WHAT TO DO WITH A FASHION DEGREE
When you are about to graduate with a fashion degree, it is definitely time to start preparing yourself for your very first job in the fashion industry. On certain days you will be able to clearly see what your goals are job-wise, but there will be those days as well when you will be clueless about your future profession straight after graduating and with no experience.
But worry not, many have been in your shoes and there will still be some space for you in the fashion industry.
When you are a fashion design student you might not be that lucky to work right away with some famous names in the industry such as Cara Delevingne and Kate Moss to present your creations to the audience. People who do not really have high-profile connections like some others will have to definitely depend on their good eye for style and their good taste in order to be successful in this very competitive industry.
The knowledge that fashion graduates will get during their studies covers everything from merchandising and buying certain things for retailers to having to know about brand management and have insight into marketing topics, and also they will have the basics of design and fashion history.
Even though you might not be able to follow in the footsteps of for example Stella McCartney and her runways in London or Paris, there will still be a lot of options for you as a fashion graduate.
Becoming a Fashion designer
A dream come true for many who decide to study fashion would be pursuing a career as a fashion designer. Your main task as a fashion designer would be to design, create and manufacture your own apparel and products.
When you start following the footsteps of a fashion designer, you will most likely start as an assistant. Of course, you will first need to work on your skills and develop them and get some experience so that you can take more responsibility, along with the chance to incorporate your own ideas and designs. Opposed to this, if you are one of the people with entrepreneurial and leadership skills, you have the opportunity to start your own fashion design business and clothing line right away.
The recent interest of many fashion graduates, in terms of starting their own business, is definitely making made-to-order and custom clothes using different platforms that are available out there. The core of this fashion business is designing logos, trademarks, or having different add-ons on the ready-made blank apparel of different colors and sizes according to your customers’ needs. Made-to-order clothing manufacturers work on a small scale and with a small number of orders, where customers can be a part of this very creative process.
Work on boosting your graduate employability
There are a couple of things and steps that a fashion graduate needs to follow, first of all, there’s a need for doing some fashion internships focusing of course on design, then making a portfolio of your work, usually projects done during the graduate year, getting some experience in different parts of the fashion industry, those like marketing or working in retail and finally if you are thinking about starting your own business there are these 5 signs that you should start a clothing line that you can follow in order to start a successful business.
Your online appearance needs to be attractive since the recruiters will be checking out social media and places like LinkedIn, Instagram, or Facebook and your presence there before they decide to call you for an interview. Make sure you have a professional photo, you add your most important skills, and add your connections as well.
Besides your online appearance, your online store needs to be appealing to the customers as well, so there are some elements that would make your fashion brand store popular in the online world and they should be your guide to help you reach some new heights.
Flexibility
When it comes to your first internship try not to wait for a very long time for the right opportunity to come your way, try to be flexible and research some positions that have some relevance to your ideal position, and get some experience that will be very useful for you later on and try to learn from that experience as much as you can.
Becoming a full-time employee after being a student is not an easy transition, from time to time it can be pretty scary, but try not to be frightened of that world and be ready to venture on new adventures and get as much experience as you can for what is waiting for you in the future.
