Fashion merchandising can be a fun and creative field.
The fashion industry is highly competitive when it comes to careers. Fashion merchandising, which deals with the business side of the industry, is no exception. The field demands much from those who enter it but the payout can be big for anyone interested in fashion. With the proper education and drive, a job in fashion merchandising can be within reach.
Identification
Fashion merchandising deals with the planning, distribution, promotion and production of items for the fashion industry. This could be contained within a specific company, such as a department store, or it could be more widespread, such as the distribution of a line of clothes from a designer to various buyers across the world.
Careers
Fashion merchandising positions vary depending on where they are offered and what particular duties are required. This leads to many different job titles in the field. Assistant and head buyers, for example, work for larger stores and meet with marketing representatives (fashion merchandising workers who market products by a particular designer) to choose what and how many pieces to buy for stock. Other careers in fashion merchandising are in market research, fashion and product coordinating and operation management.
Workplaces
The typical venues that hire individuals in fashion merchandising are retail businesses of all sizes and apparel manufacturers. There are also other venues that require fashion merchandising skills. These include magazines that have a fashion section, fashion design studios, advertising agencies, textile mills and newspapers. Basically, any venue where fashion merchandise is talked about, marketed, bought or sold will utilize fashion merchandisers.
Education
Many art and design schools offer degrees in fashion merchandising, which starts at the certificate or associate level. For entry-level positions, though, a bachelor's degree is needed. This can be in fashion merchandising but people with business degrees will also have a foot in the door. Higher level positions require three to five years of experience, depending on the position, and/or a master's degree in fashion merchandising or an MBA.
Salaries
Fashion merchandising salaries vary depending on the employer, experience and position title. As of October 2009, entry-level merchandise buyer assistants made between $40,384 and $51,004 annually. Senior merchandise buyers with four to six years of experience made significantly more: between $81,948 and $124,728 per year. Other positions have salaries that fall between these two ranges.
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