Some of us have spent a little too much daydreaming about fashion. Scrolling through the fashion pages, high-end magazines, following fashion photographers, we are obsessed with everything about fashion. With the dazzle, designs, Runway Walks, the flashy paparazzi that comes with the package, we are here for it. If you are someone running up their Unifi internet package, because you are busy watching Gigi Hadid slay the runway for Jacquemus (Which she absolutely did), but wondering why you are in a class filled with people majoring in Mass comm then, you have come to the right place.
Before filling yourself up with instant regret for not pursuing your interest in fashion design, let me tell you what the world of fashion DONT needs. They certainly don’t need a fancy fashion school degree. They don’t need a physique a model to be part of the fashion world either. Nor do they simply need a line of all designers doing it all.
What the fashion world needs is a line of Creative Directors, Designers, Marketing directors ready for combat, and a PR head to break the news. They also need lawyers, engineers, suppliers, merchandisers, personal shoppers, and even translators.
So if you’re a French major or a business languages major, this is your time to shine! Andre’ Leon Talley was not the former Editor at large for Vogue because he was a fashion major. In fact, he majored in French at North Carolina Central University before he earned his Masters’ in French Literature at Brown University.
“Where there is a will, there is a way” stands true to fashion. No matter what your major is fashion has plenty of opportunities waiting for you. Do you really need to go to a fashion school to understand fashion? Maybe not. Today we live in a world with access to the likes of Unifi internet, high-speed internet providers revolutionizing how we connect different parts of the world. Fashion education meets a small visual arts major through the internet. A photographer is exposed to fashion photography through the internet too. A marketing major blogs about fashion through the internet as well. The list is simply endless!
The Internet has provided plenty of opportunities for independent learning. YouTube, podcasts, magazine subscriptions, and wonderful books written by renowned designers are more than enough. Sometimes an internship at a glossy magazine is all you might need to learn the same basics you would learn at fashion school. A marketing major is just as necessary at a fashion empire just as much as they might need a chemical engineering major. Combine your love for fashion and chemistry just as you would mix fabric, textile with your eye for creativity and progression.
So let’s look at some high-paying professions in the world of Fashion that are completely unrelated to design.
Marketing Directors
Marketing directors earn an average of a whopping $65000 in the fashion industry. Marketing whether you studied it at a fashion school or in your average university, the basic concepts remain the same. It is a marketer’s job to execute big marketing campaigns that bring in hundreds of thousandths dollars of worth of attention to the brand. Brand image is spoken to the public only as a result of their continuous effort. Marketing directors have many different jobs and there are different types of marketers as well. if your specialty is advertising and promotions, take a run for it because the fashion industry is all about strategic advertising. If you are a social media marketer, fashion businesses need a good social media marketer to hold their reputation and image over social media. A good social media campaign can make or break the fashion business.
Public Relation Specialists
PR is always important. Contrary to the latest belief, it is not a useless major despite people naming it as one of the top five majors regretted by the majority of the population. Public relations and communication majors are necessary more than ever. While the world gets automated and jobs get replaced by artificial intelligence, machines can never replace the spokesperson for a brand. Especially a spokesperson for the fashion industry.
Editorial Director
An Editorial director brings the vision to the brand. They ensure every publication holds the message and the brand image. They analyze the qualities determined by the management and respond to what the community demands. They uphold the quality image of the brand and ensure the integrity of the business. An editorial director has more than one responsibility to carry. They overlook every aspect. The latest trends. The demand for products. Digitizing every bit of information. Resorts on advertising, marketing, and creative design.
Quality Assurance Manager
Fashion is all about quality. While aesthetics are appealing, what lures them is the absolute quality and differentiations every brand offers. The material, textile, and feel of one brand are also part of their entire brand image. Hence, the importance of a quality assurance manager. QA managers not only make sure of the quality of every order coming in, but they also report on the quality of their competitors as well. They analyze, develop insights, and report every little detail. Quality assurance managers are responsible for making sure the fashion brands meet the expectations of their loyal customers. Possibly, exceed the expectations. Quality assurance managers never stop improving their knowledge of fashion. They are continuously learning and keeping themselves up to date in order to strive towards perfection. This job pays approximately $70,000 per year.
If we learned anything from huge fashion moguls such as Giorgio Armani, Donatella Versace or Kate spade, it is that we don’t need a fancy fashion degree. A fashion degree certainly helps in the current competitive market, but a fashion industry does not have only pathways. It is full of wonderful opportunities with many different professions.
