Assistants are fundamental. They manage different tasks, assist group or individuals, and it is a stepping stone to rise in rank and secure a place in the highest floors.
As soon as you are graduate, you start as assistant hoping to get your dream job.
This is the story of 3 assistants that now have Top Fashion Jobs!
Jessica Michault, editor-in-chief at NowFashion.com
During an Interview for BusinessofFashion she said : “It is absolutely a great way to start working in fashion, when I give talks at fashion conferences around the world, I advise students that come up to me and ask me for help to intern with or become the assistant of someone they admire who is doing the work they want to do, it’s a great way to get your foot in the door and meet the right people. You learn so much, so fast, and if you are lucky like I was, you are trained by someone with integrity and a strong work ethic.”
Jessica Michault started in 1996 to work for The New York Times International under the direction of the style editor Suzy Menkes. In 2007 she became online style editor and from 2012 editor-in-chief of NowFashion.com , her works have been published in Vogue, The New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar Brazil and GQ Germany.
“Today, being a fashion journalist is hard. But I always appreciate the people who have the determination to come up to me and ask for help or advice,” said Michault. “That is already such a big step. No one is going to come find you if you are off somewhere writing a fashion blog in your bedroom. Perseverance is what gets the job done. It’s how I hired quite a lot of writers”
Tom Kalenderian, executive vice president and general merchandise manager for menswear at Barneys
He started as temporary sales assistant was kept on and then worked directly for Gene Pressman ( Pressman are the original owners of the famous warehouse Barneys New York)
Kalenderian told BoF: “The best advice I can give to young people starting their career is to be a great listener and think like an owner, because someday you too will be a mentor to someone young and you too will impart the knowledge and wisdom you’ve acquired to enrich another man’s life.”
Calgary Avansino, contributing editor at British Vogue
Calgary Avansino began her career in fashion journalism in 2000 when she left California for an internship in London at British Vogue. Subsequently, she became a personal assistant to British Vogue editor-in-chief Alexandra Shulman, a positon in which she had the opportunity to learn about every last aspect of the magazine.
“Starting out as Alexandra Shulman’s assistant at Vogue was the best possible start to my career, I had never worked in magazines before, so I had to start with the basics and what better place to learn exactly how a magazine works than at the nexus of the office. When you are working directly for the person who makes every large and small decision, you become a masterful juggling artist.”
“The greatest learning opportunity was simply watching every day how Alexandra navigated the multi-faceted demands of running the most successful fashion magazine in Europe, It’s not just about what images to run or which photographers to work with; it’s about leading a team, encouraging people to give their best, focusing on the business side of the industry and being on top of everything all at once. I tried to absorb this brilliant balancing act as I took on more senior roles at the magazine.”
Avansino’s advice for aspiring assistants: “Work really, really hard. I know this might seem obvious but I see so many young people starting out today that want to do the minimum and reap all the benefits. It doesn’t work like that. I stayed late when I didn’t feel like it, I re-wrote copy when I didn’t feel like it, and I did endless filing when I didn’t feel like it. You learn from everything you are asked to do and building a strong work ethic is invaluable as your career progresses.”
What do you think about these 3 stories?
I was an assistant, I was a designer, I was a photographer but none of these jobs allowed me to get a job in fashion like what my dreams have been. First they told me I was to fat( I lost 25kg), I did not have enough experience was the next comment they gave me, then I was told I am over qualified. Still it was is my dream that work in th fashion industry. I would work my butt of to get a job but being an assistant for ten years didn’t work.
Hi Maya,
Thank you for leaving your comment.
I’m sorry to hear that you have not gotten the job of your dreams. There are different aspects to consider that depends from the job positions. There are different careers in fashion, why did they told you you were fat? What job you were applying for and which one you’d like to apply now?