MSc Fashion Business Creation

The MSc Fashion Business Creation is a pioneering, distinctive programme, integrating the latest academic research insights in fashion and business generally, with practical experience drawn from high-level connections within the industry.

The programme includes a critical review of the anatomy of a fashion business and examines the process and actions associated with strategy development and implementation within new and developing fashion areas. Students will develop a sound understanding of global advancement strategies, including how to create and market a fashion brand in today’s digitally-focused world.

They will also have the option to deepen further their insight into fashion strategies by completing an internship or industry consultation project thanks to GCU London’s strong links with leading organisations within the fashion industry.

Upon graduation, students will be well positioned to set up and run a successful fashion business enterprise or take an existing business into a new phase of growth and development.

Applicants must go through an interview stage.

Why Choose This Programme

We'll help you develop your intellectual skills together with the contemporary skills and practices needed to excel in the industry. You will also build a wider appreciation of management issues, such as globalisation and sustainability while developing branding and marketing skills.

You will have access to mentorship programmes via our Honorary Professors and be taught in dynamic environments such as Masterclasses and through collaborative industry briefs. There will be a live fashion business on campus, where you will be able to observe a fashion enterprise first hand. You will also be able to attend our career-enhancing Industry Speaker programme, which runs throughout the first and second semester.

Upon graduation, you'll be well positioned to set up and run a successful fashion business enterprise or take an existing business into a new phase of success. You will also have the opportunity to apply for the Retail Trusts interest-free, seed funding prize.

Module Information

Our well-established links with industry together with current thinking and research has shaped the structure of the programme, which consists of 6 modules, plus a Dissertation or Business Plan.

Anatomy of a Fashion Business Provides you with a critical review of the anatomy of a fashion business; the essential ingredient elements that secure the viability of a new fashion business. In particular, the module considers the role and function of digital technology in the development of a new fashion business.

Establishing a Fashion Business Strategy Critically examine the processes and actions associated with strategy development and implementation within new and developing fashion businesses. The module will evaluate the mechanisms by which small-scale fashion enterprises, faced with limited business experience and resource capability can secure differentiation, competitive advantage and commercial success.

Global Fashion Branding and Marketing Communications With an emphasis on digital marketing, you will develop a critical understanding of fashion branding and marketing theory through an examination of key theoretical frameworks relating to brand culture, brand relationships, brand personality and brand identity.

Fashion Growth Strategies and Performance Optimisation Explores growth strategy opportunities and performance optimisation techniques for fashion businesses and develop an advanced understanding of the key strategic processes and critical success factors of internationalisation for a fashion business.

Research Project: Design and Methods Introduces students to research approaches and time management skills essential for their research project. The module provides essential knowledge of research design across key areas and adopts a critical perspective in comparing and contrasting alternative research models.

Developing Personal and Professional Competence Enables students to identify, understand, develop and articulate their key personal abilities in the context of their future career aspirations. Students will be given the opportunity to undertake an internship, volunteer, study abroad or take part in desk-based consultancy. Students will be invited to apply the concepts of personal and professional development to what they are experiencing outside the classroom in order to be better prepared for their personal and professional life.

Dissertation/Project The final element of the programme is the dissertation, which provides students with the opportunity to create a business plan for their fashion related business or a consultancy project for the industry.

The British School of Fashion is an innovative academic hub developed by Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) to create and disseminate strategic fashion business insight through its provision of leading-edge education, research and consultancy.

Dedicated to its mission statement of achieving “the common good,” the British School of Fashion advances business and management thinking and practice through the co-creation of knowledge with its industry partners, esteemed Honorary Professors, alumni network, research active staff and diverse student population.

In a demonstration of its entrepreneurial nature, the British School of Fashion designs and delivers globally unique executive and postgraduate programmes which offer participants a trans-discipline learning experience across its campuses in London and New York.

Who are we?

Our first steps in fashion date back to 1875 and to our founding colleges in Glasgow, Scotland. In that era, our primary aim was to provide women with opportunities in design, textiles and retail, with a keen awareness of the economic, social and environmental needs of the time. British fashion has evolved to encompass so much more than just manufacturing and the education provided by the GCU British School of Fashion reflects those changes.

