Education for a Career in Fashion?

[daniellat]

you definitely need broad history knowledge as the best movies to style are the ones with a specific theme that could be futuristic like Ultraviolet or Medieval sort of like the lord of the rings but if you just want to style contemporary movies, psicology basics are a must, when the director-producer gives you the characters for the movie, as a stylist you should dress each character according to their own personality, every single detail is based on a psicological/social profile of each character.

 

[gius]

psychology.. what an interesting answer :-) thanks daniellat

 

[harleygrant]

The degree I'm doing at Central Saint Martins is called BA Womenswear, which is design. However there are also theory-based fashion courses, and London College of Fashion has a range of different ones from journalism to marketing. Try looking up fashion-specific universities, or even art schools near you if you don't want to move away.

 

[STYLEOClDE]

you definitely need broad history knowledge as the best movies to style are the ones with a specific theme that could be futuristic like Ultraviolet or Medieval sort of like the lord of the rings but if you just want to style contemporary movies, psicology basics are a must, when the director-producer gives you the characters for the movie, as a stylist you should dress each character according to their own personality, every single detail is based on a psicological/social profile of each character.

there are costume designers who study theatre/production design^ and there have also been fashion designers who've designed for movies. both will have taken some form of history studies

just an idea

Thank you so much. Yeah, I decided not to drop my Art History class. I think after you've mentioned it daniellat, I might take up some psychology courses. & I think I might take some film &video or theatre/production! You guys helped a lot.

 

[antmlover444]

I want to be a stylist and i do not know what i should look in for college and i need to start looking into colleges because i am a junior in high school. Can anyone help me?

 

[gius]

it's in this thread
All About Becoming a Fashion / Wardrobe Stylist


the search function here is very good for finding various careers in fashion. just click the dropdown menu link near the top of the page/forum and then choose "search titles" ...typing in stylist, etc. whatever you're looking for. all topics have been organised by career for easy searching
good luck!

 

[BetteT]

Just a quick answer before you go off and read the Stylists thread ... you should read it all ... the whole process is in there.

Stylists do not usually "study" anything in particular to become a stylist ... it usually happens as a result of being in the buisness and/or knowing someone who helps you get started ... and having a certain "eye" for what looks right ... and the guts to promote yourself and the business skills to keep it going.

Although, there are a lot of things you can study which will help you build a basic knowledge that can help later in your career. Anything art related ... art theory (for learning about color, shape, texture, proportion), art history, theatre and costuming, even history of any time period will help build basic knowledge about what people have worn and the influences around them that impacted fashion, plus learning how things change and yet stay the same, too. And then there are business classes ... because being a stylist requires that you are must also be a good business person. So busness math, entreprenurial studies, marketing, adverstising ... all of those skills are needs to work sucessfully as a stylist. Nothing is useless to a stylist .... it all comes into play, sooner or later.

 

[turnofflights]

what do i need to study in order to become a bookings director/editor

 

[DreamonGood]

Now .. I'm only seventeen years old. I have so many dreams .. & I TRULY would appreciate a kind answer .. of your thoughts, it would mean a lot.

I want to start something of my own in the future .. something like Bape, if you know what brand that is. You know, shirts, sweaters, jean designs. More of like a "high end street fashion" brand.

Is it better for me to get into Fashion management than Fashion design? Because with design, I have graphic designing skills down, in order for prints/shirt designs. And I guess when I build up from that, I could start finding places to make actual garments? ..
I feel like, Fashion management would set me up for the business of it all. Since I want to be my own boss .. :/.

Thanks a lot you guys, this forum is def. a help in order to get out my dreams .. ^^'


p.s,
OH. & Would Parsons or FIT fit better for me? .. Because Parsons has a DESIGN & MANAGEMENT major ..

 

[BetteT]

I think that if you plan to run your own company, then Fashion Mangement is the best choice to be a sucessful business person and actually build a brand. Many sucessful people who own lines, don't actually do the designing, but they guide the designers that they hire and busy themselves with the business of fashion. So, you can always hire people to design for you while you build the company ... you just need money to get it started ... lot's of money.

However, in the beginning, if you plan to design and actually create your own line, then studying fashion design is also important and probably comes first. You will most likely work for someone else to learn the ropes of business and maybe have to take additional classes in fashion management and all the business stuff.


It's very, very hard to do both, so I think you need to focus on what you love the most. So you want to design ... be hands on with fabric and patterns, etc.? Or do you want to run a business?

 

[DreamonGood]

First off, I'd like to thank you so much for taking your time to respond to my question. i truly appreciate it, really :').

Anyways! .. Yeah, I really want to run my own company. & I understand it's a lot of money .. I still need to figure out that. My idol, how he started, he borrowed a million "yen" (In Japan), and his friend let him borrow his store, and he blew up from there. I'll have to figure out that haha.

