Lay out patterns for success

Fashion students need to be better prepared to work in the industry, argues Richard Bradbury

The management team at River Island invited a group of course tutors from fashion colleges across the UK to our head office. I was surprised at how little the tutors knew about a retailer such as River Island and just how tricky managing fashion is. A successful business doesn't just need good designs, it needs good shops, good buying, good visual merchandising, good marketing and good service.

A common complaint from employers is that universities fail to turn out graduates with the right skills or knowledge of the world of work. But in an area as competitive and crucial as fashion and retail, we need graduates who fully understand the industry.

One of the reasons behind our decision to sponsor Graduate Fashion Week was a desire to communicate with students and their tutors about the skills we need.

After speaking to the tutors I invited a group of recent graduates, currently working at River Island, to share their views on what could be done to improve students' chances of choosing the right career. I asked them how well prepared for work they had felt when they graduated.

Their answers depended on what kind of placements they had secured during their degree. Someone who was just left to do the photocopying would obviously not be as prepared as someone who had been given a chance to see all aspects of a fashion retail business. That is something that we as retailers have to address.

Excluding the store staff, River Island probably takes about 40 graduates a year, working across all disciplines from design to merchandising and marketing. The graduates simply lack many of the skills we need. Take visual merchandising. This is something crucial to the fashion and retail industry.

It is not just about shop-window displays, it is about how to create theatre within our stores to maximise sales using layout and soft dressing.

But this is taught only on a small number of modules within a very small number of degree courses. Universities have not adapted quickly enough.

It's not that I think universities and colleges are resistant to change.

They are struggling with tight budgets and lots of administration, and I expect that sometimes it is hard to see the wood for the trees. It's our responsibility as an industry to be more open in communicating our needs to them, rather than simply sitting back and complaining.

There needs to be more communication across courses. Someone on a business course who has a creative side might be suited to a career in fashion merchandising.

Similarly, some people may be put off from going into merchandising because they think it is all number crunching whereas at River Island it is much more about commercial risk management and making sure that products are right for the market.

For us, Graduate Fashion Week is an opportunity to tell people what sort of jobs are available in our industry - and how to prepare for them.

Richard Bradbury is managing director, River Island - the new sponsor of Graduate Fashion Week, June 5-8, Battersea Park Arena, London.

www.gfw.org.uk