World renowned London College of Fashion (LCF), the only college in the UK to specialise in fashion education, in association with Big On Learning FZ LLC is holding its third installment of its Short Courses at the Pullman Dubai Mall of the Emirates Hotel between the 13th - 27th May 2011. Its team of UK based tutors will be travelling to the city to teach the 12 different courses.

Providing an international level of support and education, the Dubai Short Courses will assist in boosting the level of fashion education in the region by allowing students to interact with tutors who are celebrated fashion authors, designers, brand owners, strategists, journalists, brand managers and marketers.

High profile tutors include designer Richard Sorger, whose collection is carried in Harvey Nichols, international bestselling author of ‘How to Set up & Run a Fashion Label,’ Toby Meadows and renowned fashion journalist Paul Tierney who has written for some of the biggest fashion publications in the world including French Vogue and Vogue Hommes International as well as leading British broadsheets The Independent and the Evening Standard.

“We’ve had an overwhelming level of interest for our Dubai Short Courses since our pilot programme in May last year and the second round of courses held in October. The cross section of students has been very interesting with an excellent balance between expats and locals signing up for the various courses on offer. It is encouraging to see such a keen interest in fashion in the Middle East, and due to this increasing demand for skill development we are back in May for another installment.

“Over the past two programmes we have refined the courses on offer based on interest and demand in order to provide a more tailored schedule of courses. We are getting increasing interest from larger corporations as our courses offer and support development opportunities for staff, and we are happy to discuss customised workshops for these groups, ” said Linda Roberts, Senior Business Manager at London College of Fashion.

The 12 courses on offer for the May 2011 programme cover the full spectrum of fashion education:

*      The Essentials of the Fashion Industry (2 Days)
*      Principles of Fashion Styling (4 Days)
*      Fashion Media Workshop (3 Days)
*      Online Fashion Marketing and Social Media (1 Day)
*      Retail Branding, Promotions and Visual Merchandising (3 Days)
*      Fashion Marketing and Branding (3 Days)
*      Luxury Brand Management and Product Design (5 Days)
*      Fashion Design (4 Days)
*      Starting Your Own Fashion Label (4 Days)
*      Managing Your Own Shoes or Accessories Business (4 Days)
*      Fashion Buying and Merchandising 1 (3 Days)
*      Fashion Buying and Merchandising 2 (3 Days)

“The courses cater to a range of different needs and divisions within the fashion industry. For example our Online Fashion Marketing and Social Media course provides an insight into the burgeoning digital platforms, which are becoming an incredibly powerful tool for all businesses. Based on our research and feedback from the region, Dubai is the second most active city for visiting our social media platforms, and this demonstrates how important these mediums are. The community in the Middle East is becoming increasingly more tech-savvy and shows us that a course related to online will be beneficial to regional students.”

LCF is also offering a discounted rate for students up to the 1st April, with an ‘early bird’ rate on all of the courses. The college is looking for partnerships with local brands and organizations in order to develop a wider support base for its courses in the region as well as align with complementary brands to increase awareness around its educational initiative.

The College is associated with some of the world’s superstar designers and fashion gurus through its alumni such as Harold Tillman, owner of iconic British label Jaeger, and visiting lecturers such as Jimmy Choo, Tom Ford and Donatella Versace.