Today I attended the Marie Claire 'how to get in to fashion' event - a networking opportunity for aspiring fashionista's, graduates, school leavers, and basically anyone with the shared goal of making a career for themselves in the world of fashion. It was a fantastic opportunity to get some real insight from real professionals, and I though it would be nice for me to pop along so I could tell you a bit about it.
The panel included;
Boutique Buyer for Matches - Georgina Gaiza
Up and coming Fashion Designer - William Tempest
Head of Communications at River Island - Sarah Walter
It was Sarah in particular, who really inspired me. Her CV is very impressive - she has worked at Harpers, at New Look (responsible for their brilliant collaborations with Lily Allen, Kelly Brook etc), and now River Island to name but a few, and yet, at the start of Sarah's career, she took 4 years out of Fashion to run Safaris in Africa! How brilliant is that! It just made me realise that there is no cardboard cut-out model for success, and that in this industry, it really does take all-sorts.
In case you missed this event, here are the panel's top tips:
1. Internships, internships, internships - they could not stress how beneficial these are. William Tempest did his internship with Giles Deacon, and the others all mentioned that a really great intern will always leave an impression, and that can lead to so much more.
2. Nothing is beneath you when you start at the bottom, and in Fashion, everybody does. A positive attitude goes a long way.
3. Fashion should be intuitive and personal, be confident in who you are.
4. Don't be afraid to take risks and chances - almost all of the people on the panel got where they were partly by being open-minded opportunists.
Hope this helps!
