Insegnamento a.a. 2024-2025

The course provides an overview of the fashion system and an in-depth understanding of the strategic, organizational and managerial features of fashion companies, both in the high end and in the mass market. Main topics addressed in the course are:

• What is Fashion? Which are the fashion related sectors? What are the differences between fashion and luxury?
• How creativity and management do integrate in fashion and luxury companies.
• How to carry out an industry analysis: strategic features of fashion companies and main business models in fashion and their evolution.
• The role of the textile sector and the origin of trends: where do they come from and how do they spread?
• Fashion history and country branding: why France, Italy and US became leaders and which are the new centers for fashion?
• Customer segmentation: how to engage the customers from new senior to generation Z.
• Brand positioning in fashion: how to become a lifestyle brand?
• Key processes and main roles in fashion: product strategy and merchandising.
• Key processes and main roles in fashion: distribution and omnichannel management.
• Key processes and main roles in fashion: communication and PR in the digital era.
• Key processes and main roles in fashion: sustainability and circular economy.

• Understand what is behind the fashion and luxury brands in terms of variety of business models and managerial processes and roles.
• Learn how companies at the different stages of the supply chain create trends and how those trends become popular.
• Apply key strategic concepts in the fashion and luxury world, such as: vertical integration, diversification, growth strategies, industry analysis, consumer segmentation, and brand positioning.
• Understand concepts that could be also applied in other sectors.
• Analyze successful branding strategies through the application of the brand identity model in their field projects.
• Consider what are main challenges to launch a brand in fashion.

• Evaluate if they would like to get a job in this world and to acquire the basic competences to start as junior.
• Recognize some of the main issues and problems that characterize fashion companies.
• Apply strategic concepts, such as: vertical integration, diversification, growth strategies, industry analysis, consumer segmentation, and brand positioning.
• Work on branding concepts (the field project is built on this topic).
• Start/develop (main steps) a fashion brand.

• Lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Collaborative Works / Assignments

The learning process is facilitated by the variety of teaching methods listed before.

• Many incidents and examples are discussed during the course.
• The group project, for all attending students, is presented in class and followed by a short discussion.
• Suggestions are provided to take advantage of the location in Milan, the leading fashion center in Italy.

For attending students the final grade is based on:

• 55% written exam composed of multiple-choice and true/false questions.
• 45% group project (a team made of 5-6 people will work on a comparison of two competitors).

Multiple-choice tests assess candidates’ ability to understand the main processes in the fashion industry and managerial competencies that are required to work in the business. The group project aims at developing teamwork abilities that are crucial soft skills in the fashion industry and apply the concepts learned during the course. Moreover, the group project focuses on the main challenges a brand faces and opportunities for future growth that are key to developing entrepreneurial abilities. For attending students class partecipation and contribution to group work is mandatory. 

The Faculty course reserves the right to decrease the group work grade for students who do not actively contribute to the project.

For non-attending students the final grade is based on the written exam on the two books listed in teaching materials. It is composed of multiple-choice and true/false questions.

Multiple-choice tests assess candidates’ ability to understand the main processes in the fashion industry and managerial competencies that are required to work in the business.

The learning process is different between attending and non attending students, but in any case, studying the books, students can acheive some insights of this special and complex world.

• Slides, cases and articles posted on the course website.
• E. CORBELLINI, S. SAVIOLO, Managing Fashion and Luxury Companies, ETAS, 2009, (chapters and paragraphs: 1; 2; 3 (3.5 excluded); 6; 7, 8; 9; 10; 12; 13; 14 (chapters 4, 5, 11 are excluded).
• N. MISANI, P.VARACCA, Fashion Collections: Product Development and Merchandising, EGEA, 2017 (Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 (chapters 5, 6, 7 are excluded).

• E. CORBELLINI, S. SAVIOLO, Managing Fashion and Luxury Companies, ETAS, 2009
• N. MISANI, P.VARACCA, Fashion Collections: Product Development and Merchandising, EGEA, 2017.