How to bring your vision to life
Build Your Own Fashion Brand
How do you turn your love of fashion into a business? Learn the steps. In this course, you’ll develop a vision, devise a business plan, build awareness of your brand’s identity, delve into the financial side, and gain an understanding of production and delivery. Discover how to create an elevator pitch that makes a convincing case for your brand in seconds. If you wish to nurture both your artistic and your entrepreneurial sides, this course is for you.
Master the fundamentals of bringing your fashion vision to life
Defining a vision for your brand
What makes your concept unique? Who is your audience? What designers inspire you? Develop your vision while taking into account sustainability and social responsibility.
Creating a business plan
Learn the five essential parts of a business plan. Create a compelling elevator pitch. Develop goals that align with your brand vision. Construct an action plan.
Building awareness of your brand
Learn the four P’s of marketing: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. Explore social media campaigns of successful brands and create your own.
Aligning your brand with the fashion cycle
Should you launch in the spring/summer or fall/winter? How should you present your collection to buyers? Learn the steps that go into designing your collection.
Producing and delivering your collection
Who is making your product? Are you selling directly to consumers or through partners? Learn about order-taking and inventory management. Discover the role of sustainability in fashion.
Getting started on a career in the fashion business
This course will help you build your own fashion brand and introduce you to careers in fields like design, branding, advertising, PR, finance, and sustainable sourcing management.
How You Will Benefit
- Know what it takes to create, launch, and market a successful brand
- Learn how to build a mood board that defines your brand vision
- Develop the ability to pinpoint your target customers — those best suited to your brand
- Gain insight into social and environmental issues and how fashion is evolving to work in alignment with these concerns
- Understand the four P’s of marketing: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion
- Delve into the seasonality of fashion and decide how to present your collection: through the runway, presentations to buyers, and social media
- Learn about the various ways to get financing for your brand
- Earn a Certificate of Completion from Parsons Paris
Apply now for the next available course
All course options, whether 2 or 4 weeks, contain the identical educational content, learning materials, number of assignments and access to mentoring. The difference in length of course is due to time of year (not amount of instruction). We know the school year keeps you busy, so we've made the course longer during that time so you can get assignments done.
Hear From Your Instructors and Industry Leaders
Student Testimonials
It was a great opportunity to learn from industry professionals. The course itself was extremely well-organized; all the assignments were very interesting and engaging. I enjoyed applying all the new knowledge directly to my own project. Probably the best online course I have ever taken. - Alisa, student from Russia.
I would recommend this course to someone who wants to start a brand but is unsure of how to do this! What is so great about this course is you can go into it with little idea of what you want for your brand but they guide you so that in the end you have a entire business plan! I also love that even when the course ends you are left with so much insight on what to do next that you can take the course into the real world! - Kennady, student from OR.
Course designed by Parsons Paris faculty
Eros Antoniadis
A designer with his own brand and ecommerce business, Eros is the founder of two boutiques in Paris. He is internationally known as a specialist in the elements of style.
Nicole Kamen Weiss
Nicole serves as VP, Global Head of Client Relations and Client Experience at Tiffany & Co. She has developed and managed a number of top luxury brands. She works with creative and design directors to create compelling runway events for high fashion collections. She also oversees high-end jewelry and watch sales.
Your Final Project
The course culminates with a final project that allows you to:
Demonstrate what you’ve learned by creating a video of yourself presenting your business plan, as you would to a potential investor:
- Include the five essential components of a fashion business brand: executive summary, vision and objectives, market and competitive landscape, implementation plan, and financials
- Drawing on your elevator pitch, stress the one thing you want the viewer to remember about your brand
- Practice in front of family and friends to gain confidence
Mentoring
Receive guidance from a Parsons mentor who can support you throughout your journey to deepen your learning experience. You can expect:
- Encouragement and direction on all assignments
- Inspiration and motivation to help you succeed
- Brainstorming and ideation help as you prepare for your final project
Meet The Mentors
Amanda
BFA, Fashion Design, Parsons School of Design. New York based fashion designer.
Emily
BFA, Fashion Design, Parsons School of Design with a minor in business. Freelance social media director for a sustainable swimwear brand.
Rebecca
MA, Fashion Studies, Parsons School of Design (in progress). Worked in Fashion and Retail in New York City.
Flexible Learning
- 100% online, works with your schedule
- 30 hours overall course time
- Interact with fellow fashion students online
How to Apply
It’s easy. No transcripts or letters of recommendation are required. Just provide some basic information and tell us why you wish to take this program.
Note: Please submit all application materials in English.
Begin the guided process. It should only take a few minutes of your time to answer the questions.
Want to know more?
Sign up for more information and we’ll be in touch!
Frequently asked questions
When will you find out if you’ve been accepted? How will you be graded? What are assignments like? How much time will you get to complete a project?Answers to your questions are here.
Scholarships
We offer need-based scholarships for participating students who exhibit high potential and an inability to pay the full tuition.
- If you haven’t applied to the program, apply here. After submitting your application, click “Apply for a need-based scholarship” on the confirmation page to request a scholarship.
- If you’ve already applied to the program, sign in to your profile to check your scholarship status. If we don’t have a scholarship request on file, click “Apply for a need-based scholarship” to request a scholarship.
Earn your Certificate of Completion from Parsons Paris, The New School
Apply today to Build Your Own Fashion Brand