Reality Check for New Fashion Grads

[LostInNJ]

Great article...It has opened my eyes to the world I want to enter...I think that making it big like Zac Posen and others right out of college is like being struck by lightening twice...in the same spot! I guess that is why many of today's other emerging stars are around their 30's.

 

[wyatt.]

yeah i'm fairly happy in my choice of declining parsons and this only crutches my decision

 

[Deleted member 7575]

Yeah, I may be getting a job as a designer for Abercrombie's new store Rueh. It's not Paris, it's not an Atelier, but it's pretty easy, pays well, and great experience...umm....I'll take it.

 

[Luna]

Congrats Mutterlein!

 

[Lena]

I think I'm going to have to sponsor a very aspiring designer

erhh here here mr tudds..

all my life i've been self sponsored.. time to move on

 

[QuirkyCool]

VERY interesting article and thread I don't think I'll be giving up medicine for fashion very soon,though I dream about it every day .

I love this forum,it opens my eyes to a new world.

 

[mishahoi]

^wow, yeah, congrats mutterlein, thats fantastic! i also would not mind working for a mass con. company to get skills.... they use me, i use them....

 

[Oria]

Great comments Oria, I think that is a really vital perspective and softie I totally agree. Everyone thinks they are special, and thats part of the problem. I'm really enjoying this thread.

Thanks Meg. I can only add my opinion, it's certainly not gospel and comes with an invisible warning sign. I'm quite happy taking the road that many have, despite the naysayers.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

^wow, yeah, congrats mutterlein, thats fantastic! i also would not mind working for a mass con. company to get skills.... they use me, i use them....

Well, I havn't been hired yet so we will see. You'd be suprised at how much talent is required...(probably not)

 

[finalfashion]

I think I'm going to have to sponsor a very aspiring designer

I'll take it!

Now, I'm doing my grad collection for school.
I thought to myself "why do all this work for school?" So I asked the boutique that I interned for this summer if she'd be interested in carrying my line... and she said she'd buy me out! Yay!
For school we have to do all this market research to justify our collections, so it was awesome to be able to really get a handle on my customers. A lot of people doing couture collections had to "make up" their research because they couldn't find any clients to interview...
When I design I'm thinking about the girls that shop in the store and what they respond to. Some of the other boutiques I went to visit in my research were also interested in selling my stuff. My boss is helping me hook up with a contracter to produce what she wants.

If I break even, it'll all be worthwhile. I don't know if I'll follow up with another season... depends on the response to this one. But I thought, what do I have to lose?

And it's not like I'm taking department store orders like Verrier... some of the piecework I'll be doing myself. Actually, I'm doing all the samples and patternmaking myself as well. It's a relief not to depend on other people for that stuff... I've done freelance sample sewing in the past and it's very difficult to work for designers who don't sew...

Anyway, it's going to be a little organic venture... two dresses turns into four dresses... if I get any big orders I'll just be out of luck because I only have a few grand saved up for this...

That's where people like you come in, Tudds...

 

[finalfashion]

The other advantage I have is a terrific studio that I renovated with my partner... he's helping me invest in machines and equipment and we're developing a custom bags concept. I already have an illustration studio set up and plan to develop that angle of my talents more when I have time after I graduate.

My greatest worry is that university has not taught me much about the business side of enterpreneurship. I am in need of a numbers head and someone to help me with a business plan very badly... I need a partner/agent!

 

[Beata]

great posts everyone. this thread has really given me some nice insight. im actually in my first semester for fashion so at least ive been warned and know what to look out for. thanks everyone

 

[Lena]

welcome to tFS Beata

 

[Beata]

welcome to tFS Beata

thanks lena

 

[KhaoticKharma]

Others, like Dave Tillet, decide to put off their dreams rather than settle.

Tillet, who won awards at FIT and was considered a rising star by his professors and peers, works in visual display at Saks Fifth Avenue in Palm Beach, Fla., and designs floral arrangements.

"This is better right now than working at J. Crew or Liz Claiborne," he said. "I relate to high-end merchandise. If I worked in fashion I'd want to design for a high-end company. My real interest is in expensive eveningwear."

I just don't think this guy loves fashion all that much. I sketch high end fashion, and I 'relate' to it as well, but if I had no money and Hollister or Aeropostale was willing to pay me a crazy amount of money to design a few hoodies and mini skirts, you better belive every preppy kid on the planet would be wearing a hoodie that I helped design! At least you still get to do what you love in some form.

Francesca Sterlacci, former chair of FIT's fashion design department and now an associate professor, said 25 percent of students aspire to design under their own name and 50 percent want to work for a directional or cutting-edge company or one with designer price points.

As much as this info does not suprise me, I would be just as happy designing for a big label (even if I wasn't creative director) as I would be designing my own. Guess I just love fashion


Fashion is not an industry you go into for the fame. Sadly, I think that is what too many people go into fashion for

 

[Beata]

yup sad but true it shud be all about the passion

 

[lee]

i'm trying to transfer to parsons and the first job i'm envisioning is sweeping floors for a fashion house.. or serving coffee... but i guess its better having lower expectations and being pleasantly surprised than to be dissappointed.

 

[jeffrey0806]

This article is so good, everyone should read it.

 

[aftershock]

It's kind of sad how true this is, I've talked to a lot of my classmates (at Parsons) and you hear them go on and on about how they're going to take over the world with their designs and have people under them doing all the hard work like patternmaking, sewing and merchandising...while they just sketch up the designs and drink a cup of Starbucks or something.

It sort of disappoints me to hear this, because personally, I see the entire process of fashion as an art form, and I want to learn everything I can about all aspects, not just the glamorous perks, but the business and craft side as well. I wouldn't mind at all working in an entry-level position because at least I'd have one foot in the door, and I think it would be a great experience to see how a label is run from the inside, even though I might not get the chance to put my creativity to use just yet...

Great article, though, thanks for posting. I'm so tempted to print it and make copies to the next overblown ego that I hear talking about how they're going to design for Marc Jacobs...

 

[Stargirl52]

I think I'm going to have to sponsor a very aspiring designer

I wouldn't mind you sponsoring me! I'm veerry aspiring!

-G.