Luxury houses launching training schemes

The luxury market is one booming right now with a seemingly insatiable consumer demand for high end goods from accessories to modern haute couture. So with executive insiders noticing the boom, suddenly we are seeing a series of

programmes being launched to train managers for the specialist sector. Beyond programmes in business schools and colleges, fashion houses are now following suit.

So leading luxury group, LVMH, have launched LVMH House as an education institute designed to develop internal networks and initiatives between global management teams.

Whilst London College of Fashion has announced it will launch its first EMBA in September 2012 to give those in the fashion industry wider knowledge and experience across fields including buying, design and PR.

According to executives, these schemes are being launched in a bid to bridge the gap between creative and commercial divisions in luxury companies, where lack of communication is causing problems.

Other new courses starting are also for students learning from the ground up, including the design and marketing of luxury products a joint course for students of the Columbia MBA programme and Parsons School of Design in New York. The class encourages integration between the two disciplines, with students working together on projects for the world’s biggest brands. This year, tasks included a glossy Gucci perfume relaunch, a flagship store redesign for Louis Vuitton and an advertising campaign for Miu Miu. “We mould students into bilingual professionals while they are still in school, making them well equipped to transform creativity into profitability when they reach the working world,” says Prof Maisonrouge.

Whilst other courses are now catering for those already in employment; The Berlin School of Creative Leadership offers a flexible MBA aimed at those beyond entry level. The programme helps students to use existing skills with a commercially driven focus.

It’s a smart move by executives looking to capitalise on a thriving market and one, which only looks set to continue.

Image: LVMH House