Master in Brand & Business Management

Presentation: Master in Brand & Business Management

From marketing strategy to interaction design. No other industry than fashion with a connatural integration into retail, and that's why mastering brands and retails implies managing expectations, designing experiences.

The Master in Fashion Direction: Brand & Business Management aims to provide students skills and competences strongly needed by brands and companies. How to manage an omnichannel strategy? From the understanding of the most diffused tools and practices, to the field and deep knowledge of retail processes affecting every touch point with the Client. That's fashion retail.

The Master will explore the management of retail strategies, main business models, merchandising and buying processes and visual merchandising practices, for concluding with the digital strategy and the CRM policies.

Therefore, the professional figure that is formed is the marketing and retail manager, connecting strategy to customer, integrating the digital environment to the retail formats and experience design.

In terms of didactical activity, besides lectures leaded by the excellent Faculties of Bocconi University, Polytechnic of Milan and Cattolica Universities, there will be also field laboratories and projects, where students will continuously interact with the leading Italian and international fashion companies (among them, Gucci Group, Gianni Versace, Giorgio Armani, La Rinascente, Hugo Boss, Jil Sander, Levi's, Max Mara Fashion Group, Miroglio Fashion Group, Ralph Lauren, Roberto Cavalli, Valentino Fashion Group, Vivienne Westwood). Field projects, the most compelling part of the Master's experience, are led by teachers and tutors, on a specific brief by companies' executive of  solutions to collections' development issues or of  developing new business strategies.

 

Course content

WARM UP • 40 hours

Educational activities aimed at providing an instrumental and basic training, through the learning of tools, techniques, methodologies and the use of specific software and applications,. These activities enable participants to fill the eventual gaps with reference to the background studies they carried out previously. Warm up courses can be attended entirely or partially, depending on the profile of the individual participants. They are organized in lectures and exercises and there is no final test.
 

QUANTITATIVE TOOLS & PROJECTS TOOLS • 20 hours

Lessons aimed at acquiring quantitative and design tools, through the use of Excel, Indesign and Photoshop softwares too. These instruments will be preparatory to the understanding of the processes that characterizes fashion companies as well as contents of specialized courses, according to the specific Master. Educational activities include basic lessons and advanced training in relation to the background of the student.
 

FASHION PILLARS • 140 hours

Educational activities aimed to the formation of specific competences in managing key processes identified by the three functional and professional areas of the master. They are carried out through lectures and direct testimony from professionals and each module has a final assessment exam through a written test or the presentation of a project by the students.  
 

FASHION PROCESSES • 180 hours

Educational activities aimed to the formation of specific competences in managing key processes identified by the three functional and professional areas of the master. They are carried out through lectures and direct testimony from professionals and each module has a final assessment exam through a written test or the presentation of a project by the students.  
 

CURIOSITY • 30 hours

Hints about the cultural and social evolution of fashion, with in-depth and inter-disciplinary analysis over the most important Italian brands. Specific attention will also be dedicated to some significant contemporary phenomena as global trends, the hybridization of styles, the new pattern of production and consumption like the ethical fashion, the innovative ways of communication related to new media.
 

FASHION PRACTICES • 790 hours

Teaching activities aimed at the practical application of the skills previously learned, inside business environments and real case studies. They consist of: field project, empowerment & career management, company visits, curricular internship:
 

FIELD PROJECTS • 278 hours

Educational activities aimed at field testing the competences and skills learned during the previous courses, through team-projects that involve groups of students working on real topics agreed with companies. The activity is performed in the classroom under the supervision of teachers and tutors and companies are strongly involved in the initial brief and final evaluation.
 

EMPOWERMENT AND CAREER MANAGEMENT • 32 hours

The course aims to introduce students to the rules beyond internships in Italian companies. More specifically it aims to enhance student's experience both in terms of orientation and first contact with the Italian labour market.

To this end, students will be supported in: 1) the analysis of their own competencies; 2) writing CVs and motivation letters; 3) understanding internships regulations and contracts; 4) searching internship offers; 5) preparing for an interview; 6) and, finally, in choosing among different options.
 

INTERNSHIP • 480 hours

Education activities for the development of relational skills of students and the preparation ot their entry into the professional environment. They include a period of compulsory internship in qualified business realities, during at least three months, organized by the MFI under the supervision of one company tutor and the academic tutor.
 

Fashion Pillars
 

Courses are:

• Project Management

• Italian Fashion System

• Fashion Business Models

• Fashion History

• Fashion Marketing & Brand Management

• Research Methods & Trends
 

Courses include lectures, exercise sessions and final exams.
 

Fashion Processes
 

Courses are:

• Fashion Business Management

• Omnichannel Strategy

• Sales Management

• Seamless Experience and Store Design

• Contemporary CRM

• Merchandising and Buying

• Digital Fashion

• Round Tables: open debates on key topics
 

Courses include lectures, exercise sessions and final exams.
 

Fashion Practices
 

Courses are:

• Field Projects

• Empowerment & Career Management

• Italian Language
 

Internship
 

The contents of the courses above are available on our website.

 

Course format: 

in class lectures + field project + 3 months internship

Qualifications/expertise after completing the program

The main junior professional roles are:

Buyer & Retail Merchandiser, for the definition and selection of assortment plans;

Digital Retail Manager, for the management of the online retail;

Retail Area Manager, for the development and coordination of direct and franchise stores; CRM Manager, for the management of customers and loyalty; Store Supervisor, for the control and supervision of sales by region and type; Visual Merchandiser, for the design and management of store concept and exhibit design;

Store Manager, for the management of different formats; shop in shop, mono and multi-brand, D.O.S., franchising, independent, temporary stores; Retail Event Manager, for the management of the P.O.S. experience; Omni-Channel Manager, for the management of convergence retail strategies.

 

Entry requirements

In order to apply for the admission to the Milano Fashion Institute Master Programs, the candidate must have:

1. Degree equal to or higher then a Bachelor of Art, Master of Art or Master of Science. It is not necessary to have previously attended a fashion related course.

2. Intermediate level of English knowledge. Certifications are not required. The knowledge of the language will be tested during the interview with the Academic Committee.

 

Admission criteria: 

After receiving the documents required, Milano Fashion Institute carries out a pre-selection. Subsequently, the Academic Committee will inform if the Application is suitable / or not. If eligible, the applicant must attend an oral interview. For international students distance interviews are allowed. After the interview final results (admission or non admission) will be communicated by 5 working days. The process usually requires a period of 3 to 6 weeks.

Course cost description: 

Milano Fashion Institute provides several scholarships (EUR 7.800,00 each) which cover the half of the Master fee. The results of the attribution process are communicated before the start of the course. All scholarships are attributed by merit (your CV, motivation, etc) and by income bracket.