Getting an initial opportunity in the clothing industry may be scary. It’s an intensely competitive environment where creatives in this field have to accept and change to keep pace with the fast-evolving fashion trends, then only one can fulfill the needs of the audience. The fashion field captivates the hearts of many young students but it is broader than it seems. One only gets to know this huge industry when they start working here and are liable to face the hardships and responsibilities of their everyday job.
Students that aspire to get into this profession should start trying activities related to the industry at an early age to understand their interests better and gain more clarity. The steps you take at the start of this journey have a huge impact on how and where you land in this industry or how well you perform here! One needs to have a strong framework before moving forward and that is why one should take preventative measures to be safe from common but huge mistakes that can have a very strong effect on your future. If you, being a fashion aspirant, take interest in this profession and want to have a better view and successful future ahead, you should keep in mind the following common mistakes that you should ALWAYS AVOID-
1. THINKING THAT IT IS ALREADY TOO LATE TO START
People, regardless of their age, tend to not make efforts as per their entire capability only because they start feeling their time has already passed but guess what? IT’S NEVER TOO LATE! One should always keep doing as much as they can, it can even be writing/reading a blog, podcast, news, enrolling in courses, and making use of more resources available in today’s digital world. Having a social media presence is the easiest and also the most important tool to share and express your ideas, voice your opinions, build a network and also, find inspiration for your work.
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2. BEING AFRAID OF TRYING NEW TRENDS
The fashion industry is all about mixing and matching different prints, patterns, and designs. It’s all about creating something new and different. Fashion aspirants often refrain from including such uniqueness in their design portfolios and their work as they are afraid of it being uncommon and that’s where their work lacks creativity and newness. This fear, in turn, leads to them missing valuable opportunities of getting into good programs and universities that would provide the student in-depth knowledge about the entire fashion industry. Therefore, don’t be hard on yourself and just let your creativity flow!
3. GETTING INVOLVED WITH PLAGIARISM
This is a big one! No aspirant should ever get involved in copying another designer’s work because the person reviewing the work will perform a check for plagiarism and getting caught will NOT have a positive impact on your future in this industry. Plagiarism is considered unethical conduct of a person. Your work should be realistic and believable enough for the reviewer to provide you with opportunities that you deserve according to your work capabilities. Your work should always represent YOU and know that nothing is more beautiful than giving your spin to your designs.
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4. IGNORING SELF STUDY
Students may or may not enroll in coaching classes to prepare for their design entrance exams, that is a matter of personal choice, interest, and comfort of the student. Whatever the case might be, the student should always keep in mind that the most important factor to succeed is SELF STUDY. Self-study helps the student to comprehend the concepts better, increase their creativity and imagination, and speed while attempting the questions during exams. No coaching classes can ever brush up on one’s creative skills unless the student has the will and determination to do that for themselves.
5. NOT ACCEPTING AND WORKING ON FEEDBACK
Students, at their age, are not fond of other people presenting an opinion about their work. While it can be tough to accept criticism or constructive feedback over work that you invested a lot of effort into, feedback from industry experts can help understand what types of products would take you forward in this profession. It is important to believe in yourself and your talent but refusing to learn from the experiences and realizations of experts can risk your success in this field.
Source: Pexels
6. SHOWING ALL OF YOUR ARTWORKS IN THE DESIGN PORTFOLIO
It is a great quality to be proud of yourself and your work, but students often make this ONE BIG MISTAKE and showcase all of their works in their design portfolio. A portfolio should have a specific layout and theme throughout and you should always pick your best projects and showcase your best works that create a clearer view of your design capabilities and help the reviewer make a quick decision. One needs to be unbiased in selecting their absolute best works and putting them forward.
7. NOT INVESTING IN ONLINE COURSES
Every person wants to save money and invest mindfully but one should always invest in education as this is going to be a LONG-TERM ASSET. Nowadays, there are many resources online that provide students with helpful insight into the fashion and design field. This can be very helpful for the young aspirants in starting their journey smoothly and with the correct and safe guidance without spending too much! Online courses have more benefits as compared to the traditional methods of education in some manner as it helps students to visualize the things that they learn and apply them accordingly.
8. STICKING TO THE FIRST IDEA THAT STRIKES YOUR MIND
Without a doubt, your first idea can be extremely creative and unique but if you could easily come up with that as your first idea then you can surely come up with even better ones if you spend some more time and effort into the work. Your first idea may not be your best one! Our brains are lazy, and the first idea we have is usually the handiest, rather than the best idea. As rightly said by Neurologist David Eagleman, “The key to innovation is to distrust the first answer and to send it back. Send the answer back so you’re getting something else out of that rich network that’s already in there.”
Source: Pexels
9. THINKING THAT YOU HAVE TIME (YOU REALLY DON’T)
Students have this misconception that they have a lot of time in hand and this ultimately leads to them panicking at the last moment and missing out on great opportunities that could have helped them on their journey to achieve their goals. Time management is extremely crucial in today’s world irrespective of the field one is working in. Make a schedule and manage your time accordingly. Don’t waste all your energy on a single task as multi-tasking is an extremely important quality that is essential to succeed in this fast and competitive industry.
10. LASTLY, BEING OVERCONFIDENT
Students believe that since they have learned and understood a concept once, they will easily be able to apply it in their work or attempt questions related to the same. One should note that they can never be COMPLETELY prepared, they can just always keep practicing more and brush up their skills. At every step in the design field, students are tested on the basis of different attributes such as their presence of mind, thinking ability, and creative side as well as how well aware they are about their target market and further, the business side fashion world.
As an aspirant, you'll have a long journey where you will have to learn and adopt new habits, qualities, certain skills, and techniques. You will have to get past many challenges and even failures, but failure gives you another chance to prove yourself. If you take care of these common mistakes, the chances of success will gradually keep on increasing! This is not all that you need to succeed but this will definitely guide you to the correct path that you need to walk on in order to achieve your goals at the earliest.