PG in Luxury Brand Management & Fashion Business
Industry is your faculty.
One year. Mumbai, Pune and Delhi. Study terms available in Dubai and Milan.
Learn through current industry practice, applied projects and direct engagement with professionals working across luxury, fashion, retail, communications and entrepreneurship.
The programme, in short
The PG in Luxury Brand Management & Fashion Business is a one-year postgraduate programme at FAD International Academy, delivered in Mumbai, Pune and Delhi. Every student studies all four specialisations — Luxury Brand Management, Fashion Marketing & Digital Commerce, Fashion Communications & Content, and Fashion Entrepreneurship — rather than choosing one at application.
The programme runs from October to July, with 600 guided learning hours plus 150 hours of masterclasses, industry visits and project internships. It opens with a four-week Fashion Foundation for students entering without a fashion background.
Students complete four major industry projects, two live client briefs and an optional internship before being supported on placements. Those who wish to launch a label can build and pitch it as their final project.
Applications are open to graduates in any discipline who are passionate to pursue a career in fashion or luxury, and applications are evaluated through an online interview. No fashion background, no portfolio. Assessment is 100% coursework — there are no examinations. The PG in Luxury Brand Management & Fashion Business is awarded by ATHE UK & FAD International Academy. Study abroad terms are available at FAD Dubai and Italian fashion schools, alongside a Europe study tour across London, Milan and Paris.
Key facts
At a glance
- Level
- Postgraduate Programme
- Duration
- One year · October to July
- Campuses
- Mumbai · Pune · Delhi
- Study terms
- Dubai · Milan
- Specialisations
- All four.
- Learning hours
- 600 guided + 150 industry
- Award
- ATHE UK & FAD International Academy
- Eligibility
- Graduate in any discipline
- Entrance exam
- Two staged personal online interview
- Portfolio
- Not required
- Assessment
- 100% coursework. No exams.
- Intake
- October [YEAR]
Four things that make this different
Four differences
- 01
Hands-on learning
You will not write essays about brands. You will audit a real one, plan its range, design its store, build its client programme and defend the whole thing to a panel of people who do this for a living.
- 02
Industry is your faculty
Recent masterclasses, industry visits and professional juries bring practising leaders into the learning process. Students encounter current perspectives from across luxury, retail, communications, commerce and entrepreneurship.
- 03
Launch a brand while you study
If you came here to start something, the programme is built to let you. Your final business project can be your own venture — validated, sourced, costed, modelled and pitched to investors before you graduate.
- 04
Travel and learn across India, Dubai and Milan
Take a study term at FAD Dubai or other partner schools in Italy. Join the Europe tour across London, Milan and Paris. The industry is global; your education should be.
Industry is your faculty
Recent industry masterclasses held at FAD
- Megha MalagatiFormer Managing Director, Hermès India
- Karthick PalanisamyBusiness & Client Experience Leader, Louis Vuitton
- Grace KhourySenior Vice President, Fashion, Chalhoub Group
- Sharukh Bezan KaradiaBoutique Manager, Bottega Veneta
- Giulio Dal DossoOperations & Finance Director, Hugo Boss
- Rochelle PintoHead of Editorial Content, Vogue India
- Zoha CastelinoFormer Fashion Director, Elle India
- Altaf KhanGeneral Manager, Training, Reliance Brands
- Carlo D'AmarioCo-founder & Chief Executive, Vivienne Westwood
- Angelica De GuglielmoFounder, ADG Showroom
- Anaita Shroff AdajaniaFashion Stylist & Creative Director
A masterclass here is a working session. Speakers are held to forty minutes before students start doing. A PR head arrives the week students are writing press materials, and corrects their pitch notes in the room. A buyer walks a real range plan the week they are building one. A boutique director comes the week they are designing store operations.
And the room comes to you. Ten industry visits across the year — a luxury flagship and its back-of-house, a mall and mass retail on the same day, a brand head office, a marketplace platform, a sourcing unit, a PR house, a creative agency, a production studio, a D2C startup. Every visit carries a brief before and a deliverable within forty-eight hours.
Four industry projects. Two live clients. Build your own brand or seek placement.
Four projects · two live clients
Nothing here is written twice. Every assignment is a chapter of a larger project, so the work compounds instead of repeating.
The Marketing & Commerce Plan
A twelve-month plan for a real brand — including a live campaign you build, run and report on with measured results.
The Communications & Content Plan
A full communications plan with press materials, a media list of named journalists, and content you produce and deliver.
The Luxury Brand & Retail Strategy
Brand audit, assortment, visual merchandising, store operations and a clienteling programme for a luxury house in India.
The Business Plan
A fundable plan with technical specifications, real supplier quotes, a working financial model and a live investor pitch.
