How To Become A Fashion Writer

Are you flipping through the pages of Vogue, Harpers’ Bazaar, L’Officiel, or Elle daydreaming about the day you’ll finally get seated at your laptop ready to type the first words of your fashion writing career? Well, this article is for you as I am going to cover what you need to become a fashion writer. 

Working at fashion magazines is a popular option within the fashion industry. Probably because it’s one of the roles that got the most exposure due to also movies such as The Devil Wears Prada that showed us some behind-the-scenes of this world. 

But what does working at a fashion magazine really about?

There are many roles at fashion publications, fashion writers are of course a fundamental part of it. 

What does a fashion writer do? 

A fashion writer is responsible for writing fashion articles. There are different types of articles published in fashion media: news, fashion features, catwalk report, shopping articles… Some writers, especially senior ones, cover always the same category. Nicole Phelps for example covers runways for Vogue. There is also the difference between print and online. Some fashion writers work for the digital division publishing articles on the website. Others on the print, and still, others do both. 

If you are at the beginning of your fashion writing career you might or might not have some ideas about what to specialize in. Maybe you want to write about sustainable fashion. Or you want to report runways or you want to do a mix. It’s okay to either specialize or start with different topics at the beginning to experiment and understand what you’re strongest at. You could be covering a topic for a magazine and another for another publication, especially if you are a freelance writer. We will talk about freelancing later in another paragraph.

The day of a fashion writer usually starts with administration tasks such as replying to emails, planning content to write, attending editorial meetings, and even visiting press offices of brands or going to events (in person or on Zoom nowadays) to see a new collection or a new product. Be prepared to receive tons of daily emails and phone calls from PR people and agencies wanting to know your editorial calendar or pitching you stories, new collections, and brands.

Editors never stop researching and gathering inspiration to write their next articles.

Reading other fashion magazines and websites is a task they need to fit into their already packed day. As well as browsing on the internet looking for cool blogs and influencers or new brands on Instagram. The inspiration for a story can really come from anywhere. And Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok play a big role when it comes to getting inspiration for what to write. Fashion writers could also be traveling to fashion capitals to attend fashion shows and talk to the designers backstage. Others instead write a review by just watching the live streaming from their office or home and conducting an interview with the designer via Zoom.

Whether you will attend a fashion show (especially if it’s abroad)or not depends on the budget of the magazine. Not all editors are sent to all fashion weeks. And it’s important to keep in mind that as long as attending shows sounds exciting, you are doing it for work. Most fashion editors are exhausted during fashion month having to go from one show to another and in between still doing their job that normally already takes 8 hours a day, respecting deadlines which often means writing in the car or finishing an article at 2 am. 

At fashion magazines, especially glossy publications such as Vogue, there are both fashion writers and fashion editors.

A fashion writer is normally the person in charge of writing whether it’s for the digital website or the print edition. Fashion editors instead (and you can read more about this other role here) add to their job description styling as well. Fashion editors indeed organize and plan the editorial shootings of the magazines. There isn’t a single rule here. There are some fashion editors who write only, others who style only, and others who do a mix. So it’s not a job title that is always the same. It changes according to the person and the magazine. 

Styling and writing are often two roles that go hand in hand. It’s common to find fashion writers who style and vice versa stylists who are also contributing writers. It’s up to you to decide whether you want styling to be part of your job and in which percentage or focus on writing only. Both options are possible.

Okay, now that we have a more clear idea about what a fashion writer does, let’s see how to get into this world.

How to become a fashion writer

What to study to become a fashion writer

Let me begin by saying that there isn’t a degree that is more recommended to study to become a fashion writer. Some writers studied journalism but there are many famous fashion writers who didn’t study fashion nor journalism. For example, Nicole Phelps the Director of Vogue Runway we mentioned above, has a bachelor’s degree in Women’s studies. 

So if you studied marketing, art, history, communication, law, politics, business or other, you can still pursue this career. 

This doesn’t mean that you don’t have to study anything. Great writers keep learning on a daily basis indeed. It’s more about what you learn outside your traditional degree. It’s very important to keep learning new things constantly. Read a lot and not just about fashion but also about art and culture. Take online courses to get a new skill, and practice writing daily. Writing is a skill and so you can train it. Write something every day to become a better writer. You don’t have to write to get published somewhere; you can just write to practice this skill and leave your articles on your laptop. 

Build your writing portfolio

You might also be tempted to believe you will never publish an article if you don’t have previous work experience at a fashion magazine, but this is also not true. Most young people tend to focus on their resume and struggle because it’s short. But if you want to write for fashion magazines, you need to show them your writing. That’s why if you want to become a fashion writer you need to have a writing portfolio. Your writing portfolio is a collection of your articles, which in technical jargon are called clips, that you send to magazines and editors to show your writing skills. 

The articles you add to your portfolio can be some you published before on other websites or magazines. But if this would be your first writing job, you can add some sample articles to your portfolio that you just write in the next few days to build it. It doesn’t matter if the articles you add to your writing portfolio were previously published on Vogue or only on your personal blog or they are still only on your desktop. An excellent article is an excellent article and an editor knows it. So a properly done writing portfolio beats any course, qualification, and lack of experience. So stop stressing about a short resume. Because when editors hire new writers, they want to look at how they write. 

How to find fashion writer jobs

There are two main ways to find fashion writer jobs.

1. Online on the career web pages of your favorite magazines. For example, if you want to write for Vogue, you can visit the Condé Nast careers webpage and see if they have any writing positions open. 
2. The second option is my favorite and definitely the most effective. The students of my online course The Fashion Writer Accelerator used mainly this strategy only and they have started writing for the top magazines of the industry such as Marie Claire, Glamour, and CR Fashion Book thanks to this strategy without having any previous writing experience! This strategy is pitching. Many times is not possible to find writing opportunities online. This doesn’t mean that you have to sit still and wait for magazines to open these positions. Pitching means that you don’t apply for a vacancy posted online, but you propose your article ideas to editors and magazines. If you implement this strategy correctly you can literally start writing for your favorite magazines within a couple of weeks! 

What does it take to become a freelance fashion writer?

Some fashion writers are employed at a single magazine, and many – even the most famous ones – are freelancers. Working as a freelancer gives you the freedom to write for multiple magazines at the same time and even work remotely. If you are not living in a fashion capital and you want to become a fashion journalist, you can write for magazines by becoming a freelancer and do it from everywhere. 

The beauty of becoming a freelance fashion writer is that it allows you to somehow give yourself a job title without being employed yet. 

As a freelancer, you also have the option to manage this job with your own schedule.

You can be a freelance writer on the side or during the weekend, and have another full-time job during the week. 

Freelance writers consider their writing career as a business (they are their own boss) where their writing is the product and magazines are their customers. Being a freelance fashion writer, in fact, is much more than writing articles. To get your work published in a fashion magazine, you have to learn how to sell your articles to the publications. You are responsible for how much money you make. The more clients you get the more money you make. So this means that of course you can’t spend your days just writing. Especially at the beginning of your career, you have to deal with lots of pitches, sample articles, emails… The more you go ahead and acquire clients, the more you’ll spend on writing and less on these other things. 

Freelance writers are also regular contributors to some magazines. And some even work just for one single magazine but with a freelance contract. This means that even if you decide to go as a freelance, you won’t spend the rest of your freelance career stressing about finding new magazines to work with, because with many you will establish a long-term work relationship and write consistently with them. 

Want to learn more about how to become a fashion writer? Join me this weekend (Friday, Feb 24th and Sunday, Feb 26th) for a live webinar on how to start a fashion writing career in 3 days! Spots are limited, register here for free.