Staging a Career in Fashion - Education as the Key to Success for the Fashion Business Professional; Adding a Fashion Business Major to the W.P. Carey School of Business

This thesis has two goals. The first is to explore and report on the state of the fashion and fashion business industry today. And the second is to propose a degree program plan, informed by the first goal, that will adequately prepare an Arizona State University student for a career in the fashion business industry. Keeping these two goals in mind, the thesis that follows looks at the industry through an academic and innovative lens. Primary and secondary research enforces these lenses and reveals the importance of a four-year university that provides students with a comprehensive experience, one that provides students with academic and experience-based opportunities. In order to best prepare students for a career in the intended industry. In order to best prepare students for a career in the intended industry, this thesis proposes that a combination of hands-on experiences, networking/mentoring programs, and project-based courses be implemented. This can be achieved by a final degree plan that offers key courses related to business such as fashion branding and an elective portfolio focused on fashion from the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts and the W.P. Carey School of Business.