What is the Career Growth Trajectory as a Fashion Merchandiser in Today's Day and Age?

Just like any other field subject to great evolution and change, the ever-growing world of fashion is not immune to competition. And if there is someone who knows about the latest fashion trends, has superior designing skills, and a flair for leadership, it is not far-fetched for them to have a promising career in the fashion industry that brings these interests and talents together. 

Choosing the career path as a fashion merchandiser signifies mastering skills in art and business. For a pathbreaking career in fashion merchandising, one should have the ability to blend trends and styles with creative and effective marketing strategies. 

Fashion merchandising Jobs revolves around the business phase of the fashion world. The career path here is far more diversified than one can think. It offers an organized and structured approach to trends, predicting styles of the fashion world and introducing them to the fashion industry through tested business practices.

The business practices aim to introduce the right products to the right clients at the right time. It is a dynamic career path that needs skilled individuals to introduce the latest products and brands to the fashion-conscious public. Fashion merchandisers often work within retail operations as purchasing agents who choose product lines and promote them to enhance the market growth. One should have an eye for style that still meets the business’s requirements. 

Fashion merchandising professionals combine their love of apparel with a business-oriented skill set to help promote brands and increase business revenue. The field is quite diverse: the workplace can be an office, a retail store, a trade show, a label’s corporate quarters, or maybe all of these mentioned places. The merchandiser meets with the designers and discusses the upcoming collections, visits the textile suppliers for checking the quality, and explores the new trends in the fashion industry for suggestions. Fashion Merchandising Job lets people explore any aspect of fashion from a business point of view.

There are specific skill sets that fashion merchandising professionals should have in order to fulfill their responsibilities effectively. If you want to become a fashion merchandiser, there are some things you should know about. 

Education

Choosing the right major is an essential step to becoming a fashion merchandiser. It has been estimated that around 62.8% of fashion merchandisers have bachelor’s degrees, and 4.7% of fashion merchandiser professionals have master’s degrees. To get a fashion merchandising job, one needs to complete a bachelor's degree in fashion merchandising. It includes a liberal arts curriculum, specific courses in the field, and other business courses. The study prepares the students for a beginner’s level of work in a variety of roles and develops their artistic and leadership skills through the foundation of early studies in fashion merchandising. Here are some of the courses a student can opt for in fashion merchandising:

• Textiles and Colors Theory
• Fashion’s History
• Strategies for Merchandise Planning and Management
• Forecasting and Research of Fashion
• Supply Chain Management
• Consumer’s Behavior Psychology
• Retail Management

While creating a portfolio for a fashion merchandising job, one thing must be kept in mind: only work that portrays the current and recent fashion trends can be included. The portfolio can be made with biographical text about relevant working experience, pictures of recent works, personal reflections on fashion merchandising and trends, and case studies of recent trends. As a fashion merchandiser, the portfolio should portray the complexity and problem-solving abilities.

Earn Practical Experience

It is important to have some hands-on experience or an internship in fashion merchandising. It will help the students know about the actual work ethics and environment outside the classroom. The third year of studies is the perfect time to enroll in an internship. A counselor can help the students prepare for an interview and understand the leads. In addition, the hands-on experience can help the students to have a network in the industry, gain references for their resumes, and explore the various aspects of the field. Some of the best places to start a career as a fashion merchandiser include non-profitable organizations, clothing donation centers, second-hand stores, and social services agencies. The experience will surely prove to be beneficial when applying for payable positions.

Continuous Education and Development

After working in the fashion industry as a merchandiser, most professionals decide to pursue a particular certification or Master's degree. The significant areas of fashion merchandising at this level include advertising, communications, retail management, design, and marketing. It usually takes two years of full-time studies to complete the course. The level of the courses include:

• Analysis and Theory of Fashion
• Buying Strategies of Fashion
• Textile Markets Trends
• Buying Behavior of Consumer
• Operations Control
• Production of Apparel and Accessories 

During the Master's program, the students also write an extensive research report (thesis) on a specific area of fashion merchandising.

Designing is an important part of fashion design, but marketing also plays an important role in introducing fashion trends. Fashion merchandising professionals put great efforts into getting the clothes from the manufacturer to the retail shop and the market. The career opportunity of fashion merchandising is quite rewarding. To become a fashion merchandiser, one needs to be creative, goal-oriented, motivated, resourceful, and have excellent communication skills. However, no specific statistics for job criteria exist for careers in fashion merchandising. When it comes to salary packages, it is highly dependent on the specific job and industry. The most commonly seen work environments include retail stores, children’s clothing stores, and sometimes with the fashion designers who have their own fashion brands. Fashion merchandising is often confused with fashion design, but they are not similar. Fashion design needs more creative and innovative ideas, while fashion merchandising requires in-depth knowledge and familiarity with how to create effective marketing and business strategies. The fashion merchandising professionals need to be equally interested in the fashion industry’s updated trends and business parts. They need an innate skill to determine which trend the customer will love and the ones that will get less attention compared to others. Being a fashion merchandiser is not that easy. The job requires multitasking without losing the efficiency quotient. If you want to know more about the fashion industry and trends, reach out to Fashinza.