Fashion Beyond Designing: Other Career Alternatives

There was a time when fashion was limited to the construction of garments. However, today that's not the case anymore. In present times, the field of fashion design is one of the most exciting, glamorous, and rewarding career options. If you have a passion for fashion and want to explore career opportunities beyond designing, you are at the right place. 

Becoming a fashion designer is a fruitful career option as one gets to see their collections showcased on the ramp. However, several other career prospects have emerged for people wanting to pursue fashion that doesn't necessarily involve garment construction or draping. 

Over the past few years, the fashion industry has significantly evolved with the change in consumer preferences and a need for radical transparency. Fashion is no longer limited to the design sphere; it has a business side to it, which deals with forecasting and predicting buying behavior. Let us explore career alternatives in the multifaceted fashion industry:

Fashion Buyer

A buyer helps brands understand the customer's psyche and gauge their buying behavior by drawing useful insights from sales reports and market trends. Fashion buyers deal with the development and maintenance of strong relationships with suppliers and key stakeholders in the industry to pave the way for the brand's growth. 

Fashion Stylist

Creating that perfect look from head to toe by choosing the right outfit which compliments the client's personality is what a fashion stylist does. Fashion styling is one of the most exciting career prospects. As a fashion stylist, one can explore several domains in the styling area, such as editorial styling (styling for fashion photoshoots), celebrity styling, or even brand consultancy. For someone who is pursuing fashion design but isn’t sure about it, the best part is that he/she can still become a stylist even after pursuing fashion designing courses in Delhi. 

Fashion Merchandiser

Fashion merchandising encapsulates prudent analysis, management, marketing, and distribution of fashion goods for increased profits. For fashion merchandisers, it is a must to stay aware of the fashion trends exhibited in the past and present as a part of their job to project what consumers want or would want in the future. 

Fashion Illustrator

Fashion illustration, a craft of communication of ideas through a visual form, is used by designers to brainstorm ideas digitally. The form of creativity is taught by several designing colleges in Delhi. A fashion illustrator is responsible for making sketches as per fashion designers' wishes, vision, and concept. 

Fashion Coordinator 

A fashion coordinator is someone who spends a considerable amount of time researching and understanding the prevailing fashion trends. Further, he or she also takes care of marketing arrangements related to assigned design tasks. The responsibility of organizing fashion runways, advertising products lies with the fashion coordinator.

Owing to the unlimited scope of fashion in India, several leading institutes offer courses for young aspirants to explore their creative side. The good news is that one can explore all the above-mentioned career prospects after pursuing formal education from fashion designing colleges in Delhi. One such name from the extensive list is IIAD. The Institute of Art and Design is known for its specially designed module that celebrates each student's uniqueness, experiences and grooms them into conscious design practitioners with a thorough understanding of design concepts and processes. 

What is Fashion Merchandising? 3 Things to Know about the Field

The field of fashion is considered as a big business with several verticals offering much more than designing and construction of garments. A lot of time, energy and hard work goes into getting clothes and accessories on the rack for customers. With manufacturers and retail stores in between the whole cycle, fashion merchandising is an emerging favourite career choice for many.

By definition, fashion merchandising refers to the study of the latest trends to determine the strategy of communication for a retail store. The field is quite exciting, while it demands an instinct for emerging trends and in-depth knowledge of fashion business management. 

Even in present times, fashion is only about designing clothes for many. However, the industry has evolved with several opportunities at one’s disposal to establish a successful career. After a fashion designer is done with the conceptualizing part of clothing, it has to make it to a retail store, where it needs to be displayed and marketed well to the target customers. This business side is a growing vertical known as fashion merchandising or fashion marketing to some. 

A sense of style is essential to explore any vertical inside the fashion world, but the role of merchandisers requires strong analytical skills. This might sound the opposite of the standard conception about the industry. It is these creative minds with strong business knowledge that determine the products’ and services’ age in fashion. Knowing this life cycle helps stores avoid liquidation of excess inventory later.  

Some responsibilities of a fashion merchandiser is to:

• Research prevailing trends and conduct fashion forecasting
• Attend fashion shows to stay at the top of the latest happenings, build contacts, and analyze what’s trending in the market. 
• Create creative and new-age advertising and marketing campaigns
• Develop a budget and make sure it is followed 
• Negotiate with suppliers and manufacturers 
• Research customer demographics to regulate strategy to reach them with relevant marketing strategies
• Creating interesting and innovative store displays 

The role is an amalgamation of fashion and merchandising. And, in simple words, one can say, merchandisers are multitaskers with exceptional ideating skills. 

 Here are 3 things one should know about the field:

A passion for fashion and business is vital

One cannot succeed with a laid back approach which mostly comes when one is doing something that doesn’t excite them. Having a passion for fashion and business will drive excitement in aspiring individuals. Hence, it is the only way to establish a strong foothold in the industry while enjoying each step of handling a variety of responsibilities. 

Education is important

A degree in fashion merchandising gives a chance to explore the liberal curriculum and inculcates the leadership and artistic skills required to ace the role. One can attain formal education with fashion business management courses in Delhi to develop problem-solving abilities and get an idea of how it will be to work in an industry worth trillions of dollars. 

Gaining practical experience is the key

An internship or a training program is essential to go outside the classroom setting and evaluate student’s abilities in the actual work environment. Most colleges, including the Indian Institute of Art and Design (IIAD), include an internship module to provide work experience to their students after having learnt the basics. The industry exposure helps gain practical experience, which serves as the key to ensure a smooth transition from the relaxed college environment to the competitive work environment. 

Fashion merchandising is ideal for those intrigued by the creative energy of the field and at the same time, are indulgent to explore the business wing of the glamorous industry.