A foot in the fashion industry

Today, the fashion industry is so overwhelmed with talents from all over the world that for some, breaking in to the industry is discouraging.

One of the best ways to get your foot in the door is through education. Although one can argue and claim that celebrities-turned-fashion designers are snagging up many jobs in the fashion industry, majority of big time fashion designers have some type of fashion educational background.

Parsons School of Design, FIDM, FIT, and The Art Institutes are some popular fashion schools in the United States. These, of course, all have a juicy price tag.

“You don’t always have to start off at those big schools though,” says Marissa Sway, a FIDM graduate. “My younger sister goes to Santa Monica College and is transferring when she’s done there. She interned at Vogue in New York over the summer, and it’s the experience that counts at the end of the day.”
Most likely, the fashion internships won’t teach students how to design so “make sure you have some skills on paper on top of your in life experiences,” said Sway.

Apart from education and internships, a good way to break in to the fashion industry is by networking. If you live in a fashion city like Los Angeles, New York or even Vegas, there are plenty of events to attend throughout the year. Of course the peak time in the fashion world is during fashion week. Recently wrapping up fashion week (also known as Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week) in New York and preparing for the London fashion week, New York City has been buzzing with opportunities for aspiring fashionistas throughout the month of September.

Angela Jay, part time employee at Michael Kors, flew to New York for this event.
“My friend is a fashion designer and she had all these invitations to different fashion shows. It’s so amazing to see how many people are fashion interested other than designers and models,” said Jay. “The fashion in New York is so different from the one in LA. Way more live and people dares to wear funkier stuff out there.”

Whether you take the educational route or the networking one, make sure you always have a nice portfolio/resume available to present at any time. You never know when you’ll bump in to Donatella Versace on Rodeo Drive or Michael Kors in Times Square.