Launching Your Career in Fashion

Are you one who always has a pulled-together look, or at least one that is interesting? Maybe you are always are ahead of the pack when it comes to the latest trend, or maybe you set the trends yourself. Perhaps you already make and design your own clothes or have a knack for accessorizing. You might even already have a following on social media as a fashion influencer, even to a small degree. If you want to go into fashion professionally, there are several steps that can get you closer to your dream. This is not an easy to field to break into, but with passion, perseverance and the right talent and experience, you can rise to the top.

Choose Your Focus

Making a decision about what you want to do in fashion does not have to be your first step, but you should start thinking about it because the other choices you make will be affected by what you specifically want your concentration to be. Your focus might be public relations, design, marketing, photography, merchandising or any one of a number of other concentrations. Once you get started in school, you may get exposure to a wider number of opportunities and be better able to make this choice.

Get Your Degree

Even if you've already found some level of success as an influencer online, it's a good idea to get your degree. You can learn a great deal that is valuable and make connections. You may also need to have the degree to get into some jobs. You may want to pursue a degree in fashion merchandising or fashion design. Grants and scholarships as well as loans are available to help you pay for college. While federal aid is available, it is often not enough to cover all of your expenses. You can also take out loans from a private lender that you can repay after graduation. The process of applying and finding out whether you are eligible is usually a quick one.

As a student, you should take advantage of the resources that are available to you. Talk to your professors and join any professional organizations that you have access to. If you have the opportunity to attend any fashion-related conferences, seminars or events online or in person, you should take them.

Get Experience

You should get as much experience as you can. While you are in college, you should try to get an internship. These tend to be competitive, and it might not be feasible for you to take low-paid or unpaid internships. If you can't get one, any experience, including retail work, can be helpful.

Develop Other Skills

To be successful in the fashion industry, you should be creative and good at communication. You should also be artistic and have good decision-making skills. You should work on your computer skills as well. You will need to stay on top of industry trends, but if you are already passionate about fashion you probably do this anyway. The fashion industry is small and close-knit, and because of this, good networking skills will also be very important. Your peers, professors and any alumni connections are good places to start.