Thank you to South Shore International College Preparatory High School for having me speak with your students today about the fashion business, entrepreneurship, and college readiness!
Included here are a few quick tips & resources that I wanted to additionally share with you:
(1) Know your designers and trends
Follow along with upcoming fashion trends and designer content, using sites like WWD, Pantone, and more:
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(2) Fashion Design vs. Fashion Merchandising / Marketing
It's very important to differentiate these two fields when choosing a college major or field of interest. Fashion design, otherwise knows as apparel design and/or product development refers to creating the actual clothing that will be available & sold to your end consumers. Fashion merchandising, on the other hand, teaches you how to encourage those consumers to actually purchase the clothing that was created (by the designer). These are equally important tasks, but don't forget... it all starts with the design!
Fashion designers are the creators.
Fashion merchandisers are the buyers, sellers, and marketers that package the presentation to generate DOLLARS & eventually make a profit for the brand.
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(3) The fashion business takes DETERMINATION
Before starting a fashion business, it's important to keep in mind that:
- It will cost more than you think. Be prepared to cover a variety of expenses for the business and establish an account for this activity.
- You need both Determination and Drive to succeed in this business. This is not an easy / throw away career path. You will need to think like a CEO.
- Think like a CEO starting with college courses like marketing, history of fashion, accounting, etc..
What else have you wanted to know about getting started in the fashion business?
xo