Hi, I am Sean. Would you please advise me about the matter below ;
I am thinking of doing a MBA at Babson, Baruch, Fordham, Thunderbird, or GW. Which MBA school would you choose among 5 schools mentioned above if you were in my case? I have been working in fashion industry for 4 years and I am planning to work in luxury brand management field in US after pursuing a MBA. Please advise. Thanks.

Hi Sean,
there is a quite detailed discussion Baruch, Fordham you might want to read in the following thread on this board:
http://www.find-mba.com/board/2112/2 and
http://www.find-mba.com/board/2112/3

You should not take it all that seriously... but there are some interesting infos too.

Hi, I am Sean. Would you please advise me about the matter below ;
I am thinking of doing a MBA at Babson, Baruch, Fordham, Thunderbird, or GW. Which MBA school would you choose among 5 schools mentioned above if you were in my case? I have been working in fashion industry for 4 years and I am planning to work in luxury brand management field in US after pursuing a MBA. Please advise. Thanks.

If we talk about France too, I can add some info. In fact you'll find some schools offering specialized MBA in exactly the field you want to continue your career:

At ESSEC in Cergy-Pontoise you can do an MBA in International Luxury Brand Management.
Plus some other schools do so, which I haven't heard of before, such as IEMI - somebody else knows that school?

An interesting extra for you would be to study in Paris (or very near by like Cergy-Pontoise), where you have this high density of companies and activity of the fashion and luxury industry. You'll be able to make good contacts..

According to an article by the Wall Street Journal the following business schools should be considered if you want to focus on luxury brand management:

- Harvard
- NYU,
- Columbia
- HEC Paris
- the International University of Monaco
- SDA Bocconi in Italy
- IESE in Spain
- Tsinghua University in China (co-operating with HEC Paris)

However, ESSEC in Cergy-Pontoise actually seems to be the only MBA program fully devoted to (international) luxury brand management.

http://www.careerjournal.com/columnists/mbatrack/20060613-alsop.html

Also the best schools in luxury brand management are in France...

If you already know what kind of luxury goods interest you, you should take that into account too. As you will know, Switzerland is strong in high-end jewelry products, Germany and Italy are known for their luxury cars. SIMT (Stuttgart) and HHL (Leipzig) have some ties with luxury car makers such as Mercedes (DaimlerChrysler) and Porsche, which are both based in Stuttgart. Students at HHL in Leipzig (where the Porsche Cayenne is build) have done internships at Porsche, Mercedes and Audi:
http://www.hhl.de/index.php/Internship/122/0/
http://www.uni-simt.de/Career_Center.53.0.html

For everything related to fashion, France and Italy will surely offer you the best environment for an MBA in the field of luxury brand management. Italian luxury fashion brands are said to be the most highly regarded internationally.

...Switzerland is strong in high-end jewelry products...

In one word: L'Oreal.
I work in brand management and in luxury brand management (yes, both at once), and will not take an MBA because it focuses on brand management.

Any top MBA should help you land a job at the likes of L'Oreal. Look where the company recruits, this should give you an idea of which schools to target. If you're more interested in real luxury, a la couture brands etc, consider schools with good entrepreneurship programs.

In the US: Any top 10, preference for H, Columbia and Kellogg.
In Europe: Insead, LBS and IESE are where the brats hang out. ;-)

Hello, I'm not surprised by what you say. So it's better to go for a good MBA than for the one with concentration in that field, but unknown otherwise.

I'm curious, did you do an MBA to build up your career in that sector? Would you say that it's helpful to be in the fashion capitals, Paris, and Milano? (I was just wondering, because I came up with this advice)

http://www.hhl.de/index.php/Internship/122/0/
.

MODSPE Fashion School, Paris, offers a specialized MBA program in International Fashion Brand Management.

What about ESSEC's MBA in International Luxury Brand Management?

Rather than look at the traditional Management schools, if you are wanting to specialise in luxury goods management, you should definitely look at the MBA in Luxury Goods Management offered by Mod'Art International in Paris. (www.mod-art.org)
Led by former Managing Director and President of Celine for the LVMH Group Patrice de Place, the University has very strong ties with all of the Parisian Maisons and has a very strong career placement service. I heard that almost all of their 2009 graduates are now placed in a role in their desired luxury field.

Hello,

I was wondering if you had any other information about this school and it's MBA program. I'm really interested in it but not sure how the degree will translate in the US. Any info you could provide would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
Maria

SDA Bocconi in Italy has a new luxury brand program. That's probably one of the top-10 schools in Europe.

Alma Graduate School has an MBA for Design, Fashion & Luxury Goods. It's a one-year program in Bologna, Italy. I'm currently a student now. One of the biggest draws for me was the relationship the school has with many major luxury corporations (Ferrari, Bulgari, Max Mara, Tod's, etc); many of the courses are taught by managing directors of these successful firms. Plus, with the scholarships and the honor loans, it's impossible for you to NOT have the funds to attend. If there were even any comparable programs in the States, it would have still been easier for me to go to this school than have to find the outside funds to do so. Plus, I'm spending a year living in Italy in an amazing program; does it get much better than that? If you have any questions, feel free to send me a msg.

Hi,

I have been offered a place in MBA-luxury management, at International University of Monaco. Doea anyone have any idea about the job prospects for the university. Or any information about the uni, that might help me in taking the decision.

Thanks

Hi,

I believe that it's difficult to make a choice where you mix up different courses that aim to very different objectives.

Brand Management, Luxury Management, Fashion Management are NOT the same.

Which firm would you like to work in?

Did you consider working in consulting for luxury and fashion after your MBA? That would provide you with a wider persective of what you can do and with many contacts. You may understand better what path you want to pursue.

I don't think a luxury MBA is the best route for most people. Tale a look at this discussions: http://www.find-mba.com/board/20578/last/#post-20637