Why Fashion Schools Need To Become More Like Tech Schools
Written by: Tara Robinson, CEO of TracksRacks
When I graduated with my MBA in Fashion Management and Entrepreneurship in 2013, I was ready to take the fashion industry by storm. Months before graduating, I began to eye the typical fashion graduate jobs, such as assistant buyer, merchandiser, fashion marketer, product developer, merchandise planner, and editorial assistant. I also started applying to the development programs at the top department stores that would guarantee my career would continue to move in an upward trajectory.
I felt like I had learned tangible skills that I could actually apply to my day-to-day job. I did notice the e-commerce and digital roles that frequently popped up in the job search but didn’t pay them much mind. I thought that these roles were for the STEM graduates—people who had more analytical and tech related skills that wouldn’t cross over into the fashion industry.
However that has completely changed today, and most fashion companies have an e-commerce department and digital roles like:
E-commerce assistant
Category assistant
Digital merchandiser
Fashion copywriter
E-commerce retail manager
Digital marketing assistant
Digital acquisition manager
Digital content editor
Online marketing manager
E-commerce analyst
Planning analyst
Social media manager
E-commerce customer success manager
These positions require in-depth knowledge of the digital landscape and skills in SEO, social media management, email marketing, web analytics, PPC, affiliate and retargeting platforms and CRM.
Fashion schools have evolved to not only focus on the creative process of the industry but also equipping students with more business acumen needed to flourish. However, the industry has shifted again—e-commerce has a greater impact on the fashion market than the broader retail one: it accounted for 27% of global fashion sales this year, compared to global retail sales, which accounted for 15% of fashion sales.
However most of the top fashion schools don't have any tech, e-commerce or digital marketing courses, when they should have entire E-commerce majors and concentrations because it is crucial in the new omnichannel approach of retail. Let me be clear: traditional retail isn't going anywhere, but neither is e-commerce. It will only continue to grow, as we create new technologies that aid in improving the online shopping experience, product design, manufacturing, logistics and future retail.
Fashion institutions are doing students a great disservice by not preparing them for e-commerce, tech and digital roles. We researched the top 25 fashion schools in the world as listed by Fashionista in 2019. We compiled a list of the schools with e-commerce, digital marketing and tech courses. Only 13 of 25 schools had any tech influenced courses and very few had diverse or well-rounded offerings.
The top 5 fashion colleges and universities with ecommerce, digital and tech courses are:
1.Academy of Art University
2.London College of Fashion
3.Thomas Jefferson University
4.Fashion Institute of Technology
5.SCAD
I learned when I entered the fashion industry in 2013 that today's fashion professional needs to master both digital and traditional retail skills. In my role as a marketing manager for a shoe retailer, I had to merchandise the website. My duties included making marketing assets for both in-store activations and online marketing. I had to understand conversion rates, click through rates, heat maps and retargeting ads. I had to be well-versed with different tools and platforms to manage an ecommerce site.
I was constantly reviewing reports and data that helped me better select which products we feature on our homepage and emails. This aspect was crucial in order to successfully provide an omnichannel strategy that most fashion companies are implementing in today’s market.
7 years later and I am now the CEO and Founder of TracksRacks, a fash-tech start-up providing B2B solutions for fashion companies.
When I am thinking of hiring employees, I need talent that has a deep understanding of the pain points of my clients, so I would prefer a fashion professional, but they need to have the technical skill sets needed to sell a digital product. I could hire talent from previous tech startups who understand the strategies needed to scale a digital business, but they would not speak the language of my targeted consumers.
As the fashion tech industry continues to grow, this will expand the opportunities for fashion students who want to try something different than the traditional retail path.
I believe that fashion education needs to shift as the industry continues to expand. Technology has disrupted the entire landscape of the fashion industry, and since fashion schools are shaping the next professionals and executives, they are doing their students a true disservice by not preparing them with the technical skills needed to excel. Some schools are leading the wave with some technical offerings, but it's time for everyone to catch up, because fashion has always been the last refuge for the trendsetters, and it’s time to break the mold.
Further reading: 20+ Fashion Schools