Fashion communication & branding type courses - any experience?

[blueskiesrule]

My dd has studied essay type subjects at A-level & has also had a lot of time off due to mental health difficulties which all means we’re not really feeling on the ball with her new aspiration of switching to study a fashion communication type course at uni (she’s year 13). We’ve looked but feel a bit overwhelmed & confused. She will need a foundation year due to creative experience gap. Does anyone have any experience or information that might point us in any helpful direction? Much appreciated. I’m preparing for a few days of full on research!

Friend of DD loving International Fashion Branding at Glasgow Caledonian University. Similar to your DD she did non creative subjects at school but is a creative sort of person plus has a part time fashion retail job and runs a successful second hand clothes business on depop. Someone in DS2s year has just graduated from same course and has landed a really good job. Glasgow a fab city to study in.

London College of Fashion. Manchester Met has a Fashion faculty too. DD studied at LCF. It’s marmite! If she’s not robust, think twice!

Newcastle has a great course

My DD is also wanting to look at this type of course. I’m really not sure if should be encouraging her or suggesting more general degree in case she ends up not really liking it or wanting to work in fashion… so hard.
When you say marmite do you mean that it’s pretty hard core?

LCF is very international and some of the lecturers are not that great. Some are of course, especially ones from industry, but it’s patchy. DD didn’t do the exact course you are looking at but branding was part of it. She enjoyed elements of it living in London is very expensive too. London can very much have the vibe you want but fashion is all about unpaid internships and who you know. Not what you can do. Sadly. DD is currently doing another course which should give a better chance of employment because, although she got loads of interviews, she never got the job she wanted and the internships cost us so much for nothing.

I would be inclined to do a general degree first.

So helpful thank you. I’m trying to steer to a more general degree too..

A relative of mine did one of the courses mentioned on here. Loved it, enjoys the job as fashion buyer but it is NOT well paid.
She graduated 6 or 7 yrs ago and is in her 3rd job now, with a big fashion company. Jobs are all in London and she's still earning less than £30k while her uni friends who did other courses are now earning considerably more.
Not the end of the world but just something to bear in mind.

Where are you geographically? Vast majority of students prefer a max 3 hour radius from their home address.

Well not all! Loads of London students go to Edinburgh and Durham! Not that these do the courses but go to the best course for the career. Fashion is notoriously poorly paid. Lots of people who write about fashion do so for free.

@TizerorFizz

Well not all! Loads of London students go to Edinburgh and Durham! Not that these do the courses but go to the best course for the career. Fashion is notoriously poorly paid. Lots of people who write about fashion do so for free.

Of course lots of students choose to travel further, especially for specialist courses or prestigious universities. But admission stats and research shows that students consider proximity to the family home when choosing a university.

Friend of dd did Fashion and Marketing at Man Met with placement year ( lots of fashion courses here) ...she's now a buyer for Primark and is very well paid

If you want a highly regarded fashion course you won’t necessarily find one at a relatively handy university. So many jobs are in London so proximity to home is not always remotely realistic. What most students do for very common degrees is not the same as fashion degrees where quality counts and there’s not a huge choice.

Those different perspectives are really helpful, thank you. I was aware of the precarious career options from this kind of degree (although it's nice to know that's not always the case!) but it will be very hard to shift my dd's thinking on this (she's awaiting an ASD assessment and even if not on autistic spectrum she is prone to quite fixed thinking). I am hoping that at the very least the need for a foundation year (due to her non-creative essay based a-levels) will give her time to take a breath and check this is what she wants - I know that's an expensive way to achieve that but it will hopefully give her a year to mature and build her coping skills and confidence (or to make other plans).

It's also helpful to know that the london course is perhaps not going to suit her - she knows she's unlikely to get an offer there but even if she was I thought it wouldn't be the best environment for her.

Some interesting courses mentioned. She's currently looking at what appears to be a fairly random selection (hence the need for research) - Norwich University of the Arts, Buckingham New, Birmingham City, Anglia Ruskin and Cambridge (seems to be a college environment offering UAL degrees).

Ultimately I probably won't have much influence without damaging her confidence or our relationship but she may not get offers or she may be able to switch after her foundation so I still want to understand the options fully.

Any other information/perspectives very very welcome and thank you (& apologies for long post)!

Be careful about Bucks New. I am assuming it’s the old HE college in High Wycombe. It’s not a bad design uni, but HW is very dull. Nothing like Birmingham, Norwich or Cambridge.

Manner has a big faculty in this field and also offers placement years.

Manner = Man Met

Yes Manchester met is good in this field and I recommended it on 21 Oct.

Thanks Season, I looked at Man Met after Tizer mentioned it & it looks fantastic but I’m not sure my dd is currently focussed enough to get in there or that she’d be suited to a big city/uni just now. I’ve looked at Northumbria too, UCentral Lancashire, De Montfort & a few others in London (but not sure London would be good for her for reasons Tizer mentioned & big city, but did look at Kingston & Ravensbourne - again looks good but..).

Hopefully after a foundation year she’ll be more switched on if it’s right for her, older & more settled, and we can think again then maybe. I’d like her nearer home (north) but she’s definitely got her eyes in further away.

Comments in this thread have definitely helped me think more so far though, really grateful for all thoughts.