Twelve sectors
Every student works a different sector for each project — drawn from twelve categories across luxury, fashion, accessories and adjacent sectors. Fine jewellery. Watches. Bridal and occasion. Handloom and craft. Footwear. Beauty. Fragrance. Across the year you cover four. Across the cohort, all twelve.
Two live client briefs
Real brands. Real problems. Real deadlines. Judged by industry panels who are asked not to be kind.
Internships & placements
Access to internships and placements with some of the biggest names in luxury and fashion through FAD International Academy’s industry connect.
Entrepreneurship
Launch a fashion business or a brand while you study
Some people arrive knowing they want to build something. The programme is built to let them.
Fashion Entrepreneurship is a core specialisation, not an elective. Every student takes it. You will validate an opportunity with real customer conversations, develop a product range and technical specifications, find and negotiate with actual suppliers, calculate your landed cost, build a full financial model, choose your route to market, and understand what you need to register and protect.
Your final business project can be your own venture. Not a hypothetical brand — yours. And it ends with a pitch, live, to a panel of investors, founders and buyers.
For students taking over a family business, the same route applies: bring the business, work on it all year, leave with a plan you can act on.
- Validation evidence from real customer conversations
- A product range with technical specifications
- Five vetted suppliers approached
- A landed cost sheet
- A three-year financial model
- A go-to-market plan
- A funding ask
- A pitch you have delivered under challenge
Travel and learn across India, Dubai and Milan
Dubai · Milan · Europe
Dubai — a study term in the Gulf’s luxury capital
Take your second semester at FAD Dubai, choosing Luxury Brand Management or Fashion Entrepreneurship. Six months from February, or three months from June. Regional houses, the mall ecosystem and a luxury retail market operating at a scale India has not yet reached. Because the marketing and communications terms are completed in India first, nothing is repeated. You take the Dubai term instead of the India one, not in addition to it.
Milan — study in the fashion capital of the world
FAD students may take a three-month semester in Milan at Milano Fashion Institute. MFI was founded by the leading institutions of Milan and operates under the governance of Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana — the body behind Milan Fashion Week.
The FAD Europe Tour
London. Milan. Paris. Fashion events, private atelier visits, showroom and exhibition access, and guest lectures at leading European fashion universities.
And beyond
FAD International Academy’s Creative Universities Application Centre supports applications to over forty international universities for further study, with visiting faculty from partner institutions on campus through the year.
What you study
Curriculum
Fashion Foundation — four weeks
No fashion background needed. We build it in four weeks. Cross-department learning with an introduction to fashion, luxury, styling and the business of fashion.
Core Business
Reading a profit and loss statement. Retail, brand management and brand codes. Consumer research you conduct yourself.
Luxury Brand Management
Brand strategy and portfolio. Consumer behaviour in luxury. Fashion buying and product selection. Visual merchandising and retail space. Store operations and retail leadership. Client experience and clienteling.
Fashion Marketing & Digital Commerce
Marketing strategy and campaign planning. Running live campaigns with real budget. E-commerce and marketplace operations. Customer retention. Reading the numbers and reporting them.
Fashion Communications & Content
Communications strategy and media relations. Content strategy. Producing and directing a shoot. Social media management. Influencer partnerships. Events and activations.
Fashion Entrepreneurship
Business model and validation. Product development and sourcing. Costing, pricing and financial modelling. Route to market. Funding, legal and compliance.
Every student studies all four specialisations. You don’t choose at twenty-two. You find your direction through your projects, your placements and your final work — after you have tried each area rather than before.
Should you do this, an MBA, or a fashion design course?
How this compares
| This programme | General MBA | Fashion design course | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you learn | Luxury, brand, marketing, retail, communications, entrepreneurship — all applied to fashion | General management theory across sectors | Design, pattern, construction, collection development |
| Who teaches | Practising senior industry professionals | Academics working from case studies | Designers and technicians |
| Duration | One year | Two years | One to four years |
| Entry | Any graduate. No portfolio, no entrance exam. | Entrance exam, often work experience | Portfolio usually required |
| Assessment | 100% coursework, no exams | Exams and coursework | Portfolio and collections |
| You leave with | Four industry projects, two live client briefs, three project internships | A degree and case-study experience | A collection and a portfolio |
| Leads to | Brand, marketing, retail leadership, communications, clienteling, founder | Broad corporate roles; fashion possible but not direct | Designer, product developer |
| Study abroad | Dubai term · Milan progression · Europe tour | Depends on institution | Depends on institution |
When an MBA is the better choice
If you want a broad corporate career with fashion as one possible sector, or you are targeting consulting, finance or a large-conglomerate management track. It is longer, more general and more expensive — and for those goals, right.
When a fashion design course is the better choice
If you want to make the product. Design and business are different careers, and this programme does not train designers.
When this is the better choice
If you want to work in fashion and luxury on the commercial side, within a year, with the industry in the room while you learn.
