• Demonstrate knowledge of the key concepts and contemporary condition of fashion, lifestyle and beauty industries
• Apply analytical frameworks of the course to identify opportunities and address challenges of enterprises in this field.
• Understand and reflect critically on the theory, concepts, tools and cases covered in the course
• Develop and present a entrepreneurial venture project, a business model development project for an established entrepreneurial enterprise, or theoretical or strategic analysis of salient issues the business of fashion, lifestyle and design.

What drives fashion change? How are digital innovations like AI and social commerce reshaping consumer behavior? What role do sustainability and ethical practices play in the evolution of fashion? How do global value chains impact sourcing and production? What strategies can brands employ to navigate the rise of digital influencers and shifting consumer values? These are just a few of the critical questions explored in this course, designed to equip participants with the knowledge and skills to navigate and innovate within the dynamic fashion, lifestyle, and beauty industries.

This course introduces students to the fashion, lifestyle, and beauty industries, providing them with analytical concepts and practical knowledge to establish, develop, and understand enterprises in these fields. Students will gain skills applicable to roles such as entrepreneurs, consultants, managers, analysts, and strategists.

The course begins with an overview of the fashion, lifestyle, and beauty sectors, exploring their commonalities, distinctions, and interconnections. It examines key issues and forces driving change, including digitalization, globalization, and sustainability.

A significant focus is placed on the materiality of fashion, understanding the physical and sensory aspects of fashion products, and how these influence design, production, and consumption. The course also delves into research on fashion consumption practices, including dress and wardrobe habits, recycling and repair, the use of e-commerce and resale platforms, and engagement with influencers and co-creation of content. Students will explore how and why consumers engage with fashion, and the social, cultural, and economic factors that shape these behaviors.

Through a combination of theory, company case studies, and presentations, the course delves into entrepreneurial processes and the opportunities and challenges of developing new ventures, innovative products, sustainable business models, and strong brands within these industries.

Students will acquire conceptual tools and practical insights to address issues faced by entrepreneurs in areas such as finance, creative design and product development, sourcing and production, distribution, retailing and merchandising, sustainable management, communication, and brand building.

By the end of the course, students should be able to competently formulate, develop, or rethink business models for companies in the fashion, lifestyle, and beauty sectors. The course also aims to enhance students' understanding of strategic, ethical, and cultural issues, including diversity, equity, and inclusion, global sourcing and value chains, labor rights, and socio-economic development in the Global South.

The course draws on various disciplines, including fashion and design theory, entrepreneurship studies, business model theory, business economics, strategic brand management, consumer culture theory, and CSR and sustainability theory.

• Classic and basic theory
• New theory
• Teacher’s own research

• Development of research questions
• Data collection
• Analysis
• Discussion, critical reflection, modelling
• Students conduct independent research-like activities under supervision

The course is developed and will be offered in close collaboration with Danish and international industry associations and companies in the area of fashion, lifestyle and beauty.

It seeks to strengthen interest in fashion, lifestyle and businesses at CBS, and help facilitate and encourage student entrepreneurship, internships, projects and research on business development in fashion. 

The course partners with Copenhagen School of Entrepreneurship, providing a pathway for entrepreneurial projects beyond the course itself.   

Main textbook

Varley, R., Roncha, A., Radclyffe-Thomas, N., & Gee, L. (2024). Fashion management: A strategic approach. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Indicative further readings

Atik, D., Cavusoglu, L., Ozdamar Ertekin, Z., & Fırat, A. F. (2022). Fashion, consumer markets, and democratization. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 21(5), 1135–1148

Dahle, Nguyen-Duc, A., Steinert, M., & Reuther, K. (2020). Six Pillars of Modern Entrepreneurial Theory and How to Use Them. In Fundamentals of Software Startups (pp. 3–25). Springer International Publishing.

Donzé, P. Y., & Wubs, B. (2020). LVMH: Storytelling and organizing creativity in luxury and fashion. In European fashion (pp. 63-85). Manchester University Press

López, T., Riedler, T., Köhnen, H., & Fütterer, M. (2022). Digital value chain restructuring and labour process transformations in the fast-fashion sector: Evidence from the value chains of Zara & H&M. Global Networks (Oxford), 22(4), 684–700.

McNeill, L. S. (2018). “Fashion and women’s self-concept: a typology for self-fashioning using clothing”. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 22(1), 82-98.

Mears, Ashley, 'Fashion and Its Gendered Agendas', in Frederick F. Wherry, and Ian Woodward (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Consumption, Oxford Handbooks (2019 ed.) 413-425

Mills, C. E. (2018). “Grappling with the Challenges of Start-Up in the Designer Fashion Industry in a Small Economy: How Social Capital Articulates with Strategies in Practice”. In Creating Entrepreneurial Space: Talking Through Multi-Voices, Reflections on Emerging Debates(pp. 129-155). Emerald Publishing Limited.

Osterwalder, A. and Pigneur, Y. (2010), Business Model Generation, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hobroken, New Jersey.