Fashion as a language is expressive in its being and something that needs to be understood as an out-of-the-box concept. The glamorous approaches, the popularity, the vulgarity, and everything in between, is what fashion holds. But, is it suitable and relevant for an individual to become something within the field itself, perhaps a fashion designer? If yes, Is Fashion Designing a Good Career?
To answer this, this article discusses the ups and the downs of the industry and helps you decide whether opting for it as a career path is relevant or not.
Scope of Fashion Designing
The Fashion Industry (especially, Fashion Designing as a career choice) has become pretty competitive over the years and can never really go on a hiatus because it constantly keeps changing and evolving and mostly renews itself sooner rather than later.
Putting into perspective this front, the industry does not have space for the most massive crowd of individuals. So, while considering more options other than the artistic career, make sure you have it in you to do and give what it takes.
You cannot randomly decide one fine morning that this is what you really wish to pursue, you have to and need to give it your all once you get into the treat, and here’s a heads up, it’s not as easy as it sounds and there will always be people, who’d be just as creative as you are if not better, so it can get contesting, to say the least.
Headstart
To take up Fashion Designing as a professional career, you need to start somewhere, even if this somewhere, is from scratch.
The first thing that is required of you over here is a plan. An amateur plan does that bit too, if not the most solid one, but you do need to pen things down to make it less complex for yourself in the future.
- Prepare at least the gist of what the industry demands. For instance, Sewing.
Knitting and Sewing are essential skills in the field. All of the cutting and stitching do not casually take place. You’ll have to know your basic arithmetic as well, otherwise, the measurement part of the stitching situation is where you are bound to mess it all up.
- Sketching and drawing is another aspect of the field that you must have at least some idea about. Read blogs and watch vlogs on the topic about the prospective field. You should be fairly certain that you still would want to devote your time doing this seven years down the line.
As previously mentioned it sure is a competitive field, and you cannot afford to be average (or even above average for that matter) over here; You would have to be phenomenal. The crowd that you would be gathering after you eventually get into the business should have a reason to follow you, your brand, and your ideas and you need to make it a point to give them exactly that.
Fields under the Fashion Industry
The fashion industry is a creative career choice, however, it has many other fields and jobs under its broad umbrella. These are categorized most basically into four main domains, namely:
- Design: This includes everything under fashion designing; ideas, sketches, dresses, shoes, accessories, anything that you could think of as different and unique, is what this category basically holds. Here the resources present are the designers, the artists, the pattern makers, the improvisers, and the creative lot.
- Manufacturing: Manufacturing would include the whole product, that is to say, fully created and ready to be sold. The resources included in this category are tailors, textile artists and designers, dress makers, and accessory agents. These people basically create and develop the ideas and pictures into a physical product to be sold in the markets later.
- Promotion/Marketing: Promotion includes our models and photographers and videographers. These are those resources that bring the whole motive out to the audience through posters, shows, films, and so on. The promoters are the main resources in this sub-field. They are the ones who present these products also to the retailers and agents to sell them in the global and local markets.
- Sales/Retail: Sales and retails happen when the product is sold in the markets, and the customers are able to purchase it, either from the leisure of their homes or from physical markets. Sales agents, merchandise agents, and extensive planners, buyers, and managers of retail are all included in this field of fashion.
Can you become a Fashion Designer if you are bad at art?
Most people give up on becoming fashion designers. They think they do not deserve to be in the field because they are not the best artists. Truth be told, you do require some amount of creativity to be in the field, but this does not mean you need to be good at art or a full-on artist. It simply means that you need to have ideas that can help you pave the way for yourself in the field.
Most Fashion Designing Schools, ask for a portfolio with all your creative material and designs and art for them to let you in, but some schools do not consider this a prerequisite. You can still go on to be a designer, without being the best at art. You just have to be able to convey and portray your ideas to the audience and that does not require your sketches.
Moreover, now there are plenty of technological services that make things way easier for you, everything you need is presented before you on a platter, and all that is required of you now, are your ideas, creativity, designs, and hard work, for you to be great at the field.
Claiming all of this, we are not trying to discount the fact that illustrative abilities aren’t required in the creative field, it is just that, art is not the only basis on which fashion can be judged. In fact, fashion schools also teach figurative and model sketches from scratch, so there is genuinely no point arguing that it is a deciding factor on whether or not you can be a good designer if you are bad or not as good at sketching.
In conclusion, it is only correct to pursue a career in fashion designing if that’s really what you feel passionate about, even though you think you are not very good at art, you’ll be good enough, but everything in time. If you try and rush it, hoping you would be able to do great that way, you’ll be missing out on more things than you can imagine. Go slow. go steady.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. How can I make a successful career in Fashion Designing?
A1. Graduating with a degree in Fashion Studies does give you some knowledge about what the field is and how it works, but this simply is not enough grounds to guarantee you a successful career in the field. You must know more things besides fashion, this includes all sorts of diverse fields, most importantly Business.
While we can all agree that Fashion is an art, it is also something you can make a living out of, if done right. In fact, most of the renowned fashion designers whom we know of, have themselves admitted to practically put in a little more effort than demanded, to get to where they are today.
Q2. Is reading Fashion Magazines relevant to become a designer?
A2. As they say, knowledge is power, it sure holds some good. When we talk about becoming successful at something, literally anything for that matter, we need to realize that practical skills are not everything. Fashion Magazines are meant for you to read, especially if you are potentially planning to get into the industry. These magazines contribute towards enhancing your creativity and helps you get inspired. So, yes it indeed is a great option to understand the field a little more in its details albeit, just reading and skimming through these magazines isn’t enough and would not make you a designer. They just act as catalysts, that help you achieve your goal of becoming a designer.
Q3. What are the essentials of Fashion Designing?
A3. To become a fashion designer, you must have at least a degree in the field, besides that, you must also have an eye for creativity, art, color, and patterns. You must be able to look at something and understand the depth of its making to improvise (if ever, that is) certain items and designs. Moreover, the main criteria to be a fashion designer should be your passion, this in fact is the most important criteria to be almost anything you desire to be in life, not just in the fashion industry. Passion for the work you’re taking up is the most essential requirement since that is what is going to be your driving force to always do better at whatever you are doing.
