Design not the be all and end all of fashion careers

Design not the be all and end all of fashion careers

Muara Bagdja, Contributor, Jakarta

It's the glamor factor that draws a lot of young people into
fashion careers, usually as designers or models. Fashion
designers and models sometimes emerge as celebrities because of
their frequent exposure in the mass media, fulfilling the dream
to be rich and famous.

But that is the minority. In reality, most fashion designers
do not make it to the top, and only a few models can carry
"super" before their job description.

With more people going into fashion, the competition is tough.
Only those with talent, a good network in the community, the
proper training and education as well as financial backing will
succeed.

Those preparing to enter the fashion world must have a good
understanding of these requirements. They also need to be open to
weighing other options, and realize that there are more job
opportunities in the fashion world than just being fashion
designers and models.

Up to the 1970s, only dressmakers were associated with the
fashion world in Indonesia. (In those years, the French word
"modiste" was the term used to refer dressmakers in this
country.) It was not until the 1980s that fashion designers,
either graduates of fashion schools or winners of fashion
contests, emerged in the country's fashion world.

In the 1990s, the Indonesian fashion world began to witness
rapid progress as the fashion business had become an industry
involving a number of fashion-related businesses, such as fashion
stylists, fashion merchandisers, textile designers, accessory
designers, shoe designers, window displayers, fashion editors or
writers, fashion illustrators, choreographers and fashion
photographers.

These professions form links that keep the fashion industry
going.

Fashion schools here, domestic or franchised, offer courses
for some of these professions. Fashion schools offer not only
lessons related to fashion designing but also those connected
with designing, pattern and sewing techniques, the history of
fashion, introduction to textiles, anatomy and fashion
illustration. These schools also offer such lessons as marketing
and fashion promotion, and allow the students to have
specialization in a particular subject.

Aside from fashion education, people wishing to go into the
fashion world also must realize their own interests and personal
condition. If they are not yet financially capable of running
their own business as fashion designers, they can work as
stylists at garment companies or department stores.

If you think your talent lies in textiles, then let go of that
fashion designer mind-set. You can work in a textile factory as a
textile designer or you can also explore traditional textile
designs to create new ones.

Today, there is also prestige and pride to be found in
fashion-related professions other than designing. Take, for
example, fashion stylists and fashion editors working in
magazines.

With an increasing number of fashion magazines in the country,
there is an attendant need for good fashion stylists and fashion
editors. They are expected to be able to produce attractive,
creative pages in fashion magazines and interesting fashion
articles.

Besides working for fashion magazines, stylists are needed for
advertisements, catalogs or promotional brochures of a new
garment or cosmetic product.

Now that there are more franchised fashion magazines, there is
a bigger opportunity for fashion photographers to develop their
career. They can also work in the advertising world to promote
fashion and cosmetic products.

The fashion merchandiser is also increasingly needed, amid the
growth of department stores and boutiques. If you are interested
in the business aspect of the fashion world, this may be for you,
a profession that requires great sensitivity toward fashion and
its development.

These department stores and boutiques need a window displayer
to ensure that the display of their fashion products can easily
attract potential buyers.

Then if you are interested in drawing up fashion sketches than
making a fashion design, you can be a fashion illustrator. Some
fashion magazines and fashion advertisements use fashion sketches
instead of photographs. Or, team up with a fashion designer or
work in a garment factory as a fashion stylist.

Recently, there have been a lot of fashion shows at hotels,
malls and cafes, all of which need choreographers, who are still
lacking in numbers.

Do not insist on becoming a fashion designer if your talent,
interest and capability do not really lie there. Commit yourself
to other fashion-related professions that really suit you, even
if they are not as "popular" as fashion design.

Once you become a specialist, for example, a great fashion
illustrator, a business-sensitive fashion merchandiser or a good
fashion writer, you may find that you are in great demand.