BA (Hons) Fashion Buying and Brand Management

Your learning is enriched through diverse guest speakers, industry led projects and visits that provide behind the scenes access to manufacturers 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 a brand
• 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

Please note: Students starting this course with the Integrated Foundation Year in September 2026/27 will study the 2027/28 approved modules in Years 1, 2 and 3.

Year 1

You’ll develop core skills in fashion forecasting, buying, brand management, 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

Year 2

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 

Year 3

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

Year 1

You will develop core skills in trend forecasting, customer profiling, buying and marketing. You will explore how brand identity is shaped and communicated digitally - while developing your own professional identity within the fashion industry.

Modules may include: 

• Fashion Fundamentals
• The Industry
• Now: Trends Tribes Behaviours
• The Buy: Product, Place, Performance
• Creative Marketing and Brand Introduction
• Your Path: Progress, Potential, Plan

Year 2

Year 2 develops your teamwork, through industry collaboration and cross disciplinary working. You'll explore responsible sourcing, brand building and marketing, with industry led briefs in visual and traditional merchandising. You will complete the year with industry experience, all designed to sharpen your problem solving and pitching skills.

• Industry & Collaboration
• Strategy: Brand Building and Promotion
• Career Catalyst
• Future: Trends, Tribes, behaviours
• Immersive Retail
• Industry Experience

Year 3

Final Year challenges you to think creatively, generate ideas directed by Industry briefs, identify a market gap or opportunity, with market research and a full brand launch plan. You'll also take part in a mock assessment centre and industry interview, leaving truly job-ready.

Modules may include: 

• Sprints and Ideation
• White Space: Market, Consumer Competitor
• Your Future: Next Steps, Networking, New Start
• Final Major Project
• Final Major Project Pitch

All modules are subject to revalidation.

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, M&S, Boden, TFG, Dune, Adidas, Odd Muse, WGSN, Sweaty Betty, PVH, UGG and Coach.

Our campus 

You'll study in a building designed to encourage collaboration between the different disciplines and practices within Ravensbourne, and to stimulate the work of innovative professionals and creative collaboration.

It features a variety of workspaces, including social and quiet areas, high-tech creative suites, technology hubs, design studios and more. 

Want to see where you'd be studying up close? When you book a guided building tour, you can see our fantastic facilities for yourself and find out more from one of our helpful student ambassadors.

Our local area

Ravensbourne is ideally connected - North Greenwich station is just a 2-minute walk away from our campus and offers amazing views from the Greenwich Peninsula.

These transport links offer an easy route to some of London's major business hubs, perfect for reaching possible placements or networking events with employers in the worlds of business or technology.  

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