LIM College

We have a feeling once we tell you about Phyllis Shapiro's Technology in Fashion Merchandising and Management course, you're going to want to jump right into it. But be patient! This is a second-semester course in LIM's fabulous MPS in Fashion Merchandising & Retail Management program. 

Don't worry. It's worth the wait.

Professor Shapiro likes to teach her courses “with humor and an active learning style,” she says. “So students are involved and doing things rather than just listening.” Shapiro has been an educator for 13 years and she's spent the last 30 years in the fashion apparel business arena as a buyer, merchant, and product developer with major retail, wholesale, and product development companies.

She gave us the inside scoop on her Technology in Fashion Merchandising and Management class.

What you'll learn: “You’ll learn how technology is influencing fashion merchandising and management at both the store level, the product level, the visual level, and the supply-chain level,” Shapiro says. You’ll go over ways that technology influences the customer’s journey, product merchandising, and supply chain and operational systems. “[Recently,] Amazon announced they’ll have a new version of their Echo, which is going to have a screen on it because they want to get in on the fashion industry,” Shapiro says. “Don’t you want to take my course now?” 

The kind of work you'll do: “A range of project-based learning activities,” says Shapiro. “You will do some writing, some creating, some presenting. You will do some research and team work. You will experience how technology is changing and being used in new and innovative ways through field trips.”

Where you’ll go: “We took a trip this semester to the Rebecca Minkoff store in Soho and another one to the Nike Store in Soho to look at how tech is being used at the management and merchandising level.” These trips were informative and experiential for our students.

Who's in this class: “Second-year students who are studying in the Fashion Merchandising and Retail Management MPS program. This is what I would call a sort of support course in that no matter what part of the fashion industry a student goes into they need to know how to use tech at a management and merchandising level and the value proposition involved in adopting and integrating technology into business practices.  It’s like doing math. You’ll need to know how to manage tech within your areas of responsibility. This applies to careers in retail merchandising, product merchandising, supply chain, and sales.” 

If you like how this sounds, wait till you hear about our other courses. Let us tell you more about our MPS programs!