Fashion Merchandising Job Description

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What is Fashion Merchandising All About?

Every great boutique or department store needs a Wizard of Oz—someone behind the curtain making everything appear as impressive as possible—someone deciding to stock ruby slippers because they're the next big thing. Fashion merchandising experts accomplish tasks like these on a regular basis.

Fashion merchandising requires a blend of fashion sense and business expertise. Style alone won't yield a successful career in this field. Staying ahead of the fashion curve is a feat involving both art and science. Strategy and marketing know-how are an integral part of fashion merchandising.

Fashion Merchandising Tasks

As a fashion merchandiser, your job is to connect fashion with consumers. To reach that goal, you may do a variety of tasks, including the following:

• Attending fashion shows
• Buying fashions
• Negotiating with suppliers and manufacturers
• Managing retail outlets
• Setting up store displays
• Advertising and marketing

Skills Needed

School Spotlight

AIU offers highly marketable associate's, bachelor's and master's degree programs in career paths that are technically-oriented and in demand. Attend an AIU campus with fashion programs near you.

Forecasting Ability - While more methodical than fortune telling, fashion merchandising does require forecasting ability. A thorough knowledge of past fashion trends and an awareness of current industry developments will serve you well in a fashion merchandising career.

Analytical Ability - Problem solving and analytical ability also come in handy in this field. A good sense of style obviously helps you; however, you must also determine how things fit into a budget and whether they meet the functional needs of consumers. Other criteria may also influence your fashion merchandising decisions, so you will need to be able to analyze a complex set of issues and stand behind your choices.

Communication Skills - Fashion merchandising also requires good communication skills. From negotiating with manufacturers to getting your marketing message out to customers, there is ample opportunity to exercise your powers of communication in the fashion merchandising field.

Is Fashion Merchandising for You?

A job in this field will put you at the intersection of fashion and business. If you have a head for business and an eye for style, a fashion merchandising career may be just the right fit for you.

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