Fashion Styling and Visual Merchandising
Entry requirements
A level
Access to HE Diploma
Pass
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Scottish Higher
UCAS Tariff
About this course
Fashion visual merchandising is the ‘art’ of presenting products in both physical and digital retail stores and environments, in order to attract, engage, and sell to the fashion consumer.
Participants fully understand the role and responsibilities of the visual merchandiser and fashion stylist through an in-depth study of the fashion retail market, looking at all types of retailing, brand positioning and the Omni channels of communication and selling, as well as creative techniques and new practices employed within the industry.
The three year Fashion Styling & Visual Merchandising course covers external communication strategies in window display: from styling a product, to communicating the brand message and identity through methods of graphic communication and technology. Methods of composition, colour theory, propping, and display dynamics are also taught and applied. Internal communication investigates the physical store design and layout, fixtures, use of POS and product presentation as well as, engaging the customer through experiential and sensory environment design, learning how to communicate brand message, sell a product, and evoke an emotive response to the customer through narrative and story telling.
Participants also create, develop and manage live photo shoots working to a design brief informed by top industry brands. They learn how to construct an immediately identifiable and recognisable style gained through the study of trends and fashion image; this is explored through photographic techniques in still-life set design, and specific merchandising choices in make-up, hair and accessories, relevant to the brand, product or look. As well as interpreting company briefs, participants are also encouraged to decode brand stereotypes and to think about image positioning from a different perspective, in order to discover unique selling points and create interest and desire with their target audience.
This fashion course provides a solid base in fashion styling and the fashion system, a model that embraces many aspects of the industry, not only in traditional business practices including brand identity, positioning and marketing, but also interpreting art and craft in fashion, consumer habits, and trends and influences in street style, trend spotting and photo blogging; creative research methods for product communication are key.
Cultural studies in the history of art, design, dress and fashion culture provide the necessary skills to make a critical assessment of a brand or client’s lifestyle and legacy. Communication and presentation skills cover methods of ‘pitching’ a concept via visual skills in CAD and 3D design.
This course is part of the fashion styling study pathways. With fashion styling as the core subject, participants specialise in the chosen area of interest (visual merchandising), positioning themselves as an industry expert with a specific and highly sought after professional profile.
This course is also available as a BA (Hons) four year course (including placement sandwich year)- *.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Design studies
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
After graduation
Sorry, no information to show
This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.
Explore these similar courses...
Higher entry requirementsLower entry requirements
Nearby University
Same UniversityThis is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Course location and department:
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
