Istituto Marangoni Miami

28 Aug 2026

upd: 28 Aug 2026

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Where Fashion School Alumni Work: Employer Networks by Industry

Fashion graduates spread across four broad destinations: luxury groups, retail and wholesale, media and communications, and businesses of their own. A fashion design school’s employer network affects which of those are realistically accessible, which is why alumni pages and advisory boards are worth reading before you apply. Istituto Marangoni Miami’s published alumni hold roles at LVMH, Bulgari Corporation of America, Kering Eyewear, and Hermes, and several have launched their own labels.

Where Do Fashion School Graduates Work?

An interesting fact – most fashion designers don’t work for fashion houses. According to BLS 2024 data:

Apparel, piece goods, and notions merchant wholesalers – 22%
Self-employed workers – 20%
Management of companies and enterprises – 16%
Apparel manufacturing – 8%
Motion picture and video industries – 5%

Median wages were highest in management of companies at $100,670 and in motion picture and video at $93,990, compared with $80,810 in apparel wholesalers and $76,810 in apparel manufacturing. Most fashion designers work in New York and California.

If you’re considering a school, keep two things in mind. Wholesale, manufacturing, and corporate roles employ far more graduates than luxury retail does, so a school’s connections to those sectors matter a lot. And with one in five designers self-employed, entrepreneurship is a normal outcome, not a fallback, as seen on Istituto Marangoni Miami’s alumni page, where several graduates have launched their own labels.

Fashion and Luxury Employers

Fashion and luxury employers hire graduates into commercial roles far more often than creative ones. The two dominant groups, LVMH and Kering, run dozens of houses between them and share corporate functions across different brands, creating openings in merchandising, buying, client relations, marketing, and product development at every house they own. Independent houses like Hermes and Chanel keep those functions in-house, so teams are smaller, and responsibilities are wider.

Istituto Marangoni Miami alumni placements include both. Edward Dickerson, a graduate of the MA in Fashion Luxury and Brand Management, works at LVMH on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Priscilla Marques, from the same program, is Omnichannel Support at Bulgari Corporation of America, working on digital and distance sales channels. Maria Serapiglia finished the BFA in Fashion Business and joined Kering Eyewear as a LATAM customer service intern. Viola Ferrero completed the Online MA and the One-Year Vocational Program in Fashion Styling, assisted at the Miami pre-owned luxury brand Capsool, and now works in Client Relations at Hermes in Italy.

Retail and E-Commerce

Retail and wholesale employ more fashion graduates than any other sector. According to BLS, apparel, piece goods, and notions merchant wholesalers account for 22% of fashion designer employment. Buying and merchandising are on the same commercial side: BLS reports a 2024 median of $79,830 for buyers and purchasing agents, close to the $80,690 median for fashion designers.

BLS notes that online channels now let designers sell directly to consumers without a physical store, and that retailers advertising and selling directly have accelerated demand for new designs. Glam Observer’s analysis of 1,117 luxury and fashion listings in early 2026 found digital commerce and retail operations among the most in-demand functions.

Istituto Marangoni Miami’s published retail collaborations include Saks Fifth Avenue and Perry Ellis, among others. Priscilla Marques, an MA graduate, works in Omnichannel Support at Bulgari Corporation of America, developing digital and distance sales channels.

Media, Marketing and Communications

Fashion media and communications include graduates in roles that never touch a garment. BLS reports a 2024 median salary of $69,780 for public relations specialists, with employment projected to grow 5% through 2034, which is faster than the 2% projected for fashion designers. Entertainment is a documented destination, too: the motion picture and video industries account for 5% of fashion designer employment and pay a median of $93,990, the second-highest of any sector in the occupation.

Istituto Marangoni Miami’s own network runs deep here. Sofía Agostini, from the first cohort of master’s graduates, works as an independent fashion journalist, has contributed to the Vogue Mexico encyclopedia Raíces de la Moda, has written for Vanity Fair Spain and DNA Magazine, and has published her dissertation in Fashion Studies Journal. She now teaches Research Methods at the school.

The International Advisory Board includes Eva Hughes, former Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Mexico and LatAm; Kelly Talamas, creative director for Vogue Mexico and Vogue Latin America; Valerie Mattos, editor of Vogue Colombia; and Miguel Enamorado, Fashion Director of Interview Magazine.

Beauty, Lifestyle and Related Industries

Fashion training transfers because the underlying skills are commercial and visual. O*NET maps fashion design to related work, including interior designers, graphic designers, jewelers, and merchandise displayers. Interior design alone accounted for about 87,100 jobs in 2024, with a median salary of $63,490.

Beauty is a bigger employer than it may seem. Most fashion houses license their fragrance and cosmetics lines to specialist companies, so a graduate targeting beauty applies to the licensee rather than the house itself. LVMH is the main exception, running perfumes and cosmetics as one of its six business sectors. Transfer isn’t automatic either: beauty product development runs on formulation and testing, so it hires chemists where fashion hires designers.

Hospitality also has a use for fashion graduates, but on the brand side, not in operations. Fashion houses now run hotels directly, from Armani Hotels to The Karl Lagerfeld Macau, and specialist design houses produce hotel uniforms for clients like Claridge’s and Fairmont.

