Fancy getting in to the fashion industry then? Well we don't blame you, it's a profession packed full of glamour, creativity and overseas travel which would appeal to anyone. Question is, how do you get started? Of all the hundreds of jobs associated with fashion we've selected three (Stylist, Designer and Buyer) to explore further; we'll tell you the story of how people in fashion got their break, and how speaking more than one language helped them on their way.
As a stylist on TV shows, Annmarie O'Connor tells us all about her big break and how speaking French and Italian has helped her career. 'I started life as a freelance fashion writer, blogger and personal stylist. I actually got approached to work on TV as a result of one of the researchers reading my blog and liking my credentials. Since then, I've been styling fashion slots for a live magazine show which has a over a million viewers – it's a dream come true for me but it's pretty hectic. A lot of the clothes I get for the show are from high street or online retailers but when I deal with the larger fashion houses it's great to be able to speak both French and Italian. I really had to brush up on my Italian when talking to a buyer from Fendi recently and it made all the difference in getting what I wanted from them!' Find out how Gok Wan got started as a stylist too.
This is a job that's all about spotting trends and negotiating a good price to get the right clothes for your brand. About a quarter of the job is travelling around the world seeking out the cutting edge of fashion but just as important is being able to communicate with a designer or supplier who has the clothes range you want. You won't always be dealing with big multinational companies full of English speakers – you might be speaking to a small local business. A lot of fashion colleges run courses to learn about the business behind fashion, and a lot of the bigger retail brands run internships where you can become a buyer's assistant. The key to being a good buyer though is an absolute love for fashion, where you're constantly observing what's happening on the street as much as the catwalk. Want to study fashion in a cool city like Berlin? Find out more here. There are loads of courses you can try to get started in fashion - click here for more info.
Who better to illustrate how to get started as a designer than the infamous Yves Saint Laurent? This French icon's path to fashion superstardom should be an inspiration to anyone with a burning desire to get their sketched ideas into production. A fourteen-year-old Yves submitted three clothes sketches to a contest in Paris and even though he didn't win he took the opportunity to attend the ceremony and show off his designs to the assembled fashion industry. He made one particularly useful contact in Vogue magazine editor-in-chief Michel de Brunhoff. The next time Yves entered a fashion competition Brunhoff looked over the sketches and thought they were perfect designs for the Christian Dior label, going as far as to say the teenage Yves' work was of an equal standard to Dior's very own ideas! Dior hired Yves the next time they met although he made him work his way up through the ranks with mundane work before letting him loose as a full-time designer. At 21 he became head designer at the House of Dior and his first collection was a huge success catapulting him to international fame. Reckon you could be a top designer? This site has bags of info.