Men Working in the Fashion Industry

[jakeee]

exactly put on some clothes and get your cha cha heels on and run.

and honey, don't fall.

hmmm...right...

theres a lot more to the job then just throwing on some heels and walking..BELIEVE me

theres so much that goes on behind the scenes..these girls are basically running their own business, and if they're not smart, they're not going to do well

you've got YOUNG girls..some as young as 14, travelling the world ON THEIR OWN, taking care of their finances, living on their own, dealing with and working with people double their age. a lot of young adults cant even handle all of this.

do u really think models would be able to handle that if they are so un-intelligent? i dont think so.


its a crazy industry out there, and if you're not smart you'll get sucked in before you know it.

 

[Alejandro]

hmmm...right...

theres a lot more to the job then just throwing on some heels and walking..BELIEVE me

theres so much that goes on behind the scenes..these girls are basically running their own business, and if they're not smart, they're not going to do well

you've got YOUNG girls..some as young as 14, travelling the world ON THEIR OWN, taking care of their finances, living on their own, dealing with and working with people double their age. a lot of young adults cant even handle all of this.

do u really think models would be able to handle that if they are so un-intelligent? i dont think so.


its a crazy industry out there, and if you're not smart you'll get sucked in before you know it.

I agree, its not easy, but they dont run their own business. They have agents that do the work for them, they're children, yes, they can be manipulated and molded at such young age. They're sent off around the world and deal with all the blah blah blah, I get it, but it's not them making the smart decisions.

This whole time I have not said that they're not intelligent, I've said that they don't need a lot of brains for this. They can be smart, but they dont make models take IQ tests to go down the runway... its a silly comparison but its true, they dont have to be smart. If you are, wonderful, more power to you!

 

[jakeee]

hmm..i still dis-agree with you but...everyones entitled to their own opinion

ive yet to meet a model with "not a lot of brains" whos done well in this industry

 

[Alejandro]

i have

 

[kimberwyn]

au contraire! there are models who are very intelligent... they got the whole package of both beauty and brains, that my friend, outweighs everything

I think he meant it's not an industry based on intellect. And he's right, they don't test your IQ before you get a contract as far as I know.

 

[smartarse]

yes and no... it's a bit complex. The models who are steadily working are basically an independent contractor, per se... agencies are basically just a representation who gets a cut from their earnings.

but they dont run their own business. They have agents that do the work for them,

 

[Alejandro]

Well thank you for enlightening me

 

[smartarse]

true the industry is first and foremost based on beauty... but bottomline these girls learn to become businesswomen because the amount of money involved, the business transactions, bookkeeping, accounting and auditing ....

but getting back to my prior post... true before the girls get discovered they dont get an IQ test and all that jazz... but what a coincidence alot of the girls have an exceptional education background and intellect....which rarely known publically.

it's not an industry based on intellect.

 

[Alejandro]

Which takes us back to the topic, men working in fashion industry, being more dominant. Because women wont get the credit deserved.

 

[smartarse]

in the corporate world men always run the business...wheelers and dealers...

...and when a woman who will make or break a business comes along , ahem, Anna Wintour.... then men will take notice and watches their back B)

 

[modelbehavior228]

I'm planning on being a makeup artist.........or mortician..........or supermodel......well, you get the point

 

[BetteT]

It takes a lot more to model than most people think ... but this is off topic ... so I won't go on here.



My thoughts about wht there are more female students in fashion school and then it seems not so much out in the real world:

I supsect that any fashion career is a long held "fantasy" for a lot of young women. It could be for various reasons, but probably it's because they love to buy clothes and most girls learn a lot about what is trendy and what they like at a very young age. So "when they grow up" they'd love to be in the fashion business ... surrounded by and creating all that beauty. So lots and lots of young women choose fashion school hoping to make it a career. Some have what it takes to succeed, but I would bet that most drop out or end up in basic jobs because they are operating on a fantasy ... not actually doing the work that is needed and perhaps without the drive and talent, too.

Young men, on the other hand are less likely to see fashion as something they want to do, because they are not socialized to revere fashion. Those who are drawn to fashion are more likely to really have talent in the arts and sufficient vision and desire to do what it takes. So there are fewer young men in fashion school but those few that are there are dedicated and talented, for the most part.

An opinion ... and only that. Just musing about why it's that way.

 

[kimberwyn]

^I think you have a great point there.

