From its impact on culture and society to consumer behaviour, discover the business of fashion with Institut Francais de la Mode.
- Duration4 weeks
- Weekly study3 hours
Understanding Fashion: From Business to Culture
Study fashion and culture with fashion industry experts from Chanel and YSL
Over almost 150 years, the fashion industry has transformed many aspects of Western culture.
On this course, you’ll explore the interaction of fashion, society and business with IFM professor, Benjamin Simmenauer.
The course features exclusive input from fashion industry leaders, including designers such as Simon Porte Jacquemus, Christelle Kocher, Paul Smith, and CEOs at Chanel, YSL and Hermès.
You’ll deepen your understanding of the industry and take a dual approach to the study of fashion as you investigate it as both a cultural phenomenon and a creative industry.
What topics will you cover?
- Fashion and modernity: contemporary relevance, ‘Zeitgeist’, and the desirability of the new.
- Fashion and society: the concept of trends, social distinction and selection, culture and subcultures.
- Fashion as a language: decoding silhouettes, the genre of fashion literature and fashion press.
- Fashion and consumption: fashion and gender, the emergence of ‘lifestyle’, fetishism.
When would you like to start?
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Available now
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...
- Develop transdisciplinary knowledge and expertise aimed at understanding the logics of the contemporary fashion field
- Identify the creative models of the different fashion houses and their conception of time
- Explore the trends diffusion models
- Interpret a fashion silhouette
- Explain the construction of consumer behaviour
Who is the course for?
Whether you’re a marketing student intrigued by consumer culture or you’re an experienced fashion professional looking to enhance your knowledge, this course is designed for anyone looking to deepen and specialise their knowledge of the fashion industry.
This course will also be relevant to fashion entrepreneurs who need a holistic view of the industry’s key success factors.
This course is supported by DEFI.
Who will you learn with?
I am a permanent professor at Institut Français de la Mode, where I teach fashion theory and fashion brands strategy. My background is in analytic philosophy and social sciences.
Who developed the course?
Institut Français de la mode (IFM)
IFM (Institut Français de la Mode) is a higher education institution specialising in the textile, fashion, luxury and design industries, based in Paris, France.
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