How to get into the fashion industry?

Seanf999

I'm in fifth year at the minute and for a while now I've been thinking of a career in the fashion industry (or as a barber amongst other things but that's irrelevant)
What should I study after secondary school to have a chance of a career in the fashion industry?

I don't do art in school due to time table issues but I've been told I'm good at it (o atleast I hope so)

So what should I look into studying?

Wobbly_Legs

http://graftonacademy.com/

That might be a good start for you?

Dial Hard

Seanf999 wrote: »

I'm in fifth year at the minute and for a while now I've been thinking of a career in the fashion industry (or as a barber amongst other things but that's irrelevant)
What should I study after secondary school to have a chance of a career in the fashion industry?

That really depends on what it is you want to do in the industry. Do you want to be a stylist? A designer? A make-up artist? You're going to have to be a lot more specific before anyone can really advise you.

CathyMoran

My dad studied in NCAD part time and he was a fashion designer all of his working life.

Seanf999

Dial Hard wrote: »

That really depends on what it is you want to do in the industry. Do you want to be a stylist? A designer? A make-up artist? You're going to have to be a lot more specific before anyone can really advise you.

Designer, hopefully.. I've heard NCAD is a great place to study..

Seanf999

CathyMoran wrote: »

My dad studied in NCAD part time and he was a fashion designer all of his working life.

Do you need to do art for your leaving cert to study at NCAD?

Wobbly_Legs

Because you will be an undergraduate for fashion design at NCAD you must do a minimun of 6 subjects for your LC
2 honours with at least a C3
4 ordinary with at least a D3

these must include English, Irish and a Third Language OR Art

If you have an exemption from irish this is not needed.

I believe there is also a portfolio aspect. As there is only a limit of 25 places on this course it will probably come down to judging of portfolios

eviltimeban

I think you'll need to be artistic to have a chance of getting into NCAD.

But "a career in the fashion industry" as you say could be anything. I take it from your username you are male, so there are probably other areas to look at. Tailoring, for one. Most tailors started off as assistants, runners, etc, and then got into tailoring / design, etc. Look at the likes of Paul Smith, started small and worked up.

You could look around and see what's going on in fashion - a key thing now are fashion blogs. Fashion bloggers are becoming more prevalent and also could lead in to other things.

Also, know your stuff. Get on StyleForum and have a look around. What are people wearing? OK it's mostly menswear and I assume you don't (only) want to design for men, but there might be tips on how to move forward and how to get into it.

And like anything there'll also be networking involved. So you'll have to get out there and meet people.

Seanf999

eviltimeban wrote: »

I think you'll need to be artistic to have a chance of getting into NCAD.

But "a career in the fashion industry" as you say could be anything. I take it from your username you are male, so there are probably other areas to look at. Tailoring, for one. Most tailors started off as assistants, runners, etc, and then got into tailoring / design, etc. Look at the likes of Paul Smith, started small and worked up.

You could look around and see what's going on in fashion - a key thing now are fashion blogs. Fashion bloggers are becoming more prevalent and also could lead in to other things.

Also, know your stuff. Get on StyleForum and have a look around. What are people wearing? OK it's mostly menswear and I assume you don't (only) want to design for men, but there might be tips on how to move forward and how to get into it.

And like anything there'll also be networking involved. So you'll have to get out there and meet people.

I would consider myself artistic, I'm good at working with shapes and visual/abstract reasoning..
I first thought I would solely be interested in mens wear but I could see myself designing jewellery, dresses bags etc.

My friends thought I was joking when I mentioned a career in fashion, I wouldn't be pegged as 'the guy who looks like he'd work in fashion' or so a friend of mine said.. But you really can't put everyone under the one umbrella.

I do follow mens fashion bloggers on YouTube etc, women's ones not so much but my (ex) girlfriend has said I've a great eye for seeing what looks good on a girl.

Seanf999

Wobbly_Legs wrote: »

Because you will be an undergraduate for fashion design at NCAD you must do a minimun of 6 subjects for your LC
2 honours with at least a C3
4 ordinary with at least a D3

these must include English, Irish and a Third Language OR Art

If you have an exemption from irish this is not needed.

