Hello, my name is Kelvin Galvez and I am a student at New York City College of Technology (City Tech). The major I intend on pursuing is fashion marketing, and within this major I want to get into the career of a fashion merchandiser, or a fashion buyer. I believe this career is best for me since I am really interested in clothing, and the content and work behind it. Another reason I believe this career is best for me is the fact that you get to travel out of the country time to time and that is something I have been wanting to do for a long time. I also believe this is the best career for me because of the salary and because of the responsibility you have to have. In this essay you will be able to read more on the fashion marketing major and what courses are required to obtain a degree in it. You will also be learning all the different things that this job consists of. Finally you will be getting some advice, if you do decide to take this course, on what you should be doing to become successful.

New York City College Of Technology

The following facts about a fashion marketing major will be helpful in understanding not only the fashion marketing major, but also the career. As stated in the 2014 – 2015 New York City College of Technology Catalog, “The fashion marketing program is designed for student interested in the dynamics of fashion, both as a business and as an expression of contemporary culture” (City Tech 128). With a degree in fashion marketing one gets to pursue a career in becoming a fashion merchandiser. Some roles as a fashion merchandiser is to create the need for something new. According to Norris Cassy in the Spend Spend Spend article, “Marketers are keen to exploit our fashion needs through planned obsolescence, by promoting new looks which make our existing clothes outdated. In this way marketers create a need for something new” (Business Date 1)

Now that you have more of an understanding about this field and career, we can move forward with the reasons on why I picked this major. The reasons include traveling, salary and responsibility. But let’s take a deeper look into traveling. As a fashion merchandiser you have to make sure the company and the brand maintains a good image. Hence, one has to travel from place to place to make sure everything is running smoothly. Fashion merchandisers also have to travel in order to attract new business for the company around the world. As said in Fashion Buying, “The experienced buyer’s role invariably involves travelling, mainly to see clothing suppliers and to gather trend information” (Goworekchapter 2). If you are one that likes to travel like I do, this job is best for you. Depending on the company you work for, will determine where you will be traveling to. However, you can expect to be traveling.

Kate Spade Clothing line

My second reason is the salary you receive with the degree as a fashion merchandiser. Of course this is one of the reasons I picked this career. Many people believe in gaining high amounts of money with their career choice, I am also one who wants a high salary. Included with the different responsibilities and traveling in this job, the pay is worth it. As said in BLS, “Fashion merchandisers earn an annual mean wage of $73,930 in 2010, over $25,000 more than the average for all occupations.”(Bureau Of Labor Statistics par.1). There is also a number of fashion merchandisers who earn a maximum of $120,000 per year. I am very comfortable with the responsibility and pay ratio, since one handles many different responsibilities in this job a salary such as this is I believe is just.

The same topic of responsibility brings me to my last point. Having the responsibility, a fashion merchandiser must handle every day in order to make the company successful. Some Responsibilities fashion merchandisers have are promoting the company, and also maintaining their image and helping promote a new image for their company. Fashion merchandisers also have the responsibility of preparing for events such as holidays and sales promotions. One of the hardest responsibilities fashion merchandisers have is determining fashion trends. If one is able to successfully determine the next “big” product of clothing it can bring up a company’s wealth tremendously.  As said in the article Fashion Industry Supply Chain Issues “main purpose of a retail business is to continuously maintain the responsiveness to the changing trends in consumer fashion taste” (Kursadpar.1) just as a fashion merchandiser has to do every day.

Gucci Clothing line

With an education and degree in Fashion Marketing from City Tech, you will be able to get to achieve this career. City Tech gives you the opportunity and skills that prepare you for this career by having classes such as, Textiles, Essential of Marketing, and Fashion Buying as said in New York City College of Technology College Catalog. With these classes and many others you will be able to understand the fashion industry and the business behind the clothing. According to professor Reinig “In addition to earning good grades and a solid GPA, students should seek out and participate in extra-curricular activities related to their major.” (Reinig par.1). You will take the responsibility of diversifying yourself from others to stand out in order to become known around the fashion industry. With these guidelines and teachings that city tech supplies you with, you will be able to be successful in this major and career down the road.

In conclusion, the fashion marketing program at city tech is best for anyone interested in understanding clothing from the point of view of a designer side and the business side. My advice to people who are interested in this program is to make yourself known. Participate in many clubs and groups that can teach you more about the major and career you intend on pursuing. In doing this, it will make classes easier and will make other companies look at you prospectively for internships and, later on, careers. Internships are a real key when it comes to this major and career, so I highly recommend getting into a summer internship at the very least in order to get your foot in halfway to the career. City tech also offers abroad programs to Paris and Milan, the fashion capitals of the world, to give you the experience of a lifetime in learning how different companies work day to day and fully understand the world of fashion. Another recommendation I have to students interested in this major is to make sure you maintain your GPA. This is a two year program and many people are interested in getting their bachelor’s which would most likely mean they would want to transfer to FIT. In order to transfer to this school you need a GPA of 3.5 or higher. This major is best for me because it gives me the opportunity to learn more about the fashion industry and also gives me the knowledge of what will I actually will be doing in my position.

 

 

 

Work Cited

 

New York City College Of Technology(City Tech) College Catalog 2014-2015.PDF.1 Dec.2014.

 

Goworek Helen, Fashion Buying, 2nd Edition.Wiley-Blackwell,2007 publish.PDF. 1 Dec. 2014.

 

Cassy , Norris.”Spend Spend Spend”.Businessdate 15.3(2007)#5&#8.Academic Search Complete.Web.1 Dec.2014.

 

Reinig, Timothy. Email to the author.6 Dec.2014.TS

 

Kursad , Ozlen,”Fashion Industy Supply Chain Issues:Zara(Azel France).Euopean Researcher 47.4(2013) #999&#1008.Academic Search Complete.Web.1 Dec.2014

“Summary.”U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics.U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Web.7Dec.2014.