Istituto Marangoni Miami’s own connections show it too: collaborations with Tiffany & Co. and Hublot in jewelry and watches, Ferrari Design in automotive, and Miami Swim Week in events. Its International Advisory Board includes Rosa Tous of TOUS Jewelry and Edgardo Osorio, founder of footwear house Aquazzura.

Technology and Digital Fashion

Digital skills are now a baseline requirement, not a bonus. NACE’s Job Outlook 2026 Spring Update, surveyed February to March 2026, found more than a third of entry-level jobs require AI skills, and nearly 60% of employers said they assign interns projects using AI tools.

O*NET lists Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign as in-demand for fashion designers alongside CAD packages, and BLS notes that CAD lets designers test designs on virtual models before committing fabric. E-commerce changed distribution, too: BLS points out that online channels allow designers to sell directly to consumers without a physical store.

Glam Observer’s analysis of 1,117 luxury and fashion listings in early 2026 put digital commerce and business analytics among the most in-demand functions. Istituto Marangoni Miami teaches this side through its Online MA in Digital Communication and Social Media Strategy.

What an Employer Network Tells You About a Fashion School

A logo on a partnerships page doesn’t tell much on its own. What matters is what the relationship produces. If you’re not sure what’s real and what isn’t, here’s a four-question test:

Does the connection produce placements or only projects? A brand that hosts interns is worth more than one that judges a competition. Schools rarely distinguish between the two, so check if named alumni actually work at the listed companies.
Who sits on the advisory board, and what do they do now? Sitting executives and editors are a live network. For instance, Istituto Marangoni Miami’s International Advisory Board includes Oscar Feldenkreis, President and CEO of Perry Ellis International; Carlo D’Amario, CEO of Vivienne Westwood; and Wen Zhou, CEO of 3.1 Phillip Lim.
Is the network relevant to your track? A board full of designers helps a design student more than a business student.
How do students actually get access? Career days, on-campus recruitment, and direct employer postings are valuable working mechanisms.

How to Evaluate a Fashion School's Alumni and Employer Network

No need to guess or rely on vague standards, since the federal government has already written the checklist. In 2021, the FTC issued a Notice of Penalty Offenses Concerning Education to 70 for-profit colleges and vocational schools, listing seven claims it has found deceptive or unfair. Turn each into a question, and you have your test:

Employment prospects. Does the school describe how easily graduates find work, or show what share actually did?
Percentage employed. Is a placement rate stated with its denominator and reporting period, or is it a bare percentage on a homepage?
Field of employment. Is in-field employment reported separately from overall employment?
Earnings. Are salary figures attributed to a source like the BLS, or presented as what graduates “can” earn?
Job placement assistance. Are the services described concretely (advising sessions, career days, employer postings) or in adjectives?

Ask if alumni listed as outcomes hold current roles at named employers, and check how much of the data the school verified in writing rather than by phone.

NACE’s First-Destination Survey standards set 65% as the minimum share of graduates whose destination an institution should actually know.

Where Istituto Marangoni Miami Graduates Can Build Careers

Our published alumni outcomes fall into four groups:

Luxury houses and groups. Edward Dickerson, MA in Fashion Luxury and Brand Management, works at LVMH on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Priscilla Marques, from the same program, is Omnichannel Support at Bulgari Corporation of America. Maria Serapiglia, BFA in Fashion Business, joined Kering Eyewear as a LATAM customer service intern. Viola Ferrero works in Client Relations at Hermes in Italy.
Their own businesses. Clark Rosen launched SAMMY Menswear, with placements at Soho House and The Standard. Karla Urdaneta founded the label BLZE. Michael Acierno launched Acierno. Sebastian Grey won Project Runway and runs stores in Cali and Medellín.
Media and communications. Sofía Agostini writes for Vanity Fair Spain and DNA Magazine and has contributed to Vogue Mexico’s Raíces de la Moda.
Freelance and education. Nicole Leave works as a freelance stylist on commercials, editorials, and runway shows, and now teaches at the school as an adjunct professor. Alessandra Belloso graduated from the Master’s in Fashion and Luxury Brand Management and is now the Assistant Director of Marketing at Istituto Marangoni Miami.

FAQ

Where do fashion school graduates work?

Mostly outside fashion houses: BLS reports that 22% of fashion designers work for apparel wholesalers, 20% are self-employed, 16% are in company management, 8% are in apparel manufacturing, and 5% are in motion picture and video.

What industries hire fashion graduates?

Fashion graduate programs help people to get a job at wholesale, retail and e-commerce, luxury groups and independent houses, media and communications, and adjacent fields including interiors, jewelry, watches, and events.

Which fashion schools have strong employer networks?

There's no official ranking. Judge it yourself by checking if named alumni hold current roles at the employers a school lists, who sit on its advisory board, and what they do now, and if the school runs concrete access mechanisms like career days and direct employer postings.

Do fashion school alumni work for luxury brands?

Some of them do, but not all. Istituto Marangoni Miami's published alumni hold roles at LVMH, Bulgari Corporation of America, Kering Eyewear, and Hermes, but many graduates have also founded their own businesses.

What jobs can you get after fashion school?

Design and product development, merchandising and buying, client relations and retail management, marketing and communications, styling, and interior design.

CONTACT

1.305.555.5555

miami@immiami.edu

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