Read what students have to say about the Fashion Management graduate certificate program.
"As an international student, It was very important for me to explore and learn about the fashion industry in Canada and the program helped me efficiently achieve that."
I attended the sustainability profile of the program. Sustainability for me was an emerging aspect of the fashion industry that I really wanted to learn more about. Since it's a fairly new concept, I wanted to learn about it professionally from a credible establishment and the Fashion Management program turned out to be just the right choice.
The concept that once seemed almost alien and vague, is now an added knowledge that I've acquired over the past year. While the first semester educated me about the basics and explained every detail of it thoroughly, the second semester focussed on the practical implications of it in the industry. I've now gained awareness about the impact of the industry on the planet and its people and how a business can sustain responsibly, yet profitably. This knowledge is novel to the industry and I believe an absolute necessity as well.
The program provides the most wholesome experience one can get from a one year course. You're given plenty of resources, guidance & knowledge, by professors who are also industry experts. In terms of academics, it touches upon the different facets of fashion management like marketing, retail buying, trend analysis, products development and many more such courses. It thus provided me an open avenue to explore and choose a suitable career path. Aside from the extensive academic knowledge, the most valuable part of the program are the industry experiences and varied volunteering opprtunities. As an international student, It was very important for me to explore and learn about the fashion industry in Canada and the program helped me efficiently achieve that. The professors are forever supportive and go out of their ways to ensure your success.
"The hands-on experiences you gain from the program will help you succeed and get ahead of the game."
The courses that I walked away with a vast amount of knowledge and skills are: Computer Analytic Skills, Product Knowledge, Visual Merchandising and Display, Global Trade, and Retail Buying. Of course, the other courses helped to add and establish knowledge in other areas of fashion too. But these specific ones exposed me to new theories which were perfectly balanced with practical/ hands-on exercises. Because I have experience with Visual Merchandising, I found that this class allowed me to learn so much deeper about areas like lighting, fixtures, height of clothing, principles of design, etc. Computer analytics was a hands-on class that introduced me to useful tools in Word, PowerPoint and especially Excel. Excel is such as important tool to know in the Fashion industry and thanks to Karen's dedication, I really learned a lot in a short amount of time. Overall, all of the courses helped me draw a connection to my part time retail job and understand even deeper about the World of Fashion.
Hands-on experience is the biggest advantage of the program. Whether it is demonstrated through practical/real time assignments, connections with industry professionals, field trips, in class exercises, they all add more value to the program and learning experience. Especially for a vibrant and busy industry like Fashion, I think the hands-on experiences you gain from the program will help you succeed and get ahead of the game. I did not study Fashion in my undergrad, however I worked in an apparel environment. So, I was able to grasp and understand some concepts quicker. The program definitely bridged and solidified my career interest in fashion.
"As someone who hadn't studied fashion before, I benefitted in learning that trend analysis informs buying decisions and that the conditions of the global economy and trade agreements also impacts sourcing decisions."
The courses that I benefitted the most from in the Promotions stream were Wholesales Sales and Global Trade. Wholesales was very hands-on. We got the opportunity to do a role play exercise of Sales Agents selling to a team of Buyers. Also, Wholesales Sales Agency and getting first-hand information on their business operations really helped me grasp a full picture of how the apparel industry operates.
Global Trade provided me with the knowledge of how tariffs and trade agreements play a key role in the movement of goods in the global supply chain.
The key advantage of the program is that each course is focused on a particular area of the fashion industry and as your knowledge broadens about how the fashion industry operates, you learn of how various sectors of the industry intersect.
As someone who hadn't studied fashion before, I benefitted in learning that trend analysis informs buying decisions and that the conditions of the global economy and trade agreements also impacts sourcing decisions.
"The best thing about Humber Fashion Management program is that it provides students with an opportunity to express their creativity."
The sustainability profile helped me to draw a link between my professional background in the environment with my inspiration in fashion.
Thanks to the specific course of this profile, I was able to discover the challenges that the fashion industry is facing in terms of sustainable development. Besides, I also had a chance to apply our knowledge on practice, introducing sustainable approaches in my course projects.
I think that it is very important that the Fashion Institute is providing its students with an opportunity to orient themselves in a particular area of fashion which in my case is a sustainable fashion.
For me, the best thing about Humber Fashion Management program is that it provides the students with an opportunity to express their creativity.
I find that the program is very well-balanced in terms of theory and practice. What is also very exciting is that the students have a lot of opportunities to discover the fashion industry from the inside. Apart from the regular classes, there are also a lot of guest presentations, field trips, and events organized to help student to expand their knowledge.
"Every course is well thought out and I have gained knowledge that I know I’ll be using in the future."
The sustainability profile has facilitated me to understand and expand my vision in the fashion industry. In my opinion, it is so important to study sustainability in this generation, as it is involved in every upcoming segment.
I like the fact the classes are small and the instructors are friendly. They are always willing to help and are very flexible in meeting to help students. Humber College offers a wide choice of volunteering opportunities as we go along the course.
We didn’t just study textbooks but also gained more practical knowledge about how operations are taking place in the industry and had great opportunities to work with brands that are already in the fashion marketplace.
I feel fortunate to be a part of the Humber Fashion Management Program as it offers students to express themselves and be liberal with their creativity. Every course is well thought out and I have gained knowledge that I know I’ll be using in the future.
I would highly recommend this course to anyone thinking of getting into the fashion business. It gave me the chance to further my industry knowledge and prepared me for my future within the industry. It just doesn’t focus on fashion but so many other segments related to it. I can be assured of one thing that students are presented with many opportunities from the industry to discover themselves and get the right mentorship to make the best decisions for their future.