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The Fashion Retail Academy
The Fashion Retail Academy: Preparing London 's Fashion Hopefuls for a Career in Retail |
Alexandra SUHNER
London Editor |
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London now has yet another post secondary fashion school, this time in the form of the Fashion Retail Academy. This public and private sector joint initiative is the brainchild of Sir Phillip Green, the CEO of the Arcadia Group. He proposed the idea to Tony Blair, and within two years the academy was up and running.
Fashion Retail Academy prepares students for a career in fashion retail, training them in areas such as merchandising, buying, marketing, public relations, branding, customer service, and visual merchandising. The school is located in central London, just behind Tottenham Court Road station, in a brand new building that has boasts state of the art technology, better preparing the students for the practices of the professional world.
The course includes numerous work placements, giving the students an even better opportunity to experience professional life. Fashion Retail Academy is also supported by companies such as Marks and Spencer, Tesco, and Next, who also take in students for work placements. In addition to some of the major high street fashion retailers, shops like Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, and Nine West also take on students.
The students also have a number of master classes throughout the year, including some of the industry's most senior people.
Tony Blair, who assisted at the formal opening of the academy on October 31, 2006, says "It's a superb learning centre, with wonderful facilities, right in the heart of the West End which will provide training for hundreds of students with the flair and enthusiasm to work in fashion retail." |
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Fashion Retail Academy is part of the National Skills Academy network, which hopes to open 12 similar academies in the next years, one for each of the major economic sectors, including construction, financial services, and manufacturing. Their purpose will be to train the students in skills that the industry wants in potential employees. Philip Green explains that "The highly-focused curriculum of classroom study, industry master classes and exposure, plus the significant part of their time spent in work placement with all the above retailers in all areas of their businesses, will give our students an unrivalled opportunity to decide whether they have the passion, energy, drive and commitment to succeed in the retail industry."
Born from the industry's frustration from a lack of talent coming into the sector, Fashion Retail Academy is an ideal educational opportunity for those wanting to enter the fashion industry, which in 2005 alone, employed over 85,000 people. This will allow students to train in the skills that the industry needs and wants, taught to them by practicing professionals.
For more information please visit Fashion Retail Academy at www.fashionretailacademy.ac.uk |
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