ESMOD also offers courses in Fashion Business, allowing the school to cover
all of the professions that make up the fashion world. Its students are awarded
a bachelor’s degree after 3 years of study and a master’s degree at Bac+5 level
(the equivalent of A-Levels plus 5 years’ higher education), and the winners of
the ESMOD Fashion Business class of 2022 who have just defended their
theses in front of a jury of top professionals are no exception. Let us introduce
you to them.
These alumni, with their brilliant and endearing personalities, have been awarded the
extremely important title of Manager of International Development in Fashion and
Luxury Industries, a Level VII diploma registered in the RNCP (National Directory of
Professional Certifications). They will all go on to become high-level managers in
sales and marketing roles and are all trained to work in the fashion and luxury
industries in an international context.
In order to obtain their diploma, students were required to submit a research thesis
relating to the company and department in which they did their internship. A 6-month
work placement often chosen from the range of options offered by ESMOD Career,
the school’s internal department tasked with establishing contact with companies.
Their theses focused on the major issues facing the fashion and luxury sectors and
aimed to outline a series of recommendations for strategic development. The papers
were written during this internship completed at the end of the 2 nd year of the Master’s
course and supervised by professional experts, all selected based on the student’s
chosen topic.
This sharing of expertise is highlighted here through a number of fruitful examples.
Malick Sow: “Inclusion and diversity benefit the fashion and
luxury industries”
Planet ESMOD: What did you do before enrolling on the ESMOD Fashion Business
course?
Malick Sow: I first did a Bachelor’s degree at the IAE (Institute of Business
Administration), followed by a one-year master’s in Fashion Studies, where I took
classes in art history and fashion history to gain theoretical knowledge and even an
overview of the concept of image in general.
After that, the ESMOD Fashion Business courses allowed me to merge my two areas
of interest.
P. E.: So what made you choose ESMOD?
M. S.: I wanted to come to Paris. ESMOD has a good reputation and its diploma is
recognised by the State, which gives it real value in the job market.
P. E.: What did you get out of your classes here?
M. S.: They allowed me to undertake cross-disciplinary projects with creative fashion
design students.
P. E.: Where did you do your internships?
M. S.: At Parfums Christian Dior from January to June 2022, because I’m really
interested in the beauty sector, as well as fashion. As a black person, I found there
were a lot of things missing that I’d like to see in the luxury beauty sector, and this
internship also allowed me to learn more about the luxury industry and cosmetics in
general. Especially where Christian Dior Beauté and Parfums Christian Dior products
were concerned, of course.
P. E.: What was the theme of your thesis?
M. S.: It was entitled ‘How inclusion and diversity can help Dior Beauté improve its
reach among Generation Z’. The project enabled me to pool all of the theoretical
knowledge that I’d gained in class in terms of marketing and communications with the
practical knowledge I’d acquired during my internship.
P. E.: How did the presentation of your thesis go?
M. S.: Pretty well. We were lucky enough to have a jury of professionals from major
brands such as Louis Vuitton, Mugler, American Vintage, etc., as well as consultants
who were very familiar with the field and these topics.
P. E.: How did your two years at ESMOD Fashion Business go?
M. S.: Very well, although a little frustrating due to COVID and the lockdowns. But I
learned a lot. This diploma also looks great on my CV and on job applications.
P. E.: What are your plans now?
M. S.: I’d love to work on brand image and communications for a luxury brand, in the
ready-to-wear fashion or beauty sectors.
Violette Martin: “Brand strategy must adapt to the Chinese
market”
P. E: How did you get onto the ESMOD Fashion Business Postgraduate Program?
Violette Martin: I joined the school in the 3 rd year of my Bachelor’s degree at ESMOD
Lyon before going on to do my master’s in Paris. I also joined the Women @ Dior
programme last year and was consequently able to present a charity initiative to
UNESCO. Emma Hoche and I won the Dream For Change Project award from Dior.
P. E.: How did the presentation of your final-year thesis go?
V. M.: Very well, and I wasn’t too stressed because I really knew my chosen topic
and it was exciting to write it. I was quite happy to draw a line under my studies,
though, but the jury was very kind and attentive.
P. E.: What was your thesis on?
V. M.: I did my first internship at Viktor & Rolf Fragrances, part of the L’Oréal group,
and I did my thesis on adapting the brand’s strategy to the Chinese market, which it
had recently entered. As this was also part of the job I was doing during the
internship, the thesis was a direct continuation of that, but with my own ideas thrown
in. So it allowed me to complete that chapter of my experience there.
