MBAs Team up with Emerging Fashion Industry Designers: MBA News

London Business School has teamed up with the British Fashion Council once more in a project that partnered MBA students with young designers.

Last year, the two collaborated on a report – penned by two MBA students – that offered a guide to success in the fashion industry. Now, a two-week program has seen five teams of MBA students at London Business School work on developing strategies designed to help individuals sponsored by the British Fashion Council set up sustainable independent brands.

Business aspects central to running a fashion industry enterprise – from supply chain management to marketing and finance – were considered by the MBA students, before their findings and recommendations were presented during a session held at London Business School.

MBA students at London Business School relish opportunity to prove their value

One of the participating MBA students, Meghana Gandhi, believes projects such as this can convince the fashion industry of the value MBAs can bring to the table:

“I hope that the designers who participated in this program (and others) look at the areas where they need support and involve MBAs in some of those areas. It’s a partnership that benefits both parties,” Meghana said.

London Business School’s Jeff Skinner, executive director at the school’s Deloitte Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, elaborated on these benefits – emphasizing the opportunity it offers MBA students to gain a bit of hands-on experience of the realities of working in the fashion industry:

“The partnership with the British Fashion Council has provided an opportunity for students with an interest in the luxury sector to gain experience by applying business principles to the fashion industry. In return, designers gain business-critical insight from commercially-minded MBAs,” he said, adding that he hoped some of the MBA students would maintain their working relationships with the designers beyond the project’s conclusion. 

British Fashion Council seeking ‘stronger pipeline of management talent’

The London Business School projects represent part of the British Fashion Council’s Business Pillar – one of five strategic pillars designed to reposition British fashion in the global fashion economy. The Business Pillar was celebrated during London Fashion Week in February, during which time the project was announced as part of the Council’s desire to secure “a stronger pipeline of management talent” alongside plans to “head towards a full accreditation of an MBA program in Luxury Management.”

For existing options that focus on the business side of the fashion industry, or in the field of luxury brand management, take a look at how to get into fashion management with an MBA.