The New Nation - Internet Edition

Considering changing your career or starting a career? Wondering what career advice to give your children? Fashion offers numerous exciting and lucrative opportunities.

Think of a career in fashion, and the first thought that comes to mind is fashion designing. "Oh, I'm not very creative," you think, and immediately start considering other options. Hold your thoughts for a moment. Fashion is a lot more than just designing. The industry of fashion is a multi-billion dollar industry, and there is plenty of money to be made in it. It is also one of the relatively easier options to get into at a later stage in life. If you are a housewife and are considering starting a career, or if you want a career change and are desirous of entering a more exciting and dynamic field, a career in fashion may be the answer.

The tailor-at-home option

If you are looking for the easiest way out, hunt for a skilled tailor, and once you have found that, you could start taking orders from customers at home. Gradually, your contacts with embroiders and fabric suppliers will improve, you will be able to get better deals, lower your costs, and gain a better understanding of designs and fabrics. This will help you earn a fairly decent amount a month, and if you have a flair for designing and you manage to get hold of a great embroidery-wallah who can do heavy work for you, you may start getting orders to design trousseau collections. There is good money to be made in this, especially during the wedding season. It would help if you have a degree in fashion design. However, these operations rarely take off on a large scale and don't offer much of the glamour and glitz that is otherwise so much a part of the fashion industry.

Fashion communication

The power of the brand is fast emerging, and along with it emerges a relatively new and exciting avenue: fashion communication. As international brands enter the Indian market, both Indian and international brands will be fighting for recognition, and it is here that fashion communication professionals come into play. They work on increasing brand awareness, and an awareness of fashion trends. NIFT offers a 4 year degree course in fashion communication, and after the course you could get a job as a fashion stylist and organise shoots for fashion magazines, travel abroad and within the country on shoots, attend fashion shows and the like. You could also become a fashion writer or correspondent, an event manager, join the advertising industry, or you could get a career in public relations. Public Relations is a career where after a few years experience it is relatively easy to branch out on your own, and once you land a few big clients, you have it made!

Why should you study fashion to get into the industry?

A lot of people simply stumble into the industry without much training. While it was easier for the previous generation to do this, there is much more skilled competition, and a course gives you a competitive advantage. It also helps you make contacts, and contacts help in this industry. If you are looking for a job in a buying house or export firm, a degree in fashion makes prospective employers take you more seriously. In addition, you will also get an idea of the tremendous scope in the fashion industry. Various international brands that import from India require representatives here, and pay incredible salaries, not to mention - free clothes! A degree in fashion management, fashion technology, fashion merchandising, can take you a long way.

A sampling of fashion jobs:

Brand manager, Fashion designer/ fashion illustrator, fashion marketing, pattern maker, textile designer, product developer, retail buyer, fashion merchandiser, showroom co-coordinator, costume designer (for films, stage shows), fashion columnist, fashion photographer or stylist.