I believe there is also a portfolio aspect. As there is only a limit of 25 places on this course it will probably come down to judging of portfolios

Is there any entry points or is it just the necessary grades in subjects and the portfolio?
I've also heard that if a male is going for a place they tend to favor them (that may be utter bull but it's just something I've heard)

Wobbly_Legs

Seanf999 wrote: »

Is there any entry points or is it just the necessary grades in subjects and the portfolio?
I've also heard that if a male is going for a place they tend to favor them (that may be utter bull but it's just something I've heard)

The necessary grades are essentially the same thing as points...

I can't remember how many points are allocated to grades in the LC because it has been a long time but basically the required grades will be equivalent to points and that is the minimum.

Just focus on doing the best of your ability. Don't get caught up in the whole points race thing... not worth it IMO; there is always a route to the career path you wish to go down.

I would tend to think that gender favouritism is an out-dated belief

eviltimeban

Seanf999 wrote: »

I would consider myself artistic, I'm good at working with shapes and visual/abstract reasoning..
I first thought I would solely be interested in mens wear but I could see myself designing jewellery, dresses bags etc.

My friends thought I was joking when I mentioned a career in fashion, I wouldn't be pegged as 'the guy who looks like he'd work in fashion' or so a friend of mine said.. But you really can't put everyone under the one umbrella.

I do follow mens fashion bloggers on YouTube etc, women's ones not so much but my (ex) girlfriend has said I've a great eye for seeing what looks good on a girl.

That sounds great. Yes there's a presumption made that you have to be a flaming homosexual to be into fashion (nothing wrong with if you are btw!!), not just a regular guy. I too have an interest in men's fashion, mostly just to do with classic menswear (I don't have a blog but I post on Instagram and Tumblr). Going on something like StyleForum took it to the next level though - there are some people out there wearing serious clothes!

However I would say I'm more obsessed with clothes than interested in a career in fashion (bit too late for me I'm afraid) but with youth on your side you should have no problem! Go for it and don't worry what other people think. However you could also try to speak to some local designers / tailors and see how they got their start.

Seanf999

eviltimeban wrote: »

That sounds great. Yes there's a presumption made that you have to be a flaming homosexual to be into fashion (nothing wrong with if you are btw!!), not just a regular guy. I too have an interest in men's fashion, mostly just to do with classic menswear (I don't have a blog but I post on Instagram and Tumblr). Going on something like StyleForum took it to the next level though - there are some people out there wearing serious clothes!

However I would say I'm more obsessed with clothes than interested in a career in fashion (bit too late for me I'm afraid) but with youth on your side you should have no problem! Go for it and don't worry what other people think. However you could also try to speak to some local designers / tailors and see how they got their start.

I'm good friends with Phillip Treacy's nephew so we'll see how that goes!
Other then that there is essentially nobody who works as designers or tailors..

Dial Hard

Wobbly_Legs wrote: »

The necessary grades are essentially the same thing as points...

No they're not. The required grades are just the matriculation requirements needed for entry to that course. The points are based purely on the demand for the course. So a course might only require fairly mediocre results in order for a candidate to meet the matriculation requirements, but the points for that course might be 500 or over in a given year.

OP, you'd be far better off contacting NCAD to see what the requirements are for the courses you're interested in rather than asking questions here.

Dolbert

Do an art portfolio PLC course and get your artwork looking as good as possible. You will be interviewed by the art colleges you apply for through CAO. Their decision to accept you will be largely based on your portfolio.

Bored_lad

eviltimeban wrote: »

That sounds great. Yes there's a presumption made that you have to be a flaming homosexual to be into fashion (nothing wrong with if you are btw!!), not just a regular guy. I too have an interest in men's fashion, mostly just to do with classic menswear (I don't have a blog but I post on Instagram and Tumblr). Going on something like StyleForum took it to the next level though - there are some people out there wearing serious clothes!

However I would say I'm more obsessed with clothes than interested in a career in fashion (bit too late for me I'm afraid) but with youth on your side you should have no problem! Go for it and don't worry what other people think. However you could also try to speak to some local designers / tailors and see how they got their start.

I know its off topic but if you wouldn't mind could you share you tumblr and Instagram as I'm always on the look out for new male fashion ones to subscribe to.

eviltimeban

Bored_lad wrote: »