 

[PrinceOfCats]

in the corporate world men always run the business...wheelers and dealers...

...and when a woman who will make or break a business comes along , ahem, Anna Wintour.... then men will take notice and watches their back B)

Ironic choice of example, because Anna Wintour's dad didn't buy her into the business or anything...

 

[kossoyan]

I agree and know that men dominate the corporate side of the business. Myself as an example, I'm working on the corporate side, and I'm a male.

Other areas are pretty mixed though, no?

 

[youarearockstar]

One of my degrees is in Apparel Merchandising. The concerntration encompasses all of the general fields specializations such a buying/planning, marketing, entrepreneurship, management, product development, textiles, and design. I have yet to take a class where men were in the majority of the student body. Every class, be it 400 or 40 students, the men are about 2%-4% max. Surprisingly though, every since recruiter that has been to our store hounds down our professors and expresses an interest in finding highly capable, enthusiastic, and motivated men in the apparel industry.

What I've found is that at the collegiate level the world is predominately represented by many young girls who are interested in buying clothes, and a few young women who are looking for careers. However at the corporate level there are a lot of successful women in the apparel industry, but most of the corporate level decision makers are men. The lesson that I've learned from sitting through numerous "Men in Apparel" boards and pannels innocent: ) is that the vast majority were Business majors or specializations within that field. They just so happened to end up in Apparel or Fashion. Which isn't hard to do because the global apparel industry employs one out of every five people in the entire world, in some facet.

So don't worry, if you feel like you're out numbered in the beginning, you are. Though hard work and talent, and an eye for what you do will take anyone far in the industry regardless of their gender. Being male gives you no advantage, in most cases. However, from what I've seen in my company, they love to promote the great guys, but when it comes down to it, its the amazing women and the gays that actually run the company

 

[kossoyan]

While reading through your 1st paragraph I was thinking of responding with what you mentioned in the 2nd paragraph. The men that are making the decisions at the coporate level have attended business school, so you can't compare them relatively to the demographics of your classes.

Using myself as an example again, I am attending business school, majoring in management and dual concentrating in marketing & entrepreneurship. My plans used to be to go work for a Fortune 500, which is where most of my fellow students do and/or will go. My career interests had shifted mid/late 2006, and I decided to pursue a career in the fashion & luxury industry. I can't imagine myself working anywhere else. I will conduct my first internship in the fashion/luxury industry this summer and am excited/look forward to learning, networking, and performing at my best level. This will insure myself as a valued asset to the organization, and I plan to have my internships lead to a job offer.

 

[smartarse]

Yes, pretty much. When it comes to buyers it's mostly women. Then you got the showroom thing going it's mostly women... but i think graphics (artist) like publishing it's mostly men...but definitely the corporate side is male dominated, always been that way...

Other areas are pretty mixed though, no?

 

[prosperk]

i'm sorry but somehow -at least in europe and as far as top industry positions - fashion is predominanly ..male

Lena is right. The glass ceiling persists on Planet Fashion as far as women are concerned. In fact, it also impedes heterosexual men to some extent as well! LOL! Seriously though, relatively few women rise to prominent positions in the fashion business.

If you take the fashion media, for instance, the chief editors of the international editions of Vogue magazine are female - with one exception - but their superiors are, for the main part, firmly male. Condé Nast France had a female CEO for several years but she was replaced by a man. She was an exception to an unspoken rule.

The fashion and luxury industry is the same. There are some exceptions, like Jil Sander, but most designers are male. As for industry executives, the 'suits and ties', very few are female. The John Galliano label had a female CEO for a while but that is one of the few instances I can cite.

Women enjoy greater success as fashion photographers although few realise the same level of income as their male counterparts, despite enjoying high profiles. The support industries like hair and makeup have seen a couple of women break through that glass ceiling, Odile Gilbert being a case in point.

Female stylists enjoy greater success than male stylists - George Cortina and a couple of others springing to mind as rare examples of prominent male stylists who also style females - but are fated to become fashion editors and, sometimes, chief editors on fashion magazines, bobbing about just below that glass ceiling.

But by and large, the business is controlled by a loose gay mafia, overseen by a cabal of hard-eyed men in suits and their legions of soulless accountants.

PK

 

[borissov]

Uhm :-) Male, straight, photographer in Milan.

"But by and large, the business is controlled by a loose gay mafia, overseen by a cabal of hard-eyed men in suits and their legions of soulless accountants." - so true!