How to Choose Your Career Path in Fashion
Written by Maya Avram.
In the new article series, “How to Choose Your Career Path in Fashion”, we share insight into different roles and functions within the wider fashion business and advice from experts across our network on how to strategise your professional journey. Explore The Glowth Academy’s courses to learn how to land your dream job in fashion and set yourself up for success in the industry.
Working in fashion and luxury is a dream for many people. Whether you are drawn to the business’s creative and artistic aspects, the magnitude of its global market share (worth $1.5 trillion, according to Statista) or its glamorous representation in pop culture (special mention to The Devil Wears Prada) — the industry is brimming with opportunities for motivated individuals who possess various and diverse skill sets.
While you are probably familiar with high-profile roles such as creative director, editor-in-chief or model/influencer, fashion is also heavily dependent on commercial and operational functions, which make up the majority of roles in the business. By mapping out your strengths and interests, you can find the best fitting role for yourself and achieve your career goals.
Starting this month, we will highlight the necessary skills required for a range of job functions available in fashion and luxury, featuring expert advice to help you plan your fashion career journey.
Marrying people skills with technical know-how, product developers are responsible for creating the product manufacturing process, overseeing things like material sourcing, patternmaking and prototyping of garments, accessories and jewellery.
In a previous Insiders Talk event, Senior Product Developer at Burberry Giulia Sciacca shared with The Glowth Academy why she decided to pursue a career in product development. “My passion was more towards the technical side of the industry rather than the creative part,” indicating her interest in garment construction and manufacturing.
“[Product development] is the perfect bridge between the designers and the ateliers, the people who make the garments, to whom I explain the sketches [and] advise on resolutions,” she said. “We share feedback, we amend the patterns and so on.” This requires subtlety and nuance, as designers can often insist on an unachievable vision. “It’s up to you to show them that what they’re asking is not feasible, so both of you can come up with an acceptable solution. That’s the most challenging thing nowadays because I have to prove myself constantly,” she added.
Success in this line of work requires a comprehensive familiarity with various materials and suppliers, as well as the design and manufacturing process. These can be taught through experience, but it is important to show your openness to learning and studious tendencies.
Indeed, soft skills are crucial for anyone considering working as a product developer, as you will have to liaise with different departments with a solution-oriented approach, which requires great sensitivity. You must also demonstrate a wide market understanding to ensure products are functional and sellable. Finally, Sciacca highlighted the importance of humility and knowing how to accept what others suggest. “There’s never one only way to get things right, there are many solutions to everyday problems.”
Moving on to more commercial-type work, fashion buyers are responsible for creating the right assortment of materials, garments or accessories for their brand or retailer. They use commercial insight deriving from trend forecasts, sales reports and consumer behaviour analyses to curate a product offering that aligns with their brand values and that caters to their consumer base’s needs and wants, whether online or in-store.
This position requires hard skills such as finance to oversee budgets, litigation to contract with suppliers, and business acumen to set sales strategies and goals. It is also a very creative role where you can express your personal taste and views on current trends, as well as very people-oriented, requiring you to liaise with different stakeholders and develop a deep understanding of your target consumer to inform your product procurement decisions.
Public relations is an umbrella term that includes many different aspects of a brand’s communications and marketing strategy. For example, it may pertains to planning exciting events that echo a brand’s ethos, or the story around a new launch or collection. These may be advertised across media channels to generate a wide audience engagement, or exclusive to selected, influential VIPs with whom the brand wants to reinforce a long-term relationship.
Elena Pintor Fernandez, Director of Client Development and Events at Louis Vuitton, shared in a recent Insiders Talk event the type of events her team organises and their objectives: “[Events] in the stores [aim] to give clients a reason to come back beyond a new collection launch or trying to sell to them… International events [are for] good clients of the company [whom] we invite to beautiful events all around the world, for example, fashion shows and sporting events that we sponsor — like Formula One.
“We [also] have high-end collections that we make very few pieces of and they’re not available in stores because it’s impossible to distribute them. These are unique pieces that we sell or show in beautiful showrooms that we create in hotels.”
These events serve the important purpose of clienteling at Louis Vuitton and require a marketing savvy that spans local markets and customer preferences. “My job is to make sure that whatever strategy we [receive] from Paris is executed in a really good consistent way throughout the local store network,” added Fernandez.
Over the next few months, we will share insight into other roles in fashion and luxury. In the meantime, head over to our wiki to learn more.
Written by Maya Avram.