The fashion industry is always looked at from an outsider’s perspective. The glamorous shoots, designers, supermodels, and the never-ending trends. But, as a student at a fashion school, the reality is quite far from that. As a student, excelling at your college of fashion design means preparing a lot of presentations, doing market research and working on Microsoft Excel to analyze data. In other words, it’s not exactly the world of gold and glitz that it appears to everyone outside the industry.
Nevertheless, your time at fashion school is an imperative contribution to your overall career in fashion. It is your time and place for learning, hustling, networking, and making the best out of the resources available to you. The fashion world of today comes with tremendous opportunities for talented individuals who wish to pursue their passion, and if you’re one of them, you may also have a desire to top in fashion school. On cue, here are 8 ways you can guarantee that for yourself.
1. Commitment
Just like any other field, fashion also requires commitment. Yes, you need to have an eye for all things fashion and a seamless creative vision, but talent can only get you this far. Your commitment and hard work are what will do the rest of the job for you. It may get difficult from time to time and you may need to put in the hours, but after graduating from fashion school, there is a whole other world waiting for you to explore out there. So, don’t give up and keep striving!
2. Passion
The next thing to commitment is passion. Got a passion for fashion? Well, you can make anything happen. It's not easy to excel in the fashion world today and being in school will only give you a small glimpse of your after-life if you choose to continue a career in fashion. But, if you are passionate about choosing a career path in fashion, you will certainly make it happen. With the right amount of passion, the hours you put in will seem interesting and your drive will only help you move up the ladder over time.
3. Time management
If you want to excel at anything, you need to know how to use your time wisely. As a student in fashion school, your schedule will be very dynamic in nature including classes, assignments, internships, projects, etc. Along with that, you will need time to explore your own designs with freestyle work. With all of these things going on simultaneously, you will need to manage your time in order to make the most of your schedule. Some students also pursue freelance or part-time fashion gigs during their internship period in order to get a head start on their careers.
Evidently, time plays an important role when mastering a field. But, we recommend taking it slow because your mental health is also crucial to this whole process. Find time for yourself to relax, unwind and be calm as you navigate through your schedule in fashion school. Do things that bring you joy amidst the whole chaos of the fashion world. Meditate, work out or even enjoy the sunset with a cup of chai. Let these things keep you sane and help you stay creative, so you can manage your time better.
4. Be unique
There are a lot of different ways to put this out. Being unique means you need to be true to yourself. If you are proud of your eclectic style, then don’t be afraid to stand out. If you have an opinion that is different from the rest, then voice it out. Fashion school is all about finding your creative voice and sticking to it. Your own creative beat will help you stand out in a crowd; it will help you get noticed and recognized in your career. So, don’t be afraid to be different and embrace your uniqueness.
5. Network
One of the ladders of succeeding in fashion is to maintain good relationships and networks. If you’re trying to score internship gigs, you might have to start with fetching coffee or getting involved in a lot of boring paperwork. But trust us, it gets better. At fashion school, networking will mainly consist of keeping in touch with your peers and making a collaborative effort into your assignments. When creative minds get together, they can create a masterpiece. Besides this, you will also need to establish a good rapport with your superiors and professors. After all, they will be the ones giving you good recommendations when you’re out there looking for your first job. And, as you get more and more experienced, you will need to maintain relationships with designers, merchandisers, brands, and other professionals too. These connections are supremely important in the fashion industry.
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6. Upskilling
The time that you spend upskilling is never wasted. It will only boost your portfolio and your resume, thereby increasing your chances of getting scooped up by brands and fashion houses. Instead of graduating and then upskilling, we recommend taking up some side courses while you are studying. You could take up a couple of extra classes over the weekend and get additional certificates. At the end of the course, you will have a greater number of certifications on your resume as compared to your peers.
7. Do things that bring you closer to your goal
Success in the fashion world isn’t going to happen overnight. But each day, you can promise yourself to do something that brings you closer to your goals. It could be taking time out to sketch in the week or working on that piece of fabric that you find difficult to crack. Sometimes, it could also be something as simple as setting up a meditation routine, so that you can preserve your mental health in order to get through another week of stressful college life. Whatever you do, it's important to keep looking ahead.
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In order to stay motivated in a competitive field like fashion, look back and see how far you’ve come. Your true competition is only yourself. Compare your current self to a version of yourself two years ago and make note of all your developments. You could keep track of all your developments on a monthly or yearly basis. That’s how you’ll know you’re moving ahead and you’re on the right path.
8. Show up
Half of the battle is won by just showing up, and that’s true for fashion school as well. Everyday won’t be a win, but showing up every day will guarantee wins in the future. So, show up even on the hard days and do your best to get through the day, the week or the month, and continue being your own cheerleader.
Being committed to your education and your career isn’t going to be an easy task, but if you are prepared to put in all you’ve got, you will definitely top fashion school. It’s going to take a lot of sacrifices - your social life, sleep and lots of luxuries, but to build a life that you love is going to be amazing, take it from us! One tip on how to make it all better? Celebrate your wins. You could reward yourself with a glass of wine, a shopping spree or even a nap. In the beginning, it won’t feel like you’re doing a lot, but make sure you cheer yourself on and keep focusing on the future.