Fashion Buying and Brand Management (with Foundation Year)

This is a four-year programme that includes a year of foundational study and leads directly into the degree course. Our foundation year offers the chance to strengthen your skills, knowledge and confidence, before you advance to stage one of your honours degree.

Ready to turn your love for fashion into a career? If you dream of building a career in buying, merchandising or brand management, our BA (Hons) Fashion Buying and Brand Management degree at Cardiff Met could be your perfect fit.

Our degree combines a mix of business acumen and creative expertise, preparing you for management roles within the fashion industry. Learn how to curate the coolest collections, pick products that match a brand’s identity, decide what trends hit the shelves and shape the image of global fashion brands.

Developed with the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), our industry-aligned curriculum ensures you’re on the cutting edge of industry knowledge and practical skills. Our CIM ‘Accredited Degree’ status also provides you with the opportunity to gain exemptions from CIM Certificate and Diploma in Professional and Digital Marketing qualifications.

Having a strong brand is everything in today’s fashion world. It’s what makes your fashion label stand out, tells your story with its own unique personality and builds trust with your customers. Learn how to professionally manage brands at all levels, from value fashion, independent labels to sustainable brands and top international luxury names, along with creation of brands in a global fashion marketplace.

You’ll also develop an in-depth understanding of sustainability and responsibility within the fashion industry and supply chain management across the globe. You'll work on globally relevant projects, with opportunities to jet off for study trips or exchange visits.

Creativity is a highly valued attribute in the fashion industry and assignments are designed to develop ideas, encourage risk taking and support the creation of memorable branding materials and range plans.

Get hands-on with specialist industry software and put theory into practice during your Fashion Buying in Practice module in your second year. Spending a year in industry after completing your second year is also an option to kick-start your career. Past placements include Very, Ralph Lauren and River Island.

Our lecturers, who are both research-active and industry-experienced, will teach you the key skills you need for the workplace after graduation.

By understanding the ethical issues facing the fashion industry, you’ll emerge as a strategic and responsible fashion buying and brand professional, equipped with the creative expertise and visual skills to build ranges, develop products and shape the future of fashion.

We offer this degree with two study options. You can choose four years full-time or five years full-time which would include a one-year industry placement before your final year that will give you hands-on experience in a real-life working environment. This year in industry gives you practical skills that many employers seek, giving you a competitive edge upon graduation.