Working in Fashion vs Working in Beauty

Fashion and beauty are two industries that work in parallel. They are often connected because the most famous fashion companies have their own beauty line. And very often those who have an interest in fashion also have it for beauty and vice versa. They are both creative and inspiring industries. However, you should know that working at Gucci and working for Gucci fragrances/beauty is not the same thing. Not only because obviously, we are talking about different types of products, but because most fashion companies do not directly manage their beauty lines and fragrances. The management of the fragrances and of the Gucci line is entrusted to the Coty company, which manages the beauty and fragrance lines of Burberry, Boss, Chloe, Tiffany & Co, Marc Jacobs and many more.

It is therefore clear that if you want to work for Burberry makeup, you won’t have to look for jobs at Burberry directly, but at Coty.

So you should better do some research before.

Another thing to consider are the different types of roles. Although many are similar, in fashion and beauty there are different and specialized figures. Some careers related to the fashion product such as the figure of the model maker will not be found in beauty, where instead you can find figures that do not exist in fashion.

I remember when I was in high school and I had to choose the university path. I was very undecided about my choice. I had a great passion for beauty and cosmetics and so I thought working at a beauty company and developing new products, was my thing. So I did something not so common. I sent an email to Dior beauty, Clinique and others to ask what degrees they requested to work in their companies and to develop new products. I was amazed, but they got back to me! They told me that a degree in Chemistry or Pharmacy was the ideal solution for them. In the end, I then completely changed my way by choosing to graduate in Management Engineering.

This is to explain that, despite being similar sectors, there are specific figures in fashion and beauty, like the chemist who has to work on new formulas to develop new products. Also, think about how important the packaging of a beauty product is, there are people specializing in design that deal with this. Which therefore is different from the figure of the designer associated with a fashion brand.

Another difference between fashion and beauty is the development of the product itself. In fashion, the merchandiser gives the guidelines of the collection, the design team works on the products, then the prototypes and the first samples are made and after the orders from the buyers, there is the production of the collection. In beauty, collections may be more frequent, but behind the launch of a beauty product, there are long research and development times and product testing.

In her interview, Maria Mercedes explained the differences between being a Buyer in fashion and being a Buyer in beauty:

“The beauty brands that also have a fashion house of reference, certainly take inspiration from the collections that we see on the catwalk. Often the seasonal collections that we call ONE SHOT are linked to the trends dictated by fashion. Then the beauty world has its own trends and different timing. We have many new product launches during the year that go beyond the classic Fall Winter and Spring Summer. The Buying process is different: there are no showrooms, usually the supplier, presents his marketing plan (so a real calendar in which we see the focus and the launches) we touch the products by hand and then proceed with the orders. ”

So as you can see, the same Job Title can have different functions.

Marketing is common in fashion and beauty companies and one of the most fundamental. It is managed differently, because they are different products but there is the marketing department both in fashion and beauty companies.You will see TV adv spot of fragrances rather than one of the clothing brand. However, this is linked to the image of the brand in general, so Coty that manages the fragrances of Gucci will still have to collaborate with the Gucci company for campaigns and product development so that there is a consistent branding strategy.

The same applies to those who would like to start their own brand. Before the social media and Youtube, everyone who wanted to start a business thought of a clothing brand, while now with the youtuber, turned makeup artists, turned beauty business girls, starting a beauty brand is a common idea of lots of girls.

Fashion has always been the favorite choice between itself and beauty, but today the beauty brands developed around social strategies have made this industry more interesting. Just think of Glossier, how many people would like to work there?

Choosing whether to work in fashion or in beauty is a matter of interest. In any job and any company, in order to be successful, you must first of all be passionate about that company and that industry.

And you what do you prefer? Fashion or Beauty?