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Understanding Fashion Brands and Products.

Understanding Fashion Brands and Products

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The course Understanding Fashion Brands and Products allows you to acquire the basics of a fashion culture, to understand the economic and industrial stakes of fashion and textiles and to meet designers and professionals of the fashion industry. You will understand what the creative process means, how it is inspired and what constitutes a garment. You will also understand how to build a brand, how to communicate, what are the digital strategies, how to make a brand story.

Audience

Open to high school students from 15 to 18 years of age from all fields of study. No prior knowledge of fashion is required. Intermediate English required.

Practical information

Type:
Summer School program for high school students
Format:
Short format
Duration:
2 weeks
Next session:
30 June - 11 July 2025

Courses are usually held from 10 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday.

Price:
€1.450 incl. VAT

Summer School courses may be combined to form longer modules (10% discount on the second cheapest program).

Thanks to the generosity of the members of the Fondation Institut Français de la Mode, a limited number of scholarships based on social criteria and resources can be awarded to EU high school students.

Language:
English
Location:
Austerlitz Campus

34 quai d'Austerlitz, 75013 Paris

Audience

Open to high school students from 15 to 18 years of age from all fields of study. No prior knowledge of fashion is required. Intermediate English required.

Program

Understanding Fashion Brands and Products is a two weeks course that includes a wide range of activities: courses, creative workshops, meetings with experts and designers, and visits to exhibitions, showrooms, concept stores or iconic shops.

Objectives

  • Acquire the basics of a fashion culture
  • Understand the economic and industrial stakes of fashion and textiles
  • Discover the main players in the fashion and luxury goods industry
  • Meet designers and professionals from the field to learn more about the professions and training courses in these sectors

Program

  • Fashion culture: fashion history and contemporary fashion
  • Company portraits
  • Geography of creation and international exchanges
  • Fashion trends and zeitgeist (press, style offices, designers, blogs...)
  • Storytelling and brand building
  • Building a fashion collection
  • The specificities of the fashion product: materials, manufacturing, know-how, product analysis
  • Wich communication for fashion today?
  • Fashion and sustainable development
  • Trend workshops (making a trend board, research on representative brands and products)
  • Creative workshops
  • Fashion, Fragrance and Beauty
  • Fashion and Leathergoods
  • Fashion and its professions: from style to point of sale, job functions and training courses

Examples of visits and speakers in previous years

Visits: Musée Baccarat, Musée Galliera, Broderies Lesage, Studios, Showrooms and Concept Stores, Shows during Paris Fashion Week...

Exhibitions: Yves Saint Laurent 1971 at the Fondation YSL, Lanvin at Musée Galliera, Jean-Paul Gaultier at the Grand Palais, Schiaparelli at Arts Decoratifs...

Speakers: Christine Phung (designer)...

Certificate

At the end of the program, a certificate is issued to participants who have attended all courses.

How to apply

Simply fill in the online form and pay the required deposit to apply. Upon receipt of the online form, the application is studied by the Summer School team. Once the application has been accepted, an email is sent specifying the payment schedule for the registration fee balance. If the application is not accepted, the deposit will be refunded.

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What they have to say

IFM Summer School Fashion, Design, Luxury

IFM offers one- to two-week programs in Design, Management and Craftsmanship.

  • Courses taught by teachers from the school
  • Creative workshops
  • Visits to iconic locations
  • Meetings with designers

Frequently asked questions

Application process

How can I apply?

On reception of the application form, the application is reviewed by the Summer School team. Once the application is accepted, the participant will receive a confirmation email with the instructions for payment (deposit and balance of the registration fee).

Please note that registration is confirmed only after payment of the deposit.

Fees & Scholarship

Can I apply for a scholarship?

IFM scholarships are available thanks to the generous sponsorship of the IFM Foundation. They are reserved for High-School Summer programs only.

Scholarships are available in a limited number and are need-based. They may cover up to 75% of tuition fees and are restricted to one demand per year and per participant. In case of registration to several programs, one grant only can be given.

Campus

Are travel and accommodation costs included?

Travel and accommodation costs in Paris are the responsibility of each participant. IFM can recommend, upon request, different options for accommodation and help foreign students in organizing their stay.

Practical information

What are the registration procedures for foreign students?

Participants from outside the European Union must ensure, if necessary, that they have a valid visa for France. Upon request and after full payment of the course, IFM will send the participant a letter confirming registration in order to support the visa application. IFM will also send you a visa guide upon request.

Important: 15 calendar days are necessary for consular authorities to treat visa request, sometimes longer in the high season.

If you are non-French you must ensure you are covered by your health insurance during your stay.