Core Standards of the Course
Strand 1
Students will have a basic understanding of the history of fashion.
Standard 1
Identify early history of clothing.
Standard 2
Name some influential people in fashion history.
Standard 3
Identify specific styles in the 20th century.
Strand 2
Students will understand Fashion Products and Research
Standard 1
Define the following terms: rag trade, product mix, product assortment, market research, survey method, observation method, experimental method, focus group, merchandise information system.
Standard 2
Describe methods used to do market research.
Standard 3
Explain market segmentation and target market research.
Strand 3
Students will understand the concept of retailing positioning.
Standard 1
Define the following terms: retail positioning, merchandising policies, operational policies, buying motives, product motives, patronage motives, direct competition, indirect competition, vertical competition, lifestyle competition, ambiance.
Standard 2
Define the following terms about product strategy: assortment breadth, assortment depth.
Standard 3
Define the following terms about pricing strategy: prestige pricing, price promoting.
Standard 4
Explain place strategy in terms of: site location, types of store clusters, market coverage, facilities design, store exterior, store interior.
Strand 4
Students will understand the basics of fashion buying.
Standard 1
Explain the role of a fashion buyer.
Standard 2
Describe the merchandise planning function.
Standard 3
Define the following terms: design center, fashion weeks, haute couture, couturiers, buying center, market weeks, mart.
Standard 4
Define the following terms: merchandising cycle, departmental buying, classification buying, stock turnover, buying plans, stock-to sales ratio, open-to buy (OTB), assortment plan, stock-keeping unit (SKU), specification buying, and vendor-managed inventory (VM).
Standard 5
Identify ways of obtaining internal and external information when planning to buy.
Standard 6
Describe what happens at market weeks and trade shows.
Standard 7
Identify some advantages of market weeks for buyers.
Standard 8
Identify the major domestic market centers and what they are known for.
Standard 9
Define the following terms: purchase order, advance orders, reorders, back orders, open order, special orders, blanket orders, approval buying.
Strand 5
Students will understand how fabrics are made and the characteristics of different fabrics.
Standard 1
Define: cellulosic fibers, protein fibers, staple fibers, filaments.
Standard 2
Define: cellulosic manufactured fibers, noncellulosic manufactured fibers, spinneret.
Standard 3
Define: spinning, ply, blend.
Standard 4
Define: selvage, grain, true bias.
Standard 5
Define: nonwovens, laces and nets, braided fabrics, bonding, quilted fabrics.
Standard 6
Define: finishing, bleaching, dyeing, colorfast, printing, hand.
Strand 6
Students will understand the basics of successful selling.
Standard 1
Define the following terms: rational buying behavior, emotional buying behavior, non-personal selling, personal selling, product features, benefits, add-ons, trading up.
Standard 2
Explain the steps of the selling process.
Strand 7
Students will be able to understand basic merchandising math.
Standard 1
Identify types of financial records.
Standard 2
Define the following terms: operating statement, cost of goods sold (COGS), gross margin, net profit, profit margin, fixed costs, variable costs, odd-figure pricing, loss leader, initial markup, keystone markup, maintained markup.
Standard 3
Identify formulas for calculating the price of merchandise using both retail and cost methods.
Standard 4
Identify formulas for calculating markdowns.
Strand 8
Students will understand the basics of fashion promotion.
Standard 1
Identify the three purposes of fashion promotion and the three promotion levels.
Standard 2
Explain the 4 components of the promotional mix.
Standard 3
Describe a fashion promotion plan.
Standard 4
Define the following terms: publicity, public relations (PR), press kits, promotional mix, advertising, institutional advertising, cooperative advertising, national advertising, regional advertising, and local advertising.
Standard 5
Name two advantages and two disadvantages of each of the following advertising media: newspapers, magazines, outdoor, direct mail, radio, television, video, and web sites.
Strand 9
Students will understand visual merchandising.
Standard 1
Define the following terms: visual merchandising, store layout, selling areas, sales support areas, floor plan, fixtures, grid layout, maze layout.
Standard 2
Name and describe the three basic types of merchandise presentation.
Standard 3
Identify basic types of retail fixtures, including: carousels, dump tables/bins, fourway rack, rounders, t-stand, waterfall.
Standard 4
Identify the basic components of displays.
Standard 5
Identify the basic types of window displays.
Strand 10
Students will understand the basics of fashion show production.
Standard 1
Identify the main types of fashion shows.
Standard 2
Define the following terms: fittings, merchandise pull, runways, commentary, choreography, lineup, and dressers.
Standard 3
Summarize the coordination of the physical layout, music, choreography, and commentary of fashion shows.
Strand 11
Students will understand how to find and get jobs in the fashion industry.
Standard 1
Identify traits and skills valued by employers.
Standard 2
Describe 4 areas of employment in the fashion industry.
Standard 3
Discuss educational options for fashion careers.
Standard 4
Describe ways of getting experience in the fashion industry.
Standard 5
Describe sources for researching fashion careers.
Standard 6
Explain career networking.
Standard 7
Discuss the components of the job-application process.
Standard 8
Discuss steps in the job-search process.
Standard 9
Identify strategies for success on the job.
Standard 10
Identify traits of successful entrepreneurs.