Career in Fashion Marketing & Fashion Communication

Fashion Marketing and Fashion Communication are two streams of the fashion industry that are not as extensively known compared to others, but are as critical career lines as any other in this industry. Most aspects of fashion designing needs highly sharpened creativity, but a fashion designer or a fashion house cannot run on creativity alone. This glamorous industry is incomplete without being business minded.

Fashion marketing is quite similar to marketing any product. Integrating brand into the product is something always popular in the fashion world for many popular retail fashion products. Fashion marketing can be perceived in two ways; one is marketing for the fashion conscious consumers and the other is marketing to distribution channels such as retail franchises. Fashion marketing basically focuses on promoting, publicizing and increasing awareness of a particular brand or designer. A person pursuing a career in this line should have the skill of strategically pushing a product into the limelight. A fashion marketer should be able to recognize the target audience and the needs of the consumers. This information will be the base point on which the strategies will be developed. Advertisements, public and media interaction, social media, events and magazines are used by a fashion marketer intelligently to create awareness. 

Fashion communication is an emerging career line that is gaining space in the market. It has a lot to do with the business side of fashion designing and so it is bound to share similarities with fashion marketing. As the name suggests, it is all about communication, or more accurately mass communication. In this globalized world and constantly changing trends where styles keep changing by the minute, communicating a particular brand or designer in a unique and impactful way is the priority. Through the use of mass communication, brand labels or designers are promoted. Just as it is with fashion marketing, fashion communication uses advertisement, promotion, social media, print and videos to get the message across.  

In order to gain successes in these two professions an individual needs to have a strong background in fashion education. They need to possess knowledge about every aspect of the fashion industry, the business as well as the creative part. The MBA in Fashion Management at the Whistling Woods Neeta Lulla School of Fashion does just that. Aspirants are introduced to the fundamental business concepts along with the application of commercial practice, which is required before entering the world of fashion. 

Careers in the Fashion Industry

There are multiple streams in the Fashion Industry in which an aspirant can dip their toes. Designing, Styling, Illustration, Fashion Journalism and Merchandising are the most prominent ones, but there are others that are still gaining ground. Career lines like Patternmaking, Textile Making and Production Management are some streams that have yet to be commercially famous. Like any other profession, being aware of all aspects of any career line is necessary, which is why we are here.

First up is Patternmaking as a choice of career. Every garment is created by assembling pieces of fabric together, thus a Patternmaker is the one who creates garment or apparel patterns. They are responsible for designing and creating different patterns that are used to create different types of garments. Patterns for garments are shapes that are cut out before an outfit is made. Different materials like fabric or plastic can be used, but a thin paper, also known as pattern paper, is preferred. A patternmaker has two options, either creates unique patterns for mass production or they can work closely with a designer to create custom patterns. There are four aspects that a patternmaker should be excelling in; conceptualizing, measuring, drawing and cutting. In order to achieve this, you need a formal education in fashion. 

Next in line is Textile Making, which is a relatively familiar field. Textile making comprises of weaving, knitting, crocheting or print. A textile designer will be involved with the production and supervision of these designs. The process is a transformation from raw material to finished garment. A course in textile making will enable you to understand the different types of weaves and more importantly knowledge about fabric, they way a fabric behaves and their characteristics. For a designer to experiment with different weaves a person should have a good sense of visual and design principles like color, composition and most of all, patterns.

Last, but not the least, we shall talk about Production Management. This line of profession is not creatively related to fashion designing, but a fashion designer heavily relies on a production manager. As the name rightly suggests, a production manager is the one who handles the entire show. It is a multi-tasking job and someone who juggles tasks well will find success here. Their organizational skills should be excellent because while a designer is drawing their next collection it is the job of a production manager to organize things. They have to handle the finance aspect too, like maintaining spreadsheets etc, so basically their job is to see that everything is running smoothly.

The good thing about the fashion industry is the various options it can offer to everyone. It is a perfect blend of creativity and business which creative minds and the business minded can explore. The various courses at Whistling Woods Neeta Lulla School of Fashion will let you explore variety of career paths both in designing and management. So read a lot, research even more and decide the stream you will choose to enter into this world of glitz and glamour!