Q & A with a future fashion student...

While I am not an industry professional with years of experience behind me, I am at a point where I can offer advice about what it is like to study fashion and marketing in a college setting. More recently I have received a few questions from people still in high school trying to decide what to do after they graduate.

I decided to answer these questions as a post on this blog (even though my audience is a class of college students and professor) so that I can get your feedback on whether my answers are sufficient. Have I included enough detail in my answers? Would they have helped you when you were back in high school? Would you add anything?

What led you to decide you wanted a future in the fashion industry?

I knew I wanted to work in the fashion industry before I started high school. I was obsessed with fashion advertising campaigns and was always drawing my own women's clothing designs (even though they were pretty awful). I didn't realize the number of fashion jobs that were out there in this industry until my senior year, maybe even my freshmen year of college. I decided that marketing in the industry was for me as soon as I started taking a few marketing courses instead of all merchandising courses. It is really important to try out courses in a few different departments in college as soon as possible so that you become sure you are in the major that is right for you.

How did you learn about the fashion industry?

My high school didn't offer any fashion courses, so I spent a lot of time reading fashion magazines, Teen Vogue, Vogue, and Lucky.


*Image Credit: http://ingenyfashion.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/

I kept up with each fashion week season by watching the shows on Style.com, and following DailyFrontRow. I watched Project Runway, The Hills (to gain insight on LC's experience as a Teen Vogue intern), The City, What Not to Wear, America's Next Top Model, Make Me A Supermodel, and Running in Heels (show about Marie Claire interns).

In addition, I kept a serious tear-sheet binder. A tear sheet is a fancier name for page ripped out of a magazine (haha). I didn't even know the tear sheet thing until my first college fashion course teacher told us to bring in 10 tear sheets that represent the trends of the season. Now, my binder wasn't too organized so if I am going to suggest getting a tear sheet binder together (for inspiration/reference sake), I would say to make sure to label each tear with the designer/brand, year, season, and what magazine you found it it. By labeling, you will start to remember who designed what and when (in case it was from a spread and not from an ad with the designer's name across it), as you look through your book every now and then.

It is extremely important to have a knowledge database of designers and what they do each season if you would like to go into the industry. It is just expected of you.

Later in college I learned about WWD. It is pretty much the bible of the fashion industry. It costs a bit to subscribe on your own, but I'm telling you, it is worth it if you read it at least once a week (luckily Columbia College Chicago has a subscription for their students to access free!). A few other great websites that I started following in college are JCReport and FashionWireDaily.

Do you know anywhere kids can send in clothing designs?

I am not sure of any places that kids can send in clothing designs, but there is this great website that one of my new friends designed called WouldYouRockThis where you can upload your fashion illustrations and have them critiqued (and maybe even get yourself noticed). You may also want to look into some summer programs at the various fashion schools as they offer a mini-college experience and great insight into what exactly you will be focusing on for your 4+ years of post-secondary education; eg Studio 101, Camp FIDM , High School Summer Institute, Pre-College Academy, etc.



What are the most important things you've learned in college?

The things that I learned in college that helped me the most were not so much the actual technical fashiony things. The important things I learned were more about selling yourself and taking advantage of opportunities. Figuring out what your skill-set is and making sure key people recognize you for those things. When you get to college, you need to think of your peers not as competitors, but as the beginning of the network that can may be connected to the people that could help you find a job one day. You need to seek out any and all opportunities that relate to your interests and keep a record of what you participate in (so when you work on your resume, you don't forget anything).

You will learn everything in your courses that you need with time. The big thing is to ALWAYS do the best that you can. Even if it is the first assignment of an intro class, you still may be able to use it for your portfolio if you do a good enough job... and that teacher will remember you. Realize that there will always be slackers in your classes. There will always, always be people that say, "Oh, that project was stupid. I did it this morning before class." Do not be one of those people. Put your full effort into your work and it will push you to the front of the crowd.

What kind of classes do you take when studying fashion majors?

Here are some classes you may take if you are interested in studying fashion design.
Here are some classes you may take if you are interested in studying fashion marketing.
Here are some classes you may take if you are interested in studying fashion merchandising.