PG Cert Fashion: Buying and Merchandising

The course seeks to recruit students from diverse socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, and welcomes applications from mature students.

The course team seeks to recruit students who can demonstrate:

• an enthusiasm for fashion and awareness of current ideas;
• knowledge of the fashion industry and a strong vocational interest in buying and merchandising;
• an open minded approach and commitment to self development through analysis and willingness to experiment with new ideas;
• an ability to successfully complete a business numeracy test;
• computer literacy, preferably on a Microsoft Windows platform.

All our postgraduate courses offer career development, so that you become a creative thinker, making effective contributions to your relevant sector of the fashion industry.

LCF offers students the opportunity to develop Personal and Professional Development (PPD) skills while studying through:

• Access to to speaker programmes and events featuring alumni and industry.
• Access to careers activities, such as CV clinics and one-to-one advice sessions.
• Access to a graduate careers service
• Access to a live jobsboard for all years.
• Advice on setting up your own brand or company.

Career paths

Some graduates from this course progress to suitable MA courses in the areas of business and management, while others enter employment in the industry, gaining entry-level (and above) positions in both fashion buying and merchandising departments of retail organisations.

Graduates from 2017-2019 cohorts have secured roles at Gucci, ASOS, Ralph Lauren, All Saints, DSW (USA), mytheresa.com, Karen Millen, Net A Porter, and Zalando, Ted Baker, River Island, Browns, John Lewis, Saks Fifth Avenue, & Warehouse.

Graduate Futures

Graduate Futures provides a comprehensive career management service supporting our students to become informed and self-reliant individuals able to plan and manage their own careers.

• Find out more about Graduate Futures.

LCF alumni

Many of our alumni are now impressive, leading industry figures.

• Find out more about LCF alumni and join the alumni community.

Unit one

In the Buying and Merchandising unit you will develop your understanding of the integration of buying, merchandising, design and garment technology functions in contributing to a fashion range. You will consider a variety of factors in range planning including commercially balanced groups of design options, lead times, the significance of pricing strategies, effective sourcing strategies, the movement of stock into and around the business, and the use of merchandising data to help in the development of a range plan.

Unit two

In the Marketing and Supply Chain Management unit you will develop an understanding of the market context in which fashion buyers and merchandisers function and the commercial implications for product ranges. Factors affecting the supply chain are studied including product market strategies, and implications of external forces. You will study a typical supply chain for a large multiple fashion retail business and marketing mixes appropriate to UK and overseas markets in a multichannel environment.

Unit three

Integrated Project. This final unit provides you with an opportunity to apply the range of knowledge and skills developed on the course to a complex buying scenario requiring applied problem solving and negotiating skills. You will complete the project during the last five weeks of the course. The project will involve you preparing a response to a negotiation problem set within a hypothetical buying scenario between a clothing supplier and retailer. This will be conducted by allocating negotiating roles to teams of students, with individual and team responses.

Showing your work

All students are advised to set up a profile on portfolio.arts.ac.uk, UAL’s new portfolio platform, which can be done at any point during your time at LCF and will last for up to 12 months after graduation. This platform is often used to source student work for promotional use on the website, social media and for print and can be a great way of getting your work seen. You may also be asked to have a portfolio profile for the selection process when it comes to degree shows.

Programme specification