Combine creativity with the strategy that moves fashion from idea to customer. EIU's Fashion Merchandising B.S. blends apparel development, visual merchandising and design foundations with retail math, e-commerce, forecasting, sustainability and hands-on industry experience.
What this program does best:
Study both the creative and business sides of fashion in one interdisciplinary degree | Learn apparel construction, product development and visual merchandising alongside retail math, e-commerce and forecasting | Examine fashion through cultural, historical, consumer and sustainability perspectives
Hands-on opportunities:
Complete an individually planned internship related to your professional goals | Apply skills through apparel construction, product-development and visual-merchandising coursework | Build leadership and industry connections through the Merchandising and Apparel Design Association
Program overview:
Fashion merchandising is the business of understanding what people want, how products are developed and how fashion reaches the right customer. EIU's program combines creative skills with the analytical and strategic side of the industry. Courses cover fashion merchandising, apparel construction, fibers, e-tailing, retail mathematics, global fashion forecasting, apparel development and design, visual merchandising, fashion history, cultural influences, and sustainability and social change. Art and design foundations, introductory graphic design, psychology and professional-practice coursework give students an interdisciplinary perspective on products, consumers and visual presentation. In the fashion lab and other Art + Design facilities, you will apply concepts through construction, product-development and merchandising projects. An individually planned internship can provide experience similar to an entry-level position while helping you test a career direction. The Merchandising and Apparel Design Association, exhibitions, professional trips, student collaboration grants and study abroad options add ways to lead, create and connect. Close faculty guidance helps you shape electives or a complementary minor around goals in buying, planning, retail management, entrepreneurship, product development, styling, fashion journalism, visual merchandising and related fields.
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Outcomes
Fashion Designers | Marketing Managers | Sales Managers | Market Research Analysts & Marketing Specialists | Search Marketing Strategists | First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers | Web & Digital Interface Designers
