London-based publication Business of Fashion has launched a new
education platform on its site that includes free online fashion courses
providing fashion students with insight into how the fashion industry
works, how to grow fashion businesses and advice on how to advance in
fashion.
The platform has launched a series of online courses, which the BoF says
have been developed with the needs of “fashion students and aspirants in
mind,” including one on Fashion Business Basics, featuring online video
tutorials taking students through a practical step-by-step journey of
building a fashion business from scratch, from writing a business plan to
raising financing and building brand awareness.
Other free courses include Fashion Marketing and Communications, with a
series of articles about fashion communications strategy, including
influencer marketing, experiential marketing and digital marketing,
illustrated through real-life examples from leading brands. While the
Fashion Entrepreneurship course offers practical advice from seasoned
fashion entrepreneurs and a comprehensive Fashion A-Z dictionary with
definitions of key fashion vocabulary, written by Camilla Morton.
There is also a course dedicated to Fashion History written by BoF
columnists and fashion historian Colin McDowell, who will delve into the
careers of designers including Jeanne Lanvin and Yves Saint Lauren.
Commenting on the courses, BoF founder and CEO, Imran Amed said: “We
hope that BoF Education will aid prospective students in making informed
choices about pursuing higher education in fashion; act as a tool for
universities and colleges to improve their education offerings; and serve
as a resource for the wider industry to engage in a discussion about the
critical importance of fashion education.”
The courses are free to access, as long as you sign up to the BoF
newsletter, and they are being supported by fashion retailer River Island,
who is sponsoring the Fashion Business Basics course, while the Fashion
Marketing and Communications series is being supported by PR agency The
Communications Store.
Central Saint Martins tops BoF’s global fashion school rankings
The education platform launch follows the release of BoF’s first global
fashion school rankings based on global impact, learning experience and
long-term value, after surveying more than 4,000 students and alumni.
Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London was named the most
influential school with the highest reputation score and the highest score
based on the number of graduates who were finalists or winners of major
global awards over the past five years. Central Saint Martins received an
overall BoF score of 95.0 with a global influence score of 86.
Coming in second in the list was Japanese fashion school, Bunka Fashion
College, established in 2006 the BoF found that 100 percent of the surveyed
graduate respondents were “satisfied” with the with the preparation they
were given for a career in fashion. They received an overall BoF score of
89.0.
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Third spot was given to Kingston University, where the fashion students
were said to be “highly satisfied” with their library, technology and IT
resources, as well as the quality of student body. However, the survey did
find that students were less satisfied with its marketing, business and
sustainability courses.
Making up the rest of the top 10 schools are: Parsons The New School of
Fashion, New York; Fashion Institute of Technology, New York; Polimoda,
Florence, Italy; University of Westminster, London; London College of
Fashion, London; RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia; and Drexel
University, Philadelphia, US.
Image: Business of Fashion