BA (Hons) Fashion Buying and Brand Management

Your learning is enriched through diverse guest speakers, industry-led projects and external visits that provide behind-the-scenes access to manufacturers, trade fairs and retail spaces. Using the Adobe suite and industry resources, you’ll develop the creative and practical skills to analyse trends and data, identify your consumer, plan a fashion range or store layout, promote a brand, produce a professional report, pitch an idea and understand the business of fashion. 

• Trend forecasting 
• Consumer profiling and identification 
• Fashion market research 
• Fashion buying and product development
• Merchandising and visual merchandising 
• Sourcing and sustainability 
• Fashion brand management 
• Marketing and content creation 
• Business planning 

If you are studying the BA (Hons) Fashion Buying and Brand Management with Integrated Foundation Year version of this course, key topics of your integrated foundation year will include:

• Basics of fashion promotion, buying, and brand communications
• Conceptualisation and direction in fashion design
• Fashion illustration and life drawing techniques
• 3D draping and garment construction on the stand
• Techniques in fabric manipulation and digital printing
• Fashion styling and photography
• Brand identity management and creative leadership
• Prototyping, atelier practices, and digital tool usage
• Understanding industry trends and audience expectations

If you choose to add an Integrated Foundation Year on this course, you will be first introduced to the fundamental principles of fashion. Your foundation year gives you the time, space and support to explore your strengths, build confidence and prepare for the demands of project-based, industry-focused learning. Modules are as follows:

• Module 1: Diagnostic exploration - making informed choices
• Module 2: Technical - Technical knowledge in practice
• Module 3: Specialist - Innovating specialist practice
• Module 4: Integration - Integrated practice for progression to Higher Education

  * modules are subject to revalidation

You’ll develop core skills in fashion forecasting, buying, brand management and marketing, and begin to understand what shapes a brand identity. You’ll learn digital communication as a tool for conveying brand identity and start to build your personal brand signature, while developing your understanding of the fashion industry and your own professional skills. 

Modules include: 

• Industry Introduction 
• Trend Forecasting 
• Buying and Product Development 
• Brand Management and Marketing 
• Professional Life Practice: Developing your Practice 
• Professional Life Practice: Exploring your Practice 

You’ll develop your personal brand management and collaborate creatively with industry partners and peers from other disciplines, while building a strong understanding of sustainability and responsible sourcing. Merchandising and visual merchandising are taught through real industry practice, with work-based learning and industry-set briefs that build your problem-solving and pitching skills. 

Modules include: 

• Sustainability and Sourcing 
• Innovation and Collaboration 
• Merchandising and Visual Merchandising: The Brand Experience 
• Professional Life Practice: Applying your Practice 
• Work-based learning 

Drawing on the skills developed throughout your degree, you’ll identify a gap in the market and develop a launch plan for a new brand or brand extension in fashion, home or beauty. You’ll conduct consumer research and trend prediction, create a market research report, brand proposal and range or marketing plan, and produce a range of creative outcomes to support the launch. 

To ensure you’re industry-ready, you’ll take part in a mock assessment centre and interview with industry professionals - giving you the confidence to enter the job market with the right tools to succeed. 

Modules include: 

• Final Major Project Research 
• Final Major Project Launch 
• Professional Life Practice: Situating your Practice 
• Career Pack

Our students benefit from ongoing partnerships with leading fashion brands. In 2025, for the second year running, third-year students took part in an Early Careers Day at the NEXT head office, gaining first-hand insight into fashion buying, merchandising and large-scale retail operations. They also worked on a live project developing strategic marketing strategies for beauty platform Upper Canada, experimenting with AI to generate realistic visual outcomes. 

Current alumni are working across the industry - from in-house buying teams and freelance content creation to running their own brands - at companies including Burberry, Me+Em, URBN, NEXT, ASOS, Selfridges, Harrods, Rapha, John Lewis, Boden, TFG, Dune, Adidas, Odd Muse, WGSN, Sweaty Betty, PVH, UGG and Coach.

We accept a wide range of qualifications for entry onto our courses, whilst also considering the context in which they were achieved. For this course, we would usually require a GCSE Grade 4 or above in English and Maths in addition to any of the below;

• Three A Levels at grade CCC or above
• BTEC Extended Diploma at grade MMM
• UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma
• T Level (pass or above)
• Access to Higher Education Diploma
• International Baccalaureate at grade 24 or above
• Other/Mixed qualifications equivalent to 96 UCAS Tariff points

We accept a wide range of qualifications for entry onto our courses, whilst also considering the context in which they were achieved. For this course, we would usually require a GCSE Grade 4 or above in English and Maths in addition to any of the below;

• Two A Levels at grade DD or above
• BTEC Extended Diploma at grade PPP
• UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma
• T Level (pass or above)
• Access to Higher Education Diploma
• International Baccalaureate at grade 24 or above
• Other/Mixed qualifications equivalent to 48 UCAS Tariff points