But yes. I'm stuck between Design or Management. You see, I want my brand to consist more of textile design? .. Print designs for shirts/sweaters/jeans, accesories, hats, backpacks etc. Something like this, (You don't have to check it out if you don't want haha) http://us.bape.com/ > SHOP.

I know Parsons offers a DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT Major .. which has both .
But I feel like if I get into Fashion Design, I will be pushed in more of designing dresses & high end stuff, which isn't really my taste ><;
I feel like management .. is the way to go?

Once again, Thank you

 

[BetteT]

There are schools that teach textile design which is about creating fabrics. You should look into that area of design if you want to design fabric ... not fashion design. We have lots' of threads about textiles and textile designs ... just search thread titles only and you'll find them. Here is one about schools for learning this: Textile Design ... Schools

If you are interested in printing designs or logos on fabric ... like on T-shirts, hoodies and bags, etc., then graphic design would be of interest to you ... which you'd most likely find in an art school.

If you plan to actually make the pants, shirts, jackets, etc. ... .then fashion design is still necessary because you need to learn to make patterns, sew them, fit them, etc. Whether it's a high end gown or a pair of cargo pants .... the process of designing and creating them are the same ... just a different aesthetic.

And if you want to be sucessful in business, then you need to learn about financing, marketing, advertising, sourcing, markups and profit and loss.

So, if you can find a school that offers some instruction in all or most of these, I'd say that would be a good start. You'd get a very basic understanding about each, and then, could further your education later in the areas that you want to concentrate in.

 

[ChampagneEtHeels]

Hi, I'm a high school senior in the Philippines. I was wondering what are good schools to apply to for fashion PR or even magazine work?

 

[BetteT]

Possiby a school that teaches Communications courses woud be releavant to both PR and publishing ... I'm not sure what they offer in the Philippines.

PR is mostly about writing, making connections with the press and creating buzz along with creating some events. Publishing can be about writing, or graphic arts, or styling ... all of which are vastly different lines of work. So you need to hone down on what specifically you would like to do and then decide what education would be needed.

To learn more, we have threads ... just use the search this forum tool and specify "thread titles" ... keywords: Public Relations (not "PR" because our search enging does not recognize words that are few than 4 letters), Publishing, Magazines.

 

[ChampagneEtHeels]

Possiby a school that teaches Communications courses woud be releavant to both PR and publishing ... I'm not sure what they offer in the Philippines.

PR is mostly about writing, making connections with the press and creating buzz along with creating some events. Publishing can be about writing, or graphic arts, or styling ... all of which are vastly different lines of work. So you need to hone down on what specifically you would like to do and then decide what education would be needed.

To learn more, we have threads ... just use the search this forum tool and specify "thread titles" ... keywords: Public Relations (not "PR" because our search enging does not recognize words that are few than 4 letters), Publishing, Magazines.

Thank you for your help! I'm still unsure about which career to look at, but basically those are my two choices.

I'm planning on studying abroad and so I'm trying to look for schools that have a good communications department.

 

[YoninahAliza]

I am currently a journalism major at a pretty prestigious uni in New York State (except its focused more on the sciences and technologies) but I'm not sure I want to study this anymore. All I know what I want my end goal to be- running my own magazine publication or if not that becoming a fashion editor. I've been having second thoughts on being a journalism major- I was thinking of transferring to FIT or something in order to study something more fashion related. Any suggestions as to what I should do? What programs should I look into? Thanks for your help!

 

[BetteT]

Magaines are extremely complex organizations. Specilizing in any of numerous professions could get you hired. There is not a "right way" to get into it.

Fashion school doesn't necessarily teach you to be a fashion editor ... although it is fashion styling ..nor about climbing the ladder to managing editor. You will learn a lot about fashion but not much about publishing. Most fashion editors get in via personal connections ... from family or school.

I am not familiar with any specialized programs at FIT so I can't make any suggestions there. But once in, you have a better chance of landing a good internship in a fashion magazine ... which is one way to start making connections.

Here are threads about this topic:

What Education is Needed to get into Magazines / Publishing?

How to Get Work in Fashion Magazine Publishing (see Post #1 for related threads)

Careers / Jobs / Positions in Magazine Publishing

 

[katherine]

YoninahAlizah, FIT has a program called AMC - Advertising, Marketing & Communications. That may be something you're interested in. I don't know if you live in the area, but I'm sure you can land various internships through the major and school, even.

 

[YoninahAliza]

BetteT and Katherine... Thank you so much for all of your advice! I am going to go have a look at those threads you recommended... I am sure they will help out a lot! Also I was looking into the AMC program, it sounds interesting and something totally up my ally! Katherine, if you don't mind me asking, but did you major in AMC or something? Do you know anything else about the program at FIT? Thanks so much for all your help!

 

[LeBonChic]

Guys. Do you think major in Economics and minor in Art history will help me to get to a "professional" position (directly related to doing fashion) ?