Fashion Business Essentials Course is praised by student advisors.

The Fashion Business Essentials student advisory board members are brilliant, ambitious, motivated, and career-minded as a group.    They are all at different stages of their careers and come from different parts of the fashion business. On the board are seasoned merchandisers and designers, as well as a fashion journalist and a student just starting out in her career.

During a recent WWD roundtable discussion with the board, students from the Parsons x WWD Fashion Business Essentials online programme discussed why they enrolled in the programme as well as where their careers will take them next.

Several board members had previously taken courses on the Yellowbrick platform, including Fashion Industry Essentials and Streetwear Essentials. The board hailed Fashion Business Essentials, which consists of five modules and can be accessed here, as enlightening and eye-opening, and stated it will certainly offer them a competitive edge in the market.

Oritz stated that what he learned in Fashion Business Essentials is being combined with what he learned in Streetwear Essentials to assist strengthen his business acumen as he pursues new manufacturers for his streetwear brand. “The Streetwear Essentials course really helped me shape my brand, and the Fashion Business Essentials course has made me more business smart — and it’s been wonderful,” Ortiz said.

Interestingly, both Ortiz and Faure were enrolled in Yellowbrick Essentials classes at the height of the pandemic. For many, being placed under lockdown provided as an opportunity to re-evaluate one’s priorities. People took online classes, redesigned their occupations, and chased their aspirations.

Faure described himself as a freestyle designer, but said he had lost his job temporarily due to the COVID-19 outbreak. He enrolled in the Streetwear Essentials course, which led him to the Fashion Business Essentials course, “which has, honestly, cleaned up my branding even more since it keeps me on the right side of the legal difficulties.” That was never something I was particularly interested in. I was just going freestyle and then throwing things out there. But now I’m learning more about licences and branding, as well as how to promote your brand to the market in a business-like approach rather than just an entrepreneurial style.”

Fashion Business Essentials and Fashion Industry Essentials were means for Blake, a writer, to expand her understanding of fashion. “For me, it was trying to write from a place where I genuinely knew what I was talking about,” she stated. “We’re not just talking about trends and pitch decks and manufacturing; we’re talking about actually comprehending what’s involved, rather than just Googling things and then figuring it out.” So it’s been quite beneficial to me. I can tell the difference between before and after I took both classes because I’m more comfortable with what I’m saying and feel more confidence in my remarks.”

Salazar aspired to advance her merchandising profession. When Salazar lost her job, she looked for content on YouTube to help her learn new things. She quickly discovered there wasn’t much useful content available, so she enrolled in Fashion Industry Essentials.

“I felt the Fashion Business Essentials book was really fantastic because I liked how much information there was,” she stated. “There were some units that were so densely packed that I was like, ‘Wow.’ There were topics I had no idea about before, and I thought it was a fantastic insight for those who want to get into the sector, whether merchandising or not, because I learnt so lot from that course.”

Spurlin was enrolled in Parson’s master’s degree in fashion management, “so when the opportunity to take this Fashion Business Essentials course came itself, I thought it would be kind of the perfect bridge into my master’s programme,” she explained. “Learning about all of the jargon, as well as learning from genuine Parsons staff and industry leaders, was quite beneficial.” It proved to be an excellent preparatory course for the broader master’s programme.”
“I just knew design,” Hill said before beginning the course. I’m not familiar with the business side of fashion, and I’m a really independent person. My ultimate objective would be to work as an entrepreneur or to own my own firm.”

Hill stated that the fashion industry foundation coursework given in Fashion Business Essentials was just what she need. “I went in knowing nothing and came out with a lot of fresh information.” Hill, a college student, added that the training “gives me a little advantage going into school.”

The advisory board also recognised that the relevance of Fashion Business Essentials‘ content is what distinguishes it. From marketing branding and narrative to sourcing and e-commerce, students felt the course was up-to-date, smart, and, no pun intended, necessary.