There is so much more to fashion than just wearing this seasons colours and styles. In fact, some of the most creative jobs in the world are based in fashion, and it’s not all fashion design either. If you think about the broad range of fashion brands, everything from punk/goth clothing to premium and luxury, there is something to suit your taste too.
From shop floor to office, let’s take a look at the possibilities:
If you are a dab hand at the digital, specifically Photoshop, then you might be interested in freelance retouching. You will be required to hit really tight deadlines, work with the head of photography and likely the head of retouching too. The standards will be very high for this. What will you be retouching?
- Smoothing out clothing
- Blemishes
- Colour matching and swapping
- Lighting
- Duplicating
- Airbrushing
Window dressing. If you like to get hands-on, then this one might be right up your street. Once a brand has had the shopfitters in, and they have designed the shop floor to perfection, it’s the turn of the visual merchandisers. This isn’t difficult to get into, but it is difficult to be good at. A couple of skills you’ll need:
- Creativity and Imagination
- Attention to detail
- Design skills to create the products displays
- IT skills or Tech drawing skills – to mockup your ideas
Starting off in your local stores is a great idea, because if you’ve ever seen the luxurious displays in stores like Harrods, Selfridges and Tiffany & Co’s then you know there are places to aim for. This is also a great jumping off point for a photographic stylist, exhibition designers and interior designers.
Photo by Kris Atomic on Unsplash
For the writers amongst us, Fashion Copywriter. Every fashion brand will need someone who a genius at creating engaging and accurate copy. There is also the option to work in magazines, online media outlets, and even your own blog. What do you need?
- Some writing experience in a similar field would be an advantage
- Deep Fashion knowledge
- Keen attention to detail (self-editing might be required)
- Great at sticking to deadlines
- Excellent grammar and spelling
Similar to the job above, you might start out small, say a blog, and work with fashion brands producing content, and eventually end up writing in Vogue.
Fashion Stylist. You will be working with the art director and photographer to produce a look that is suitable for the magazine or brand that it is being shot for. You will be working with many different fashion brands to bring a look together, have a great relationship with many media organisations for work purposes and in general be very sociable. A couple of other options would be:
- Personal stylist
- Catwalk Styling
- Still Life
- Product
The skills you will be needing are:
- An eye for visuals – what works what doesn’t.
- Commercial awareness – what is on trend right now
- Working solo or as a team
- Knowledge of photography and lighting
Fashion Public Relations. Although they have super glam appeal, this is a role that carries a lot of responsibility and is very fast-paced. You will need to have highly maintained relationships with multiple fashion brands, a lot of retailers, many media outlets as well as influencers and bloggers. A couple of the main skills you are going to need are:
- Research skills – who, what, where, price, brand
- Writing – you will be writing engaging content that gets everyone talking
- Communication – confidence and keen listening is vital here
- Global thinking – because fashion is global, and never sleeps.
- Creativity – producing fresh takes on everything.
Fashion Designer. This one was, of course, going to be on the list, as the highest profile role in the fashion industry, it would be a crime to leave it off. Fashion designers can work in any area they would like to specialise in.
- Clothing
- Shoes
- Bags
- Children’s wear
Those are just a couple of options when it comes to specialisms, and what comes next changes it up again. You can opt for:
- Large retail brands,
- Luxury label
- Boutique Brands
- Own Fashion House
- Freelancer
The fashion designer role is a powerful but hard position to hold. A couple of the skills you’re going to need are:
- Great eye for textures, colours and shapes
- Drawing skills
- Sewing and pattern cutting are advantageous
- The ability to spot coming trends, or develop your own
- Manage tight deadlines
- Work well with staff
Overall the fashion industry is brimming with opportunities to flex your creative muscles and producing beautiful things for people to wear or have around the home.
Want to learn more?
- Just starting out? CLICK HERE
- Been working in your business for two years or more? CLICK HERE
We’re here to help you to take action just like we’ve helped thousands of other entrepreneurs, business owers and creative professionals all around the globe.
Now is the time to let your passion SHINE.
Now is the time to Make Tomorrow Today!
To your success,
Vinh Van Lam & Stuart Horrex
Your Creative Coaches @ CoSydney & ArtSHINE industries
