Ignite your career with a Master in Digital Fashion Communication

Fashion is becoming increasingly digital. From instant purchasing platforms to ‘Instagram-able’ outfits, we’re all part of the game in one way or another.

With a global focus on sustainability, students are required to upskill their knowledge on tech-based trends and ethical e-commerce concepts.

In the future, wearable tech and smart fabrics are set to revolutionise fashion.

Outlined in The State of Fashion 2019 report by McKinsey, written in partnership with the Business of Fashion (BoF), “The year ahead will be an awakening after the reckoning of 2018 – a time for fashion companies to look at opportunities and not just at surmounting challenges. The ones that will succeed will have come to terms with the fact that in the new paradigm taking shape around them, some of the old rules simply don’t work.

“Regardless of size and segment, players now need to be nimble, think digital-first and achieve ever-faster speed to market. They need to take an active stance on social issues, satisfy consumer demands for radical transparency and sustainability, and, most important, have the courage to ‘self-disrupt’ their own identity and the sources of their old success to realise these changes and win new generations of customers,” the report explains.

Source: USI Lugano

For the fashion industry’s fragmented and complex ecosystem, change is on the way and digitalisation is a major priority. Therefore, universities teaching digital fashion communication courses must make it theirs.

That’s why Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) in Lugano, Switzerland is enabling postgraduates to find out how fashion’s ethical dimension and major sustainability challenges impact society, as well as how long-term socio-cultural processes shape fashion.

Through the Master in Digital Fashion Communication (MDFC), you’ll have the chance to design your career and acquire communication skills to apply to the fashion industry, cutting-edge tools to interact in a digital business environment, and the cultural sensitivity to communicate in a global market.

The Master is an English-taught, two-year (120 ECTS) Double Degree offered jointly by USI and Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France.

The programme is taught by renowned faculty from both institutions, as well as by many guest lecturers and professionals of the fashion industry who share their practical experience. Mobility is also a key part of the learning experience as students get to study in two different locations (Lugano and Paris) and experience two diverse cultures.

To gain an insight into the fashion industry, during the last year of the programme, you’ll be required to complete a two- to four-month internship in a company of your choice. By embarking on this venture, you will have the opportunity to create an international network of contacts and heighten your professional experience.

Additionally, you will do study tours and gain additional experience in fashion’s historical districts and industry hubs in Switzerland, Italy, Spain and France. The tours will include visits to factories, ateliers, museums and company headquarters.

Valuing student inclusivity and diversity, the university encourages you to fuse your creativity with activities, initiatives and events. For example, digital fashion communication students launched a magazine named Tablet:Zine.

Known as a creative brainchild of the Master in Digital Fashion Communication at Università della Svizzera italiana, it acts as an ode to the digital aspect of the programme and recognises the growing influence of the digital world on fashion.

Source: USI Lugano

USI students will also be participating in a contest at the upcoming Fashion Innovation Week. They will generate ideas and business plans for digital concepts for the LaMartina brand and pitch their ideas to a jury made up of experts from the Agire Foundation, LaMartina, university leaders and even external investors – another exciting opportunity to look out for.

Giving you so many chances to shine, USI is a great place to either ignite your career in digital communication for fashion or to upgrade it. The creators of this Master programme, Professor Cantoni and Dr. Kalbaska, know that the career prospects in this field are high.

In the blueprint stages of this programme, Professor Cantoni knew it had a pioneering framework for future fashion professionals, “Everyone involved agreed that the idea had high potential, it was just not the perfect timing yet. This first idea was then followed by several conversations with Carlo Terreni, the director of NetComm Suisse, and during such conversations, we slowly matured the idea that it could be the right moment to create something new in the fashion field.”

Agreeing with Cantoni, Dr. Kalbaska carried out complex benchmarking and researched a lot during the early stages of programme creation to keep up with the industry.

“When we were looking at competitors, other academic programmes in this field, we discovered that there was a lack of offer in digital fashion. That is how we understood there was a real opportunity here. Before we thought of offering a course in digital fashion communication, which could become a minor for other master programmes but after all the studies we led, we decided to create an actual master programme,” Kalbaska explains.

So, if you want to study fashion in-depth at a world-renowned centre of digital communication research, within the Institute of Digital Technologies for Communication, apply for the MDFC today!

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