P. E.: What have you gained from these professional experiences in the workplace?
V. M.: My presentation has improved a lot, for example, the way I express myself,
and this is something that’s practised on all ESMOD courses. I was originally very
shy and initially didn’t have any confidence in myself, but I achieved a complete
turnaround in this respect. I wasn’t stressed during this final presentation before the
jury; I hadn’t even taken notes and it went well, and it’s this personal development
that is so beautiful to see. As well as the fact that I was able to meet so many
professionals, lecturers who are still practising professionals and the various contacts
we made through the internships. These lecturers were able to help me secure
internships through their networks.
P. E.: What skills have you been able to develop through this course?
V. M.: The thing we do most with the school is developing projects from start to finish,
which helps teach us how to manage teamwork, communication within a group,
deadlines, etc.
P. E.: What are you doing at the moment?
V. M.: I’m currently doing my second end-of-study internship at Balmain. When I was
at Viktor & Rolf Fragrances I was a trainee Product Manager but now I’m an
Accessories Collection Merchandiser. Which is closer to what I really love, which is
ready-to-wear fashion and fashion in general, but still working with products. These
different experiences have also helped confirm this.
P. E.: What are your plans now?
V. M.: I’m looking for opportunities for the start of 2023, preferably in the fashion and
luxury industries and in a product-related role, either as a Product Manager or as a
Collection Merchandiser.
Gabriel Cheval: “Outsourcing is a key part of a company’s life”
P. E.: What did you do before joining the Fashion Business Postgraduate Program?
Gabriel Cheval: I did a degree in Applied Foreign Languages with International
Business.
P. E.: Why did you then choose to specialise in fashion and marketing?
G.C.: My grandmother had worked in haute couture all her life, so she encouraged
me to go into this field and quite honestly, I love it!
P. E.: What have you gained from your studies here?
G.C.: They’ve allowed me to see fashion in a different light. I’ve been able to gain
knowledge that has given me a better understanding of this environment that is so
unlike any other. ESMOD Fashion Business also gave me the opportunity to
incorporate my first internship between the two years of study, which marked the start
of my career planning, and the school opened the door for me to do an internship at
Chanel.
P. E.: What position did you hold during this internship?
G.C.: I was an Assistant Product Manager and also helped coordinate the collections.
I’d turn the ideas that emerged in the studio into initial developments and see them
right through to the runway show and then on to sales in the Chanel showroom.
P. E.: And where did you do your 4 th -year internship?
G.C.: At Lunas France, where I was a Management Assistant and Product Manager.
So again, I wore two hats and had a 360-degree view of the company, its badges, its
rhinestones, its braids and all of the other embellishments that Lunas creates.
P. E.: What was your end-of-course thesis about?
G.C.: Outsourcing at Chanel, its management and its future. From an internal
perspective, how the teams organise themselves to manage these processes, and an
external one—manufacturers’ experiences of this outsourcing and their relationship
with Chanel.
P. E.: How did that go?
G.C.: It was a bit complicated, juggling the internship and writing the thesis, but it’s
completely doable if you get started early and look at things from a different
perspective. My internships at Chanel and another external company that works for
Chanel gave me a good overview of their relationship, I’d say. I was able to study the
balance of power between them and further my knowledge.
P. E.: What are your plans now?
G.C.: Well I still have time left on the fixed-term contract that I currently have with
Lemarié, which belongs to the many companies in the Chanel group, then I plan to
continue in this fashion sector, focusing on products and collection coordination.
Fanny Cardinal: “The digital sphere helps companies to grow”
P. E.: Where did you do your end-of-study internship?
Fanny Cardinal: I was a Communications and International Coordination Assistant at
Christian Dior, in the Visual Merchandising department. The aim being to develop
and implement the visual merchandising strategy to create a good image across all of
the Dior stores in the network. It was really interesting because we in the coordination
department were in contact with various other departments right across the world:
field visual merchandising, central marketing, external communications visuals, etc.
You learn a lot very quickly in this part of the company.
P. E.: What has your background been to date?
F. C.: I started attending ESMOD Fashion Design for my bachelor’s degree before
moving on to Fashion Business for the Postgraduate Program. Being able to wear
both of these hats is super-important to me and really helps me on a daily basis.
P. E.: What are you writing your thesis on?
F. C.: “How can the development of digital technologies within the Visual
Merchandising department at Christian Dior Couture promote collective
intelligence?”.
P. E.: What are your plans now?
F. C.: I’ve been hired on a fixed-term contract after my internship, in the same
department at Dior, but the role is a little different, focusing solely on coordination and
central marketing. I’d like to have the opportunity to progress within the company and
become more focused on the product, fabrics, the showroom, etc.
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