Fashion Innovation
& Luxury E-Commerce Online

One (1) semester credit

Essential to the contemporary fashion industry, internet law and ethics is related to computer and information ethics and the key processes and institutions shaping the technology landscape, and how brands are adapting to accommodate emerging technologies and practices. The course explores issues such as participant knowledge and consent, online privacy and, cybersecurity, intellectual property issues, domain name, copyrights, and social media regulations.

Prerequisite(s): None

Two (2) semester credits

This course looks at key contemporary developments in fashion from the late 20th & 21st Century. Participants discover and understand the concept and definition of zeitgeist through exploring the relationships between designer fashions, popular culture, big business, hightech production, as well as traditional and social media. Fashion’s interdisciplinary side is examined and a focus on smart textiles, technology, and sustainability will be taught by studying the works of designers such as Hussein Chalayan, Iris Van Herpen, and Stella McCartney among others. The course also delves into key contemporary issues defining today’s fashion industry, and questions the rules and norms governing fashion up until today. These issues include gender, sexuality, status, ethnicity/diversity, and the changing concepts around beauty. Visual and literary representations will be used to illustrate each of these fashion issues and the significance each plays in today’s contemporary society. 

Prerequisite(s): None

Three (3) semester credits

This course teaches students how different types of fashion organizations manage product design and development through studying supply chain and logistics, manufacturing processes and technology, and distribution and retailing. They will become familiar with different steps in supply chain management for the production of a fashion product and will identify and manage critical business factors in the
design, planning, development and production of a fashion collection.

Prerequisite(s): None

Three (3) semester credits

E-commerce is a proven disruptor in all industries, especially fashion. The first part of this course will explore the business models of fashion e-comm disruptors from Amazon and Zalando to ASOS and Stitch Fix. The class uses a structured framework for analyzing business models with numerous examples so that students can apply it to their own business or case study The second part of this course focuses on organizations’ need to deliver their products at the hands of online consumers who purchase goods and services from websites, and who are even more demanding than customers who personally go to stores or department stores. This course will develop skills in logistic operations for delivery and the current challenges facing all virtual sales.

Prerequisite(s): None

One (1) semester credits

Digital platforms offer customers and businesses the ability to connect through online or mobile channel and become an integrated part of day-to-day activities. Consequently, many fashion brands are transitioning from a product orientation to a customer orientation, with a focus on delivering differentiated customer experiences to target markets. The objective of this course is to learn where your customers are, and create a corresponding digital platform strategy relevant for the market position and strategic objectives. This includes the creation of multi-sided platforms that bring together customers, brands and stakeholders to facilitate value exchange as part of the larger digital ecosystem.

Prerequisite(s): None

Two (2) semester credits

Research Methods supports students in developing the core competencies and academic rigor required for study at postgraduate level. Through a series of lectures and activities, students will be able to gain the theoretical and practical understanding needed to create effective coursework and capstone project proposals. Lectures will cover the reflective process, the review of literature, research methodologies, structuring research.

Prerequisite(s): LBM514

Three (3) semester credits

Omnichannel is how retailers interact with customers in a seamless way, combining different channels at different stages of their purchase journey. Customers today want to place an order online and pick it up an hour later on their way to work or return at the store an order they had placed online. In this course you will learn how to attract omnichannel customers, what fulfillment options these customers expect, how retailers can leverage their online and brick and mortar presence, and what retailers need to support an omnichannel strategy. Students will spend time understanding and defining the customer journey and its impact on e-commerce and the store experience, through audience alignment and journey mapping exercises to prepare them for establishing how to get products into the hands of their consumers quickly and on the customer’s terms.

Prerequisite(s): None

Three (3) semester credits

Participants learn how to develop a framework to design an online fashion store, starting with the content building using trust indicators, to branding, navigation, product descriptions, photography, payment and return policy. The importance of visual impression and aesthetics is emphasized, both for branding and to attract viewers, turn them into customers, and stimulate sales. Managing product descriptions, product tables, links, and updating pricing and photography are all taught as best practices, basically anything needed to maintain ‘back-end’ updates to a fashion e-commerce website.

