When you first start to take an interest in fashion, it can be a little bit confusing, even more so if you want to dig deeper and maybe even consider to take it forward as a career. Not to mention that once you do start researching into fashion, you start to realise it really is an extensive industry; with varied roles, including designers, creative director, art directors, photographers, pattern cutters, trend forecasters, the list goes on… and multiple ways in which it appears and is consumed, from magazines, to cinema, to music and everything in between. Which brings us to the question, how do you even start driving your interest forward and digging into the subject? We have a few pointers to start you on your journey…
Listen to stories and insights from people in the fashion industry
How do you do that? Podcasts! Podcasts are a great way to learn about new topics, or get reinforcing information about topics you already know more about. They make it easy to educate yourself about a subject that is important to you. Not to mention they are also a great way to bring entertainment to mundane tasks. Plus importantly they allow you to get an insight from people actually working in the fashion industry, and best of all… it’s completely free!
One interesting podcast with a people driven approach that allows you to discover fashion is the Blazon podcast. I really enjoy how they talk to people in the industry, dive into their stories and discuss their roles. It is these kinds of insights that are missing in mainstream conversations.
Act and react to improve through experimentation
Take the area of fashion that you’re interested in and just go and start doing it!
Start small though, nothing is daunting when broken into small steps, however make sure that they are incremental. Again going back to the podcast in the first point, a really good take on this in one of the earlier episodes a fashion photographer mentioned how she got started and improved through experimentation and I quote:
“Honestly, just shooting a lot is really beneficial for that, I think shooting digitally, shooting film, shooting, you know, landscapes, shooting through with, like homemade filters, to getting your friend in, just taking headshots and portraits and things. I remember being a teenager and just doing that, and just the practice of having things in front of your lens and seeing where your eye goes is really important.”
So get out there and just start… start experimenting and learning as you go along.
Use a structured approach such as a course on fashion
If the point above about just starting gave you the jitters… don’t worry you’re not alone. Take the good old tried and tested method of just taking a course in your area of interest. The advantage of pursuing this route is that if you’ve already got an idea of the area of fashion you want to excel in, this gives you a structured way to meet those exact goals with the added guidance of someone with experience teaching you and a group of peers to exchange ideas with and learn from. What people don’t realise is that a course doesn’t need to be expensive or time consuming. There are a number of part-time courses at local colleges offered at a reasonable rate. Plus there are a large number of online courses that can even be done for free at your own pace at places like Coursera and EDX.
Remember, you don’t need years and years to create something new and exciting. You can literally start today.