Preparing for your course

Welcome to BSc (Hons) Fashion Management and Strategy! To get you thinking like a future industry leader, we’d like you to begin exploring the fashion landscape over the summer.

Your task is to discover a fashion designer whose work stands out to you, not just visually, but also in terms of their approach to storytelling, identity, and values. Think about what they represent and how their work communicates a point of view.

Use your reading list, fashion websites, independent magazines, or archive platforms to go beyond the obvious and explore new names.

When choosing your designer, consider:

• What makes their designs distinctive or innovative?
• How do they tell stories through fashion, branding, or presentation?
• What do they stand for as a creative or cultural voice?

Once you've chosen a designer, find three images that resonate with you. You can save these on your phone, print them, or pull them from online sources, whatever suits you.

Be ready to share your images and designer in an informal discussion during the first week. It’s not an assessment, just a way to connect ideas, inspirations, and perspectives as we begin the course together.

Have fun exploring, surprise us and be bold in your choices.

• Jackson, T. and Varley, R., 2021. Fashion Management: A Strategic Approach. 3rd ed. London: Red Globe Press.
• Posner, H., 2024. Marketing Fashion: Strategy, Branding and Promotion. 3rd ed. London: Laurence King Publishing.

Many of these magazines are costly, but you don’t need to buy them all. Most are also available via AUB Library subscriptions.

• Aesthetica
• Aperture
• Dazed
• Elephant
• I-D
• Holiday
• Pop
• Selvedge
• The Beauty Papers
• The Gentlewoman
• Fantastic Man
• Vogue (UK, US, FR, IT, CN, IN)

• https://www.wgsn.com/en
• https://www.commonobjective.co
• https://www.fashionrevolution.org
• www.nowness.com
• https://www.goodonyou.eco/
• www.showstudio.com (Nick Knight, the founder, is an AUB alumnus)
• https://www.vice.com/en

Classic films with iconic style and creative impact– we’ll add to this list when you are here.

• A Clockwork Orange (1972) – Kubrick’s stylised dystopia is known for its provocative visual language. It blends brutalist architecture, surreal interiors, and striking costumes to create a disturbing yet influential vision of the future.
• Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) – The film helped define modern elegance through its visual minimalism and urban sophistication. Audrey Hepburn’s portrayal of Holly Golightly became a lasting symbol of aspirational style and cosmopolitan charm.
• Metropolis (1927) – Metropolis is a pioneering Art Deco work of science fiction, celebrated for its monumental set design and visual effects. Its aesthetic legacy can be seen in countless depictions of dystopian futures, from cinema to architecture.
• Barbarella (1968) – This cult science fiction film is renowned for its imaginative world-building and playful, sensual tone. Its use of avant-garde costume and pop-art design helped shape the visual language of camp and retro-futurism.
• Working Girl (1988) – A sharp take on ambition and identity in 1980s corporate New York, Working Girl is known for its power dressing and portrayal of the rising career woman. Its visual style and cultural message around female empowerment continue to influence fashion and media.
• The Virgin Suicides (1999) – Sofia Coppola’s debut established her signature ethereal aesthetic. Through soft lighting, muted colour palettes and dreamlike pacing, the film captures adolescence's emotional distance and fragility.
• Blade Runner (1982) – Ridley Scott’s vision of a decaying future Los Angeles redefined cinematic world-building. With its fusion of noir cinematography, urban decay and neon-lit atmospheres, the film continues to shape the aesthetic of science fiction.
• Cabaret (1972) – Through Bob Fosse’s precise choreography and set design, Cabaret captures the decadence and political unease of Weimar Berlin. The film’s stylistic precision and use of performance as narrative remain widely influential.