How To Learn About Fashion

Fashion is a vast and dynamic industry, and something major happens basically every day: product launches, collaborations, new appointments, fashion shows, projects… And so, it is absolutely necessary to stay up to date as regularly as possible. On the other hand, fashion has a rich history and reading a book or taking a course to learn about fashion in-depth from time to time is also necessary.

As an (aspiring) fashion professional, you always need to learn more about the fashion industry whether it is to prepare for an interview, do your job better, kickstart your fashion brand, or have conversations with your peers, colleagues, and your boss. Knowledge gives you power and confidence. The more you know about the industry, the more confident you will feel. And I am not talking only about flipping the pages of your favorite magazines and following the latest trends, but also staying up with what’s going on on the business side of the industry and the latest events.  

Now, I’m guessing you are thinking that in order to learn about fashion, you have to attend a fashion school. But if you have been reading Glam Observer for a while, then you know my thoughts on this. Studying fashion is not necessary to work in this industry (except maybe if you want to become a fashion designer,) however, it’s then important to inform yourself about it through other means. But since we all are fashion enthusiasts here, learning should be not only a duty but also a pleasure. Imagine waking up every day and enjoying your morning coffee with your sweet but short daily dose of fashion. Or when you come back home after a long day at university or work, you can give your evening a fashionable upgrade 😉

How To Learn About Fashion

The good news is that you can learn everything on your own and from the comfort of your home. Thankfully, there are plenty of resources to choose from. However, if you don’t know where and how to learn about fashion, or you feel lost in all the available sources out there and you don’t know where to start, you are in the right place as today we are going to share the best ones with you.  

Online Fashion Courses

I can tell you from my personal experience that online courses can not only broaden your knowledge about fashion, but they can also be a game changer for your career. Want to hear my story? 

I was not born in a fashion capital but in the South of Italy. I was studying for my bachelor’s in  Management Engineering, so to stay connected with my true passion which was fashion, whenever I had a bit of free time and a break from classes and exams, I took online fashion courses and worked on personal projects like starting a fashion blog or sketching fashion illustrations. Ah, those were the days! This mostly happened during summer as it was the only time I was a bit less busy from my bachelor’s degree. And you know what? It paid off big time!

At that time I was taking these courses and starting a fashion blog just for fun and pleasure and like I said, it was my way of staying connected to my true passion while pursuing my management engineering degree. But I had no idea that these summer self-immersions into the world of fashion would have been a game-changer for my career. When I graduated with my bachelor’s in management engineering, I then decided to move to Milan to pursue my fashion dreams. When I moved to Milan I decided to take a one-year Master in Luxury and Fashion Management. The Master kicked off in May but I didn’t wait until my graduation to start applying for my first internships in fashion.

Indeed I started my job search just after the summer in October.

I applied for 3 fashion internships, got 3 job interviews, got all the 3 internships thanks to my unconventional strategies (I teach about them in this free webinar), and I was lucky to choose my dream role at Alexander McQueen and start as an eCommerce intern in December 6 months before graduating from my master. I’ll never forget when the recruiter who hired me told me that they didn’t choose me among other candidates because I was taking a master’s in luxury and fashion management, but because they saw my potential and true passion for the industry for those online fashion courses and personal projects I just did for fun each summer break during my university years.

She said that luxury fashion brands such as Alexander McQueen are used to receiving applications from students who graduated from the top fashion schools, so that is not very much a detail that impresses them. However, the online courses I took showed my genuine interest in fashion. This is why I recommend so much to take online fashion courses as it can give an added value to your resume, especially if you don’t have much experience. Plus, they are a great way to learn about fashion in-depth without studying fashion because yes, education is still important. 

There are different things you can learn in online fashion courses: the business side of the industry and how it works, the history of fashion, analyzing runways, careers in the fashion industry, a specific skill, global issues the industry faces, like sustainability, and the future of fashion (ie: technology, AI, etc.,) among others.

In my Glam Observer Fashion Academy, I teach several online fashion courses to launch your career in fashion.

Fashion News

As I said, fashion is a fast-evolving industry, so if you want to be part of it, you should keep up with the pace and try not to miss the things happening every day. When I refer to the news, I don’t mean following the latest trends, fashion and beauty products, and news about celebrities (but feel free to do so on the side to satisfy the fashionista within you ;)) but reading about the history of fashion and the business side of it.

Therefore, I recommend you to read articles on platforms like Women’s Wear Daily, The Business of Fashion, Vogue Business, Fashionista, and others to learn about the business side of the industry. 

