Fashion lovers make up a huge demographic of the population, no matter where you live or where you come from. Some people live and breathe fashion, whether that be their own personal style or their commitment to up and coming trends. In any case, sometimes a love for fashion is not enough, and you might be looking at going into a career in the fashion industry, so that you can make your dream into a reality. Unfortunately, the fashion industry is one of the most competitive, which means it can be hard to get a leg up into such a career. Luckily, if you put the work in, and are patient with where your career could be heading, you will likely start to see your career flourishing in the years to come.
Online retailer
If your love of fashion extends into providing people with great clothes to wear, then your best bet is to start your own business by creating an online store. The best thing about this is that you can start small on the side of your current job, to test the waters before making a big leap. Online stores sell anything from shoes to clothes, to accessories and swimwear, so you should think about where your true passion lies before starting on your journey. Once you have, you can think about using the right platform to set up your store with, and start marketing your products to people from all over the world.
Visual merchandiser
For many people, their first encounter with fashion was through window displays, where decadently adorned mannequins showcase the best parts of what lies in store. For many, this unleashes a creative dream to become a visual merchandiser, and to bring magic to consumers who are passing on the streets. One of the best areas to go into is denim visual merchandising, which sees edgy backdrops outperformed by the high-quality denim the store boasts.
Personal shopper
You might not want to build a career in fashion, but your biggest pleasure may come from seeing people walk away with a whole new wardrobe packed into their bags, after having help from a top personal stylist. A great way to get into this is by starting as a personal shopper, which most mainstream stores have job openings for as this side of the industry continues to grow. Here, you can help real people find their dream clothes, before working your way up to being a personal stylist for the stars.
Clothes designer
If you have excelled in art and design, and don’t know what to do with your degree, then you can put it to good use by designing your own clothes. Becoming a high-end designer is the most difficult part of the industry to make it in, but there is nothing stopping you from opening your own designing firm to help budding business owners create their own unique style. Even better, you can start your own company designing and making clothes to sell online, which giants like Etsy are excellent platforms for.
Fashion blogger
Spending your days finding the best fashion gossip and trawling through style pages might well be your idea of heaven, which means your best route into the fashion industry is starting up as a fashion blogger. The autonomy, the space to give your opinion, and the opportunity to promote some of your favorite brands are all reasons why people go into fashion blogging. Sometimes, it can lead into a career being a fashion reporter at big-name magazines, where your passion can truly come to life.
Editorial jobs
Becoming a fashion reporter is a great achievement, but there are other editorial jobs which might be a better way of you working in fashion. For example, you could be working on turning a fashion shoot into a six-page spread, or creating your own edits for online magazines. In some cases, you might be able to coordinate interviews and spreads with big names, which could help cement you as a great person to work with.
Personal assistant
Personal assistant jobs to magazine editors are hard to come by, and are often very demanding. Yet, this doesn’t mean you can’t start being an assistant to someone in a different area, such as models or photographers. A lot of being a personal assistant means being organized, and being willing to take responsibility for any mishaps that happen during your career. If you are thick skinned enough to take on a job like this, you will be able to mingle with all sorts of fashion stars.
Photographer
If you have already established yourself as a photographer in other areas, but feel as though your true passion lies within fashion, then you can try branching out into fashion photography. This means working with models on their portfolios, locations shoots, catwalk shoots, and even magazine shoots. This is a hard industry to break into, but if you have an impressive portfolio, a great reputation, and even better skills, people will be willing to snap you up for work in no time.
Social media influencer
As social media increases further in popularity, you may have seen a whole new host of social media members who are committed to promoting clothing brands and their products. A few years ago, this kind of job wouldn’t have existed, but due to the rise of affiliate marketing and Instagram models, it seems that ordinary people are finding themselves in the limelight when they become social media influencers. If you have a considerable social media following, and love to take fashionable pictures to post online, you can earn a cut of the sales you have generated for a brand. Some posts for some social media celebrities can make them thousands of dollars in the space of a few hours.
Hairstylist
Many people think that stepping into fashion means working around clothes and beauty, but hair is a big part of what makes a look flawless. Being a hair stylist to ordinary people means you get to help them achieve their own look every day, but you can also work your way up into the ranks if you have impeccable skills and an eye for detail.