Where this takes you
Outcomes
- Luxury brand
- Brand executive · category and product marketing · trade marketing
- Client-facing luxury
- Client advisor · clienteling · boutique management · retail leadership
- Marketing & growth
- Marketing executive · campaign management · growth
- E-commerce
- E-commerce executive · marketplace and category management
- Communications & content
- Communications executive · PR account executive · content and social · influencer marketing · events
- Visual merchandising
- Visual merchandiser · retail experience
- Founder
- Launching a label · joining an early-stage brand · taking on a family business
What this programme does not do
It does not train buyers, merchandisers or demand planners. Those roles in India recruit through different pipelines and screen differently. Fashion Buying is taught here so you can work well with a buying team, not to prepare you for a buyer’s career.
We would rather tell you that now than have you discover it in your final term.
Since 2007
Twenty years in this industry
FAD International Academy has been teaching fashion in India since 2007, across campuses in Mumbai, Pune and Dubai, with a campus in Delhi to follow.
In an industry built on heritage, that matters. The mentor network, the placement relationships, the alumni working inside the houses our students want to join — none of that is assembled quickly. It is over two decades of regional and global engagement with leading fashion and luxury brands.
Certification
ATHE UK & FAD International Academy
PG in Luxury Brand Management & Fashion Business awarded by ATHE UK & FAD International Academy. Assessment is 100% coursework. There are no examinations.
- Foundation
- 01
- Specialisation modules
- 02
- Live briefs and project internships
- 03
- Final project
- 04
- Internship and professional practice
- 05
Every submission is judged against a single question: would a brand, a retailer or an investor act on this?
How to apply
Admissions
Eligibility
A bachelor’s degree in any discipline, or a two or three-year diploma. Applicants with professional experience or a demonstrated interest in fashion, luxury or retail are also considered.
No fashion background. No portfolio. No entrance exams. Your passion and a personal interview.
- 1. Apply onlineA short form — your background and what you want to build10 minutes
- 2. Admissions conversationA call about your goals and whether this is the right fit20 minutes
- 3. InterviewWith a member of the programme team30 minutes
- 4. DecisionOffer, waitlist or feedbackWithin [X] working days
- 5. Confirm your placeDeposit and enrolment—
Enquire
Speak to admissions about this programme.
Request the prospectus, a campus visit or an admissions conversation about the October intake.
Frequently asked questions
FAQ
- What is the PG in Luxury Brand Management & Fashion Business?
- A one-year postgraduate programme at FAD International Academy in Mumbai, Pune and Delhi, covering four specialisations — Luxury Brand Management, Fashion Marketing & Digital Commerce, Fashion Communications & Content, and Fashion Entrepreneurship. It runs from October to July with 600 guided learning hours plus 150 hours of masterclasses, visits and project internships. The PG in Luxury Brand Management & Fashion Business is awarded by ATHE UK & FAD International Academy.
- Do I need a fashion background?
- No. The programme opens with a mandatory four-week Fashion Foundation covering garment literacy, textiles, the industry map and commercial fundamentals. Most students enter from commerce, arts, engineering, hospitality and management.
- Can I start my own brand during the course?
- Yes. Fashion Entrepreneurship is a core specialisation taken by every student, and your final business project can be your own venture — validated with real customers, sourced from real suppliers, costed, financially modelled and pitched live to investors before you graduate.
- Do I have to choose a specialisation?
- No. Every student studies all four. You find your direction later, through your final project, your project internships and your six-week industry internship — after trying each area rather than before.
- Is this better than an MBA for working in luxury?
- It depends on your goal. An MBA is broader, longer and more general, suited to corporate careers across sectors. This programme is specific to fashion and luxury commerce, takes one year, and puts you in front of the industry while you study. If you want a broad corporate career, an MBA is the better route. If you want to work in luxury within a year, this is.
- Who actually teaches?
- Practising senior industry professionals. The masterclass and mentor network includes leaders from Hermès India, Louis Vuitton, Bottega Veneta, Chalhoub Group, Hugo Boss, Vogue India, Elle India, Reliance Brands and Vivienne Westwood.
- Can I study abroad?
- Yes. You can take a study term at FAD Dubai — six months from February or three months from June — progress to Milano Fashion Institute for a semester and join the Europe tour across London, Milan and Paris.
- Are there exams?
- No. Assessment is entirely coursework: four major industry projects, two live client briefs, three project internships, a final project and an internship.
- What jobs does this lead to?
- Brand executive, marketing executive, e-commerce and marketplace roles, communications and PR, content and social, influencer marketing, events, visual merchandising, client advisor and clienteling roles, retail management, and founder routes.
- Where are the campuses?
- Mumbai, Pune and Delhi, with FAD Dubai for the study-abroad term.
- When does it start?
- October and February.
Last updated August 2026