For decades, GCU has contributed to the business of fashion through the creation of pioneering courses. We were the first UK Institution to offer an MSc in International Fashion Marketing in 2000, and are still one of only a few Universities worldwide to offer a dedicated MBA in Luxury Brand Management.

The British School of Fashion intends to build upon the foundation provided by our strong heritage and fashion industry expertise through continued innovation of new programmes and investment and development of our academic faculty.

What do we teach?

We offer differentiated Masters degree programmes co-created through industry expertise from our honorary professors, the knowledge of academic experts and the innovation and energy of our students.

We integrate the latest academic thinking with the wider business insights we derive from our research and consultancy of contemporary business practice. Our teaching is also fully engaged with the fashion industry and we have partnerships and collaborations with a diverse range of fashion companies including Marks and Spencer, Converse, ASOS, The Retail Trust, Arcadia, Folk, All Saints, Lyst, House of Fraser, Margaret Howell, Farfetch and Topshop.

Through these close links, we are able to provide master-classes from world leading businesses, as well as opportunities for valuable internships, visits and live project briefs.

We ensure that our graduates have the skills and expertise needed to manage a fashion business in today’s global market. We challenge our students to become critical thinkers, with a competent grasp of the theories and concepts that help explain and advance best practice in business. We encourage them to challenge the status quo, to be creative in their thinking, to be entrepreneurial in their actions, and to recognise that good business is better business.

Why are we different?

Our University motto “For the Common Weal” – meaning “for the common good” – is the main thread throughout every one of our British School of Fashion initiatives. Our Chancellor, Professor Muhammad Yunus, is our foremost representative in this respect, having received the Nobel Peace Prize for achievements in economic and social development. Professor Yunus also remains one of only seven people who has been recognised with a Nobel Peace Prize, Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal.

“It’s not about passing old knowledge to a new generation. It’s about solving problems, now. The moment you turn something into a social business, it becomes an engine that doesn’t need refuelling.”

Professor Muhammad Yunus, Chancellor of GCU.

The British School of Fashion at GCU embodies the University’s endeavour to promote enterprise, innovation and learning underpinned by a deep-rooted social conscience. We recognise that the fashion industry has a responsibility to conduct business in an ethical manner, to promote and practice fair trade.

Our New York Campus houses The Fair Fashion Center. This initiative acts as both a repository and conduit of information and the centre is focused on examining the business case for sustainability in the fashion industry.

Furthermore, the British School of Fashion has responded to a worldwide call to put social responsibility, ethics and sustainability at the top of the agenda for training future business leaders by becoming a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact-backed initiative: the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME). Our participation in PRME exhibits our long-term mission to deliver economic and social benefits at home and across the world, and the values of PRME underpin the entirety of the British School of Fashion’s portfolio. Through this commitment, we will continue to improve engagement with the cause. We will regularly report progress on the application of the principles, and in so doing, contribute to the learning experience of academic institutions worldwide participating in the PRME initiative.

How do we co-create our knowledge?

Our specialised fashion knowledge is generated through a unique and critical balance of leading-edge industry practice and underpinned by the latest academic research.

The fashion business is a major economic driver in the UK and internationally and the British School of Fashion is committed to becoming a leading centre for the understanding of consumers’ behaviour towards fashion. By adopting innovative and experimental research methodologies, we are already advancing understanding of fashion consumption – across all distribution channels.

The knowledge that we generate shares three common characteristics:

• It is rigorous, independent and based on sound research methodologies
• The outcomes always have relevance and add value to the fashion business sector
• It improves and advances the competitiveness of people and organisations

Our insight is the product of intellectual curiosity and a mature understanding of the realities of doing business in today’s global, omnichannel fashion environment. In recognition of this, many leading fashion businesses commission us to undertake a diverse range of bespoke consultancy and business development projects.

One of the most important ways we obtain and maintain our knowledge is through the relationships that we foster with our Honorary Professors and Industry Partners.