Prerequisite(s): None

One (1) semester credits

This course is designed for those who understand that topics such as social responsibility, climate change and environmental sustainability, ethics and morality, diversity and inclusion, and employee well-being have become integral components of leading a competitive and profitable company. Participants will learn how to leverage corporate structures to undertake CSR activities that have real public benefit, the relationship between philanthropy and corporate self-interest, and how ventures can assess whether they are doing good CSR, exploring topics including measurement, attribution, and cost benefit analysis. Finally, participants will learn from many examples of Corporate Social Responsibility across the world. This course will teach participants interested in developing a CSR project to conduct a wider search than they may have previously undertaken to identify lessons and solutions that they may adapt to their own setting. 

Prerequisite(s): None

Two (2) semester credits

Transparency and traceability are the precursors to change in the fashion industry, and fashion is moving to embrace circular practices now, more than ever before. Blockchain (digital ledgers) provides greater insight into the entire lifecycle of a garment, making it easier for fashion designers to create with circularity in mind. Fintech (short for “financial technology”) is creating multiple ways to ‘buy-now, pay-later’, thus redefining traditional methods of payment. In this course you will learn how digital technologies like Blockchain are disrupting fashion by increasing supply chain transparency, making circularity more feasible, and changing the way we consume clothes (moving from a ‘throw-a-way culture’, to one that more appreciates beautifully made products that carry a meaningful story). This course will provide participants with a good understanding of the technological, applicability, and limitations of these blockchain technologies.

Prerequisite(s): None

Three (3) semester credits

For luxury brands, digital is proving to be an incredibly important channel, not just for sales or communication, but as a key element in building brand equity and engagement. The assumption that luxury shoppers will always prefer a tactile shopping experience with personalized customer service (to get all their money’s worth), has now been challenged. Digital luxury isn’t just about millennials, nearly all luxury shoppers have enthusiastically embraced the digital lifestyle. This course will explore these topics and more, drawing upon case studies from Chanel, Gucci and LVMH to digital natives such as Away and Peloton.

Prerequisite(s): None

Three (3) semester credits

The world is a big and exciting place and Luxury brands must be ready, willing and able to adapt, both culturally and commercially, to different markets around the world. This course will dive deeply into the luxury fashion environments found in China, Japan, India, Brazil, Russia, Europe and the United States and students will learn how to combine branding with localization to deliver a superior experience. Particular attention will be given to the digital environments found in each region, starting with Asian luxury consumers, Chinese in particular, some of the most digitally active in the world, mostly on mobile. Throughout the course students will see the benefits and competitive advantages reaped by luxury brands when they are locally relevant and respectful towards the culture and differences found around the globe.

Prerequisite(s): None

One (1) semester credits

Fashion companies must evaluate and implement new technologies at a rapid pace in order to satisfy their customers’ desires for an increasingly sophisticated retail experience, both in-store and on eCommerce sites. The goal of this course is to provide participants with the tools and strategies to navigate these shifting industry standards with confidence. From new methods for customer acquisition to the next generation of smart mirrors, this course touches on cutting edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, and will provide a foundation for participants to assess the potential value of these innovations for their fashion business.

Prerequisite(s): None

Two (2) semester credits

With Digital fashion on the rise, this course explores the how brands are moving towards virtual representations of their products and creating nonfungible tokens (NFTs). Participants will learn how brands are pushing creative boundaries and engaging new audiences through 3D design platforms such as CLO3D, Marvelous Designer, Browzwear, and Optitex, as well as how sustainability is becoming the new digital. At the end of the course students will gain knowledge of how the industry has been disrupted through technology and digital retail platforms and brands such as Fabricant and Dress-X.

Prerequisite(s): None

Six (6) semester credits

The capstone project represents the culmination of a student’s academic learning and may take a variety of forms. Students may select a course of personal and professional interest and relevance and conduct and document an in-depth investigation into the topic. Students will meet with a designated supervisor to support them through the development of their project. Outcomes may be a final collection, a product, a presentation, a short film or an academic paper that will be presented and orally defended to a panel of tutors and experts in the field.

Prerequisite(s): All FIL 500-level courses.