Module overview
The drive for sustainability, digitalisation, innovation, creativity, and agility are reshaping the fashion industry. It requires dynamic, efficient, and resilient professionals capable of managing changes with advanced management knowledge, strategies and skills that are purpose-driven, visionary, and sustainable. This module provides you an opportunity to develop comprehensive knowledge and understanding of fashion management, marketing theories and practical insights into contemporary fashion industry driven by emerging sustainable practices, circularity, innovations, technology, and management strategies. The module content is tailored around the need of contemporary fashion industry covering topics such as consumer behaviours, fashion trends forecasting, brands values and identity, circular materials, product development, pricing, responsible sourcing, supply chain, circularity, and future fashion management to equip you with theorical and practical knowledge and skills for a contemporary fashion business. Students will submit group presentation and an illustrated written report on creating new sustainable fashion product/brand through research and planning that reflect their ability to demonstrate and apply creative thinking, practical knowledge, and skills relevant to management solutions at advanced level, informed by management and marketing theory and practices.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Disciplinary Specific Learning Outcomes
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of sustainable fashion management and critically apply it to creating and managing innovative, sustainability-driven and consumer-focused fashion brands/products tailored around the needs of the contemporary fashion industry.
- Concept and design a digital outcome that communicates a critical understanding of brand values, visual brand identity and consistency of brand communications relevant to professional practice within the contemporary sustainable fashion industry.
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Demonstrate accurate and effective academic research and communication skills
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Critically analyse examples and case studies relevant to fashion management.
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- How to critically examine academic ideas and debates related to fashion management
Syllabus
This module critically examines issues and debates relating to sustainable fashion management. The module will evolve each year to align with the current theory, research, and trends in fashion management. You will gain systematic knowledge to apply strategically in developing and communicating sustainable brand concepts independently and collaboratively. This is approached through lectures, guest lectures, seminars, and group project work. However, they can be tailored and framed around the contemporary need of the fashion management and sustainability. Indicative topics include:
- Fashion business process, key issues and trends in fashion management
- Target consumer behaviours and market position in fashion
- Fashion brand values, visual brand identity, and design signature
- Fashion trend forecasting
- Fashion materials consumption, costing, product pricing and positioning
- Circular materials, product development and management
- Responsible sourcing and manufacturing of fashion
- Sustainable fashion supply chain management
- Future Fashion Management: Strategies, innovation, technology and circularity in fashion
These topics are explicitly connected to the emerging nature of sustainable fashion management, enabling you to understand, reflect on and explore the contemporary fashion management theory, practice, strategic and operational issues and challenges within the fashion sustainability. The module content is responsive to changing priorities and agendas across academia, industry, policy and fashion stakeholder contexts. Issues of sustainability, innovation, ethical practice, digitalisation, creativity and strategic management are embedded throughout the exploration of these topics and integrated across the whole programme.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
Teaching methods:
- Lectures
- Seminars
- Guest/Invited Lectures with fashion industry practitioners
- Workshops
- Group and individual tutorials
- E-learning
- Independent study
Learning activities:
- Group projects
- Group tutorials
- Group discussion/ critique
- Peer-led learning and problem-solving discussions
- Teamwork
- Student presentations
- Fashion industry research
- Independent learning, reading and research.
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Teaching | 48 |
| Independent Study | 252 |
| Total study time | 300 |
Resources & Reading list
General Resources
Links to Additional Resources (Internet, Library, Industry, Media, Business News). Internet Resources: •Bloomsbury Fashion Central- Books- https://www.bloomsburyfashioncentral.com/ •Passport Euromonitor- •https://www.portal.euromonitor.com/magazine/homemain/ •LS: N Global- https://www.lsnglobal.com/ •Mintel- https://portal.mintel.com/portal/login? •Library: https://library.soton.ac.uk/wsa/ Industry, Media, Business News Sources: •Newspapers/news sites: BBC, The Guardian, Telegraph, Financial Times, Economist •http://www.businessoffashion.com - Business of Fashion •https://academic.mintel.com - Mintel trend and market reports •McKinsey- https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights •Fashion United- https://fashionunited.uk/ •http://www.style.com - Vogue online •https://www.wgsn.com/fashion/ - WGSN (Consumer Trend Forcaster) •https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/ •https://www-bloomsburyfashioncentral-com.soton.idm.oclc.org/ (Fairchild Library) •https://www.vam.ac.uk/collections?type=featured (V&A Museum Collections) •Fashion Revolution- https://www.fashionrevolution.org/ •https://www.drapersonline.com/- Drapers
List of Academic Journals in Fashion Management. 1. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management 2. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal 3. International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education 4. Journal of Fashion and Textiles 5. Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture 6. Research Journal of Textile and Apparel 7. International Journal of Clothing Science & Technology 8. Fashion Practice 9. Journal of Textile Institute 10. International Journal of Consumer Studies 11. Journal of Consumer Research 12. Journal of Brand Management 13. International Journal of Market Research 14. Journal of Supply Chain Management 15. Sustainable Production and Consumption 16. Journal of Cleaner Production 17. Clothing Cultures 18. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental 19. International Journal of Operations and Production Management 20. Journal of Business Ethics
Internet Resources
eLearning Support and Resoruces.
Journal Articles
Laura Macchion, Alessandro Da Giau, Federico Caniato, Maria Caridi, Pamela Danese, Rinaldo Rinaldi & Andrea Vinelli (2018). Strategic approaches to sustainability in fashion supply chain management. Production Planning & Control, 29(1), pp. 9-28.
Busalim, A., Fox, G. and Lynn, T (2022). Consumer behavior in sustainable fashion: A systematic literature review and future research agenda. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 46(5), pp. 1804-1828.
Kirsi Niinimäki, Greg Peters, Helena Dahlbo, Patsy Perry, Timo Rissanen & Alison Gwilt ( 2020). The environmental price of fast fashion. Nature Reviews: Earth & Environment, 1, pp. 189–200.
Islam, M.M., Perry, P. and Gill, S. (2022). Mapping environmentally sustainable practices in fashion industry: a systematic literature review. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 25(2), pp. 331-353.
Textbooks
Dillon, S (2018). The Fundamentals of Fashion Management. Bloomsbury .
Kim, E., Fiore, A.M., Payne, A. and Kim, H (2021). Fashion trends: Analysis and forecasting. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Solomon, M. and Rabolt, N (2008). Consumer Behaviour in Fashion. Prentice.
Mullet, K.K., Bryant, N.O., Burns, L.D (2016). The Business of Fashion. London: Fairchild Books.
Jones, R M (2006). The Apparel Industry . Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. .
Keiser, S. & Garner, M (2017). Beyond design: the synergy of apparel product development. New York: Fairchild Publications .
Varley, R., Roncha, A., Radclyffe-Thomas, N & Gee (2019). Fashion Management: A Strategic Approach. London: Macmillan International/Red Globe Press .
Cope, J., Maloney, D (2016). Fashion Promotion in Practice. New York: Fairchild Books.
Fletcher, K. and Tham, Matilda (2016). Handbook of Sustainability and Fashion. New York: Routledge.
Jackson, T. and Shaw, (2009). Mastering Fashion Marketing. London:: Palgrave.
Assessment
Formative
This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.
Coursework
- Assessment Type: Formative
- Feedback: Ongoing feedback provided through homework, tutorials, seminar, and survey, peer feedback, group discussion etc.
- Final Assessment: No
- Group Work: Yes
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Illustrated report | 80% |
| Group Digital Presentation | 20% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Illustrated report | 100% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Individual Digital Presentation | 20% |
| Illustrated report | 80% |