Fashion Styling is Glamorous, but how does the Cash Keep rolling?

Guess what pips! I was privileged to be at the London Fashion Week, and I bet you it was brilliant!

I had the opportunity to listen to Grace Woodward, a Fashion Creative, Stylist and TV Personality. Grace was the Fashion Director on the X Factor 2010, Judge of Britain, Ireland’s Next Top Model and SkyLiving TV’s flagship show. Oh yes she’s worked really hard. Haha.

As the fashion industry continues to grow, more people tend to either want to create a business in fashion, work in fashion or be associated with fashion. But with the increasing number of fashion gurus the competition to get into the industry can be pretty challenging. So how can we get into and stand out in this industry?

I thought to bring back some nuggets that could be useful to us all lovers of fashion.

Tips…

 1. As a Professional it is important to identify your style and values, you don’t have to be moved by the crowd and their  definition of style. You create and let others follow, that is what makes you unique.

2. It is important you love cloths and brands. It doesn’t have to be expensive but whatever the piece, make sure it        stands out.

3. Become a fashion stylist because it’s a passion, you love it and have fun being one. Even in tough times, be a “stayer” in order to show you have done it for a while and know the pros and cons.

4. So many people want to be a fashion stylist, so it is important to differentiate your offering from those of others. Ask yourself this question, am I making a difference.

5. If you are going to have a blog, make sure that it is a valuable business. Have a goal and time frame of what you want to attain. Blogs have their seasons, for a while it is active and for another time it dies away.

6. Think of processes and strategies that can help materialize your blog.

7. Get an internship (paid or unpaid) as its provides a platform to learn, meet people and show what your made of.

Let’s be real about it the industry is glamorous; it’s very easy to see that part of it and forget the reality that lies beneath.  This is especially true in the area of becoming a Fashion Stylist, as we are aware that there are not so many jobs. It is important we understand that we won’t have pensions and we are in control of our business and earnings.

Now this might be shocking to some of you, well I was shocked myself when Grace commented on a statement made by Caroline Rush, Chief Executive of the British Fashion Council saying “While studying a degree in design may be tempting, experts say there are currently big gaps in the market for skills such as finance, management or law.”

Ok after hearing this I had to dig for more information and I found this visit: http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/14/london-fashion-week-how-hard-is-it-to-break-into-the-fashion-industry-4303044/.

So this might be a fact, but don’t let it scar you away from the fashion industry. Instead sharpen your focus and seek what additional professional qualifications you can pick up in addition to your fashion degree. Let’s say you have a degree in Fashion Design, you can then take a professional course in Project Management, Business Analysis or Brand Strategy.

I expect this insightful information from Grace and my little advice will help us to concentrate and focus on our goals. Hopefully, we will achieve what we want to achieve, so we don’t find ourselves in a rat race with no destination.

Below are two short video clips for you pips…

xoxo.

Focus on your purpose today.

Nike Pearse.