pic @fongminliao
Do you want to work in fashion or start your own brand but you do not know anyone? Don’t worry. We’ve all been there. It is the initial phase that even those who now have a successful career, the most famous CEOs or designers had to overcome.
The moment of transition from student life to working life is always the most complicated. The lucky ones will be able to count on the school connections, but there are those who decide to work in fashion when all the rest of her childhood or college friends have instead embarked on a career in finance, law or other.
Surely at first, everything seems complicated because we know that sharing new challenges with someone else makes everything more pleasant. Being able to share with someone who is in the same industry your concerns or to exchange opinions on a fashion company or position, ask for advice would really be a huge help.
You can build your connections from scratch and starting a career or business in fashion. How?
Alejandra G, founder, designer and CEO of her namesake shoe brand explained to us how she started her brand with a background in music and TV production and with no knowledge or connections in fashion. When everyone, including the family, told her it would be difficult since she did not know anyone, she believed in herself and was convinced that she would find a way. And in the end, she did. She started asking her friends in the music and TV industry, if they had any friends in the fashion industry, and that’s how she started building her network.
As I have already explained, the web can be a valuable tool nowadays. You can easily find people working in fashion on LinkedIn and Instagram, follow them and reaching out to them asking to meet up for a coffee.
You can attend a short fashion course to meet students who have the same interest as you, do an internship (even if your goal is to start your brand, doing an internship will help you understand how a fashion company works and the process of development of the collections, so that you can apply it to your business avoiding to waste money at the beginning. Â Also you’ll meet people in fashion while interning who will help you out with your brand be useful with your business) attend networking events, panels and conferences.
Connections in fashion are essential both for who want to work in a fashion company and for those who want to start their own brand. Your network will help you. Even if at the beginning it seems the hardest thing to do, creating connections will make your working life easier and more successful.
Take a look at our community of girls who work in fashion, you’ll like joining a group of girls who share your passion and with whom you can exchange opinions, news and receive decision support. Being part of the membership has many advantages, and the last added is the WhatsApp group (there is also the Facebook group) where networking is even more direct and simple. Our events are perfect for those who want to grow their connections and all the girls are super positive, kind and supportive (something not very common in the fashion world 😉 )
So, if you want to work in fashion or start your brand and you do not know anyone in the industry yet, don’t worry. Follow the advice above and give yourself some courage and try to talk and get to know as many people as possible. Set a goal, such as getting to know 2 new people a month and develop a plan: find them on Instagram and invite them for a coffee, attend a course, events, start an internship, collaborate on projects such as photo shoots, write for a blog /magazine. Take it as a work commitment and you will see that with time you’ll feel confident at networking.
