Should you do MFM if you are a fashion designer

MFM for Fashion Designers

This is what a reader has written to me:

A friend of mine is a B. Des. from NIFT. She has also cleared MFM exam She is a little confused as to whether to join the NIFT MFM or not. Can you throw some light on what her career path could be if she continues as a designer vs if she does the MFM course. As she already has a bachelor's degree from NIFT, some people have suggested that MFM might be a waste. But we are not sure. Hope you could help ?

The basic question is should you do MFM if you are a fashion designer.

My answer is-yes. Whereas having a degree in Fashion Design prepares you for the product, it is the MFM degree that prepares you to present the product profitably to the market. Just have a look at the subjects of the MFM and you would realize immediately that the course is designed to offer the product in a corporate set up. Thus there are subjects related to general management- Marketing, Finance, Human Resource- that help you to set up and work in an industrial set up with the agreed upon principles. The courses related to product such as Pattern Appreciation, Merchandising, Supply Chain and Fabric knowledge will present the product from the point of view of logistics from the concept to the customer. Then there are specialized courses such as brand management, advertising management, visual merchandising and International marketing which give you an in-depth knowledge of the way companies operate. And finally, courses in retail management, Customer relationship management and MIS will prepare you to operate in an sales environment. The most important of all is the knowledge that you gain from experts and seniors in the field.

In short being an MFM with a fashion designing degree is a double benefit. Often, designers are not very good in number crunching and a degree in MFM prepares you to face the marketing, finance and brand managers fearlessly and with the knowledge of products at the back of your hand, can make you a formidable personal force to reckon with. I have personally seen people with these dual degrees who are way above in the hierarchy than those with only a fashion design degree or with a fashion management (MFM) degree alone.