Working in Fashion at Established Companies vs Startups

Thinking about how it is working in fashion, everyone has in mind the big brands: if you want to work in publishing there is Vogue, in beauty there is the L’Oreal or Estée Lauder companies and in fashion, there are large established companies such as Gucci, Inditex, Dior, etc.

But the reality is that there are many brands not so famous but just as beautiful and interesting that have many benefits and that you do not think when you are looking for a job in fashion.

Working for a large company or a startup in fashion is different: each one has its benefits and do not believe that working for a large company is better than a startup.

The pros and cons are different and also depend on the person. There are those who prefer to work in large companies, structured and having a well-defined role and those who prefer to be part of a new company, cover different roles and see it growing.

Let’s discover together the advantages of one and the other.

Benefits of working for a large company in fashion:

• The name → having an experience in an established fashion company on your CV certainly has its value. The prestige that comes from a famous fashion company is high and it is undoubtedly easier to switch to another brand of the same level.
• Organization → a large company is well structured. The departments and divisions are well defined. There is the marketing department, one for the production, the design team, finance…  Disadvantage: you may never know what another team does because it has its offices elsewhere or because there are clear-cut role divisions.
• Location: the headquarters of large fashion companies are prestigious, in the fashion capitals and with offices also located in different cities in the world. So not only your office will have the best view of the city, but you could also travel a lot between one location and another of the company.
• Networking: large fashion companies have a high number of employees, although this could be a disadvantage because it is difficult to know everyone and make everyone remember you, this also has the advantage of knowing more different people than working in a new startup where the staff is numerically inferior

Advantages of working for a Fashion startup

• Growth: if you work for a startup that you like and in which you believe, there is nothing better than working with the founders/founder and seeing it grow thanks to your contribution. Your ideas are shared and discussed directly with the owners of the company and you have more chances that one of your projects, will be realized. In a large fashion company, the CEO will not ask the interns what they think, while in a small startup this always happens.
• Multi-learning: you can learn everything from every field: marketing, PR, administration because being part of a small team the information is much more shared, moreover you could be the one to take care of several things at the same time. You, therefore, have a 360 ° view on how a company works, from birth to development.
• Innovation: startups are new, fresh companies with super-modern concepts. If you do not like the concept of a company that was born years ago and that has been structured in the old way, there is nothing better than working in a fresh and dynamic company. This can only be found in startups.
• Less competition: new startups are not so well known, and as already mentioned before, when looking for a job in fashion, everyone immediately thinks of looking at the job offers of big companies. Which means there’s definitely less competition if you want to work for a startup and so it’s easier to find a job.
• No static work: in a large structured company with a well-defined organization chart, each one has his/her tasks. So you could find yourself doing the same thing for a long time. A startup is dynamic and not so structured so your work may vary monthly or even daily, and you may have multiple roles at the same time. Glam Observer, is a startup in online fashion publishing and so I cover different roles: founder, social media manager, journalist, I manage the podcast, newsletter, store products, membership…

And you, do you prefer to work for a big fashion company or a startup? Comment with your opinion below.

feat. pic. Fashionphile’s office