeling and entrepreneurship. Key topics covered in the course include: innovation management within the fashion industry, developing and innovating a business model, business planning, as well as the entrepreneurial process that fits the specifics of the fashion industry. In a group assignment, students are matched with a designer / fashion organization, and will act as external consultants charged with designing an innovative, well thought-out business model for the designer. This assignment gives the course a real-life component which helps the students to apply the theories in a practical manner.

International Perspectives on Fashion Management

The course International Perspectives on the fashion industry wants to give the students an overview of the dynamics and challenges of the fashion industry in different locations (Africa, China, Japan, France). The focus lies on the comparative perspective and the differences between developed vs. emerging markets; the global vs. the local and other relevant topics in the fashion industry, as sustainability and entrepreneurship, digitalization and technology, craftsmanship and luxury.

Fashion Merchandising NEW!

This course provides an in-depth understanding of the elusive art of Merchandising and Buying. It introduces the different possible definition and will walk you through an entire business cycle: from buying, to retail, financial & supply planning, to going to market & trading. How do we plan cohesive and balanced collections that reflect the financial requirements, creative direction and respond to consumer demands while ensuring the highest potential ROI? How do forecast trends and client wishes? How do we align with our production process and time to market? These questions will be the key priority of this course that will be translated into several modules, a workshop and a final case study.

Fashion IDEOTech NEW!

This is a reflective course that will introduce students to a growing spectrum of ideas, approaches, values, principles and practices evident in fashion’s ongoing relationship with technology.
The course will offer a brief history of fashion, as both art form and commercial enterprise. This will allow students to consider what fashion says about us collectively and individually, it’s psychological benefits and demands, its logistical requirements, and its ethical and environmental costs. They will also survey fashion’s engagement with technology throughout history and especially since the Industrial Revolution, circa 1760. Students will examine how the ‘idea’ of technology has shaped innovation in fashion practice and commerce, and how has it has periodically presented provocative and enticing visions of a world-yet-to-come.

Digital Transformation in the Fashion Industry NEW!

Digital transformation has revolutionized the fashion industry, impacting every aspect of its operations, innovations, and sustainability practices. This course aims to equip students with a comprehensive understanding of the digital landscape in fashion and the strategies required to thrive in this rapidly evolving industry. By exploring the intersection of technology, business, and creativity, students will gain valuable insights into the IT foundation, digital transformation and intelligence, and digital innovation and entrepreneurship within the fashion industry.

International Study Trip - POLI.Design Milan

Milan is one of the best-known design and fashion cities in the world - it lives and breathes luxury fashion! As a student of International Fashion Management, a study trip to Milan is vital to understanding what makes this industry work. During the workshops and company visits you’ll learn all about the challenges and huge opportunities in this Fashion hotspot. At POLI.design, you’ll embark on a trend-forecasting and cool hunting project where you will conduct a blend of desk and field research (in teams) in Milan’s hotspots. Guided by experts in the field you will identify and define Macrotrends and their corresponding Microtrends, each with a specific target audience and moodboard. On the last day, you’ll give a presentation showing the results of your research.

Master Project

During the in-company assignment, you will be put to work for eight weeks to solve a current business case in a fashion company. This assignment is the icing on the cake of this master, seeing as the hands-on advising role builds a bridge to the practice.

Note: This curriculum is subject to change.

Besides your regular curriculum, you will also have the opportunity to enhance your studies with Electives. All Master’s programs offer 1 full week of Elective courses; one week dedicated to an intensive relevant topic challenging the status quo and pushing you outside your comfort zone. The idea is to offer topics outside of the core curriculum that are based around the current geopolitical climate, relevant world news and future insights. They focus on matters that will benefit your studies and provide enhanced learning opportunities.

To give you an idea, previous Elective topics have included:

• Digital Transformation
• Designing Business Models for Future Growth
• Geopolitical Challenges
• Emerging Asian Markets
• International Healthcare Management
• Organizing for the Digital Future

Your personal development is a core element in the journey you will undertake during your year at Antwerp Management School.

At AMS, we look beyond the mere transfer of technical knowledge. As our mission statement explicitly mentions, we also want to stimulate your personal development. With the Global Leadership Skills track, we challenge and coach you to become more aware of who you are, how you cooperate with others, and what kind of career you want to pursue. We do this by building upon the three mission pillars of Antwerp Management School:

• Self Awareness: leads to stronger cooperation with others.
• Global Perspective: leads to a developed global mindset, allowing you to find better solutions to problems and complex issues.
• Societal Consciousness: leads to sustainability in essential economic processes, a fundamental value in business.

Throughout this journey, we will focus on these three levels of learning by working with a mixture of exercises, self-analysis instruments, moments of reflection, individual follow-up, collective sessions and peer coaching. We will offer you relevant frameworks to support you in understanding your strengths and needs, and defining your areas for growth.

Global Leadership Skills development is more than a ‘nice to have’, it is a basic prerequisite for career success and recruiters will be assessing this when you apply for a job. Today’s employers are looking for an impressive set of soft skills when selecting young graduates. These include: self-awareness, the ability to work collaboratively with others, leadership skills, the capacity to adapt to new situations and to develop new skills, openness to and respect for different perspectives, multicultural awareness, and long-term and system thinking, to name just a few. This course aims to support you in developing these skills and in finding a match between who you are and what the world of employment needs; between your career ambitions and what employers are looking for.

You will study in 2 international fashion hot spots, offering you experiences in different contexts. In Antwerp you can find independent high-end fashion designers and family businesses. Milan is the place to be for fashionistas and the fashion capital of luxury brands, hometown of luxury brands like Giorgio Armani, D&G, Prada and Versace.

• Prepare yourself for a leading management role in the international fashion industry (finance, purchasing, branding,…);
• Explore & understand the dynamics within developed and emerging international fashion markets;
• Obtain tools & knowledge from existing markets and learn how these can both inform the development and success of emerging international fashion markets;
• Gain insight into topics like sustainability, entrepreneurship & new business models, digitalization & technology;
• Explore the relationship between global and local fashion markets and the challenges they present.