Careers in Fashion Merchandising

Positive increase in the income level, coupled with better standards of living, has brought new demands for fashion makeovers in terms of clothes, styles, and accessories. In addition to this, the internationalization of markets, styles, colors, and choices of customers are continuously changing. Looking at India’s gripping hand in the global market; fashion merchandising is emerging as a stipulating career option these days. This mainly includes the sales and distribution of the finished product. Merchandisers are coordinators, who are involved in each and every stage of the garment's development, right from concept to sales. After studying the buying trends and the buyer's needs, they coordinate between the market and production process. They are required for business planning and analysis, buyer management, order fulfillment, product development, production costs, sales and preparing income projections, and many more functions in fashion houses, designing organizations, and retail stores.

Course Details
Courses in fashion merchandising are offered by numerous fashion institutes all over India. The courses demand candidates with creative and evaluative skills, along with an eye for fashion. Two-year degree course, four-year degree program, diplomas, certificate courses, and advanced study programs are currently offered in fashion or apparel merchandising. These vary from fashion designing and clothing technology, apparel marketing and merchandising, apparel production engineering, apparel designing and textile designing to fashion designing, garment construction, and fashion retail management. Undergraduate courses are open to students, who have passed their 10+2 exam in any stream. However, only graduates are eligible for post-graduate courses in fashion merchandising. These courses include a basic understanding of fabric, fibers, weaves, cutting, sewing, and finishing, along with know-how of international marketing and trade.

Career Prospects
Trained fashion merchandisers can work with any domestic or foreign lifestyle or fashion company. Jobs are also available in ready-to-wear production companies and large retailers/chain stores. Export fabrication companies and export houses also recruit merchandisers to coordinate between the foreign retail stores and production houses. Fashion merchandisers can work with fashion designers to come up with a new product, taking the latest trends into consideration. Visual merchandising, where products are promoted by visual display, also offers great opportunities. Merchandisers can look for positions in retail management in departmental stores, boutiques, clothing wholesalers, importers, designers, and manufacturers as fashion advertising agents, store managers, fashion product developers, event planners, fashion retailers, window dressers, and fashion promotion specialists. With adequate experience, fashion merchandisers can even set up their own small-scale industries as well as big export houses.

Top Colleges Offering UG/PG/Other Courses
Fashion merchandising programs are offered by several institutes in India like: Mohan Lal Sukhadia University, Udaipur; Society of Fashion and Technology (SOFT), Mumbai; National Institute of Fashion & Textile Technology, New Delhi; International Institute of Retail Management (IIRM), Delhi; Footwear Design & Development Institute, Noida; National Institute of Fashion Design, Chandigarh; National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi; Pearl Academy, New Delhi; Wigan & Leigh College, New Delhi; Vogue Institute of Fashion Technology, Bangalore; Foreign Trade Development Centre, New Delhi; School of Art and Fashion Technology (SAFT), Dehradun; and Academy of Fashion and Textile Technology (AFTT), Chennai.

Remuneration
Remuneration in fashion merchandising industry is decided by the personal skills and fashion competence of an individual. Normal pay packages of fresh graduates in this industry are Rs. 10,000 - 15,000 per month. With gradual experience and extraordinary talent, one can easily reach up to Rs. 30,000 - 40,000 per month. Fashion merchandisers having their own export houses have varied revenues as per the size and nature of their business.