I would love to get into fashion buying/purchasing, but do not know how. I am not a graduate and think this will make it difficult breaking into the industry. What can I do?

answer

Most fashion buyers are graduates who have been through retail management training programmes. However, Arcadia, the second largest fashion retailer in the UK, has recruited those with A levels to positions as management trainees. They do also take people with GCSEs for some of their training schemes. So they are definitely worth contacting to see if there are schemes running this year.

If you want to look at doing a degree it would give you more options. There are lots to choose from and the ones particularly worth exploring are sandwich degrees. These offer the opportunity to spend a year working as part of your study. Getting experience and making contacts are essential, it’s a very competitive area and many jobs are never advertised, but obtained through networking. Universities that offer sandwich degrees in fashion include The London Institute, Manchester Metropolitan, UMIST, Huddersfield and Northumbria. De Monfort University do a course in fashion buying and fashion design.

You can’t normally get straight onto these courses after A levels, but need to do a Foundation Course first. This will be available at your local art college. Entry is often dependant on having a suitable impressive portfolio of work. Once you are at the point of choosing a degree, shop around by going to open days and asking questions, which will help you decide between all the different options on offer. One important question to ask is what happened to previous students. You want to know that the university you choose has the sort of links that will help you break into the fashion world.

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Fashion: can I break in without a degree?