Fashion: A Career
by Carrer Counselor-
If You
are talented and exude style in everything you do. Your originality and
creativity are an extension of who you are and what you are about. You love to
make people look good, that’s what drives your passion to create and if you
have weighed the pros and the cons and come to the firm conclusion that fashion
is your passion, there are many exciting avenues that you could explore by way
of a career in this field
The word
‘fashion’ immediately conjures up images of glitz and glamour. And many young
people, attracted by these attributes decide to foray into fashion only to
realise that what they see outside is not the inside story. Admittedly, there
are some glamorous aspects to this business. As part of the fash frat (fashion
fraternity for the uninformed), you may get to rub shoulders with the rich and
famous, but reaching there is sheer hard work.
The
Work:-
Fashion
Design can be divided into three main branches — Garment design, Leather design, Accessory & Jewell design.
Here
we will focus on Garment design, While the saying “clothes make a man”
merits debate, the fact is we no longer wear clothes to keep ourselves covered
or warm, but to express our personality and “attitude”. This is where the
fashion designer steps in, to help us make the correct fashion statement.
Creating a style, using the right fabric, the right cut and a good finish, the
designer turns out either a singular creation (one of its kind) that may sell
for a king’s ransom, or more usually, outfits that will reach a retail outlet
in different sizes and colors. In certain cases, the garment may even be
mass-produced for a specific market.
Garments include
items of regular clothing, generally western style, although there is a growing
local market for Indian style designer wear such as salwar-kameez, sherwanis,
ghagra-cholis, kurtis and so on.
There are
four courses of action that you can adopt to launch into the career of your
dreams:
- Lawyers in private practice usually work for
long and irregular hours meeting clients, researching and reading about
new
- Apprenticeship under a flourishing, well-known
designer.
- Employment in an export house or garment
manufacturing unit.
- Freelancing for fashion houses and boutiques.
- Self-employment, as in opening your boutique
or manufacturing unit or an export outfit to showcase your talent.
-
Nothing
can compare with the absolute joy when your creation is admired and appreciated
for its style and finish. And the high-voltage publicity and applause as you
proceed for the curtain call at the end of a stunning show won’t hurt either.
Today fashion designers share equal space on Page 3 as models and film stars.
Employment
Opportunities
In India,
the fashion industry has just begun to come of age. As it is still in its
fledgling stage, it offers plenty of opportunities for enthusiastic, talented
and hard working youngsters.
Prospects
for fashion design graduates are pretty good thanks to the huge and still
growing demand for “designer wear” and the equally large volume of
exports.
What with
the sheer variety and availability of materials – from traditional silks and
ikats to jamawars and handlooms in vibrant weaves and dyes – India is a fashion
designer’s dream.
Until a
few years ago, there was not a single Indian name in the global fashion scene.
However with the establishment of NIFT and some other fashion schools, a band
of gifted designers is already making its mark on the fashion firmament. Today
names like Ritu Kumar, Ritu Beri, Rohit Bal, Sunit Verma, JJ Vallaya and Tarun
Tahiliani have virtually become household names – what with the media
showcasing their talent across double-page spreads in glossy mags and sundry
fashion-related programmes on TV.
What it
takes? -
A
question often asked by young people is whether they really need to be trained
to be a designer. Most young people who are able to sketch well and have an
interest in fashion believe their talent and interest already qualifies them
for the fashion industry. But fashion design is not just about sketching pretty
clothes. Barring a few exceptions where talent borders on genius, it is
certainly recommended that you pursue a course in fashion design. And you can
do so straight after school. There are a variety of courses available to suit
different needs and budgets.
While the
academic requirements are not very high, you need considerable aptitude and
talent to be labelled “designer” material. You must be highly creative to
combine colours, shades and textures, and express your ideas through sketches.
If you
can visualise designs and enjoy working with fabrics and accessories you are
looking at the right career. Along with fashion consciousness and creativity,
you also need excellent communication skills to articulate your ideas and
understand the client’s requirements. Knowledge of the market and a good eye
for detail are the other must-haves.
Beware
though fashion is as much about technique as about style. You need to be clued
in on manufacturing technology, time and motion studies, plant efficiency,
labour motivation, zero-defect production — all are extremely relevant to this
industry.
Before
you become a name to reckon with, be prepared to put in tons of hard work and
running around.
However,
fashion design is just one of the many careers that a student of fashion design
prepares for. There are a number of others such as marketing and merchandising,
fashion co-ordination, fashion journalism, etc.
What
you'll make?
The fancy
salaries and the hype that you read about in the glossies is only for those who
are really talented to begin with or those passing out of the premier
institutes. For the rest, finding a decent toehold can be pretty tough. Also
considering the fact that just about everyone is rushing into fashion
designing, it may be wise to opt for some of the other courses like
Merchandising, Accessory Designing, Garment Manufacturing Technology, etc., all
of which have a component of fashion design in them.
Having
said that, the money is pretty good. As a fresher you’ll start out with a
monthly package of Rs.8,000-14,000. A couple of years down as your designing
skills mature, your salary would be in the range of Rs.30,000-40,000. Of
course, if you become a marquee designer and are lucky enough to go
international.
Where to
study?
Your race
for admission into a reputed fashion school will begin straight after school.
Subjects like drawing, painting, home science, computer graphics will develop
your creativity.
By the
time you finish the course you will have mastered the step-by-step production
of a garment — from designing to pattern making, production and even
marketing.
Although,
if you are interested in further specialisation to work in a large
manufacturing unit or start your own fabrication unit someday, you could opt
for post-graduate courses in garment manufacture, merchandising, etc.
When we
talk of fashion, we often forget the wide range of accessories that also
constitute fashion. Although the courses listed here mainly pertain to apparel
design, you could opt for a course in accessory design or specifically in
jewellery design, knitwear design, footwear design or leather design — the
options are as diverse as the range and variety of accessories
themselves.
Apeejay
Institute of Design, 54, Tughlaqabad Institutional Area, Mehrauli Badarpur
Road, New Delhi 110062 www.appejay.edu
National
Institute of Design (NID), Paldi, Ahmedabad 380007. www.nid.edu
National
Institute of Fashion Design (NIFD), Chandigarh. www.nifd.net
National
Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), at New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkatta,
Hyderabad, Chennai, Gandhinagar, Bangalore. www.niftindia.com
Northern
India Institute of Fashion Technology (NIIFT), C-115, Phase-VII, Industrial
Area, Mohali 160055 www.niiftindia.com
earl
Academy of Fashion, C-56/2 Okhla Indl Area, Phase II, New Delhi 110020
www.pearlacademy.com
SNDT
Women's University, Mumbai www.sndt.edu
Srishti
School of Art, Design & Technology, PO Box 6430 Yelahanka, Bangalore 560064
(Kar) www.srishtiblr.org
University
Of Mumbai, M G Road, Fort, Mumbai 400032 (Mah). www.mu.ac.in
Wigan
& Leigh College etc.
for more
colleges and other information please refer to related website and
search before you join.
BEST OF LUCK
Thanks