This way, you won’t miss important product launches, events, and projects, and be able to have a fashion conversation with your colleagues and classmates. You could even be asked during a job interview about your thoughts on the latest collection of X brand, or the latest fashion week, so if you know about them, you can then impress the recruiters by presenting yourself as someone curious and passionate about fashion. 

Fashion Newsletters

Although I can’t stress enough how important it is to stay updated regularly about what’s going on in the fashion industry, I also understand that it takes time. I often hear the concern of students or those who already have a job (or sometimes do both) that they don’t have enough spare time to learn about fashion. Perhaps you imagine that you have to dedicate 1 hour every day to take a course or read 30 books per year, but you don’t. Even 5-10 minutes can make a significant impact on your knowledge. And newsletters are very helpful in that because they usually summarize the most important news and facts about the fashion industry, and they arrive straight into your inbox. 

On Glam Observer, we have Inside Fashion, our weekly free Friday newsletter where we post the latest fashion news, fashion career advice, and recommendations on what to read, watch, and listen to learn more about the fashion industry.

If you want to learn the fashion industry fundamentals, you can also subscribe to our daily newsletter 365 days of fashion, which comes straight into your inbox with quick-to-read and straightforward information about the business side of the industry, iconic fashion products and collections, fashion terms, the history of fashion, fun facts about fashion designers and editors, and much more! You can subscribe here.

Fashion Books

Staying updated about what’s going on in the fashion industry is crucial, and that doesn’t only involve reading daily news; you also have to constantly complete and nurture your knowledge with complementary books. You can learn in-depth about the history of a fashion brand, a designer, the history of fashion, and so on. Here are some of our recommendations:

• Anna: The Biography
• A Visible Man
• Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Lustre
• The Fashion Show: The stories, invites, and art of 300 landmark shows
• Glossy: The Inside Story of Vogue
• Pat In The City: My Life of Fashion, Style, and Breaking All the Rules
• Battle Of Versailles: The Night American Fashion Stumbled into the Spotlight and Made History

And if you are an aspiring fashion professional looking to break into the industry, but you don’t know which steps to take to transform your dream into reality, you can read my book Your Fashion Dream Plan 😉

Take a look at the full list of books we compiled so you don’t have to search.

If you enjoy reading books and want to discuss them in a fashion community of fellow book lovers, join our newsletter 365 days of fashion, which gives you access to our Fashion Book Club.

Fashion Podcasts

Take a break from your favorite music on Spotify to pop on a fun fashion podcast! Whether you’re driving to see family, on a long flight, cleaning your house, or lying on the beach, a podcast is the perfect listen.

• The Glam Observer Podcast
• The Run Through with Vogue 
• Dressed: The History of Fashion
• The Business of Fashion Podcast
• Louis Vuitton [EXTENDED]
• Invincible Threads (Norma Kamali’s podcast)

You can find them on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Fashion Documentaries

Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO, Apple TV…these home cinemas are real gems to learn about fashion. You can learn about designers, get a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes of a magazine, or learn about important fashion events.

• The Super Models
• The September Issue
• The First Monday in May
• In Vogue: The Editor’s Eye
• Manolo: The Boy Who Made Shoes for Lizards
• Very Ralph
• Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel 

In this article, we feature more fashion documentaries.

Fashion Exhibitions

If you are lucky to live in a fashion capital or you are traveling to one, then you may want to check out some fashion exhibitions, as most of them take place in big cities across the world. Visiting an exhibit allows you to get a closer look at the brand’s world by discovering its craftsmanship and archive pieces, learning about the history of the fashion house, etc. 

Here are some ongoing fashion exhibitions worth a visit:

• Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto. You can visit it until February 25, 2024, at the V&A Museum in London.
• Mood of the Moment: Gaby Aghion and the House of Chloé. Running until February 18, 2024, at the Jewish Museum in New York City.
• Aldo Fallai per Giorgio Armani, 1977-2021. It’s hosted by Armani/Silos in Milan until August 11, 2024. The museum also has a permanent exhibition featuring Armani’s creations from 1980 up until today.
• Modern Paris, 1905–1925. Running until April 14, 2024, at the Petit Palais Museum in Paris.
• Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses. Hosted by The Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris until April 28, 2024.

To sum up, studying fashion on your own, besides having a formal education with whatever degree is essential to work in this sector. I recommend learning about fashion in two ways: daily, by reading news and watching a documentary, plus once a month or so it’s good to read a book or take an online course to learn about fashion in-depth, in addition to daily updates. 

If you want to start living the fashion life of your dreams you’ve been dreaming for so long, but you feel unprepared and need guidance on how to break into the fashion industry, register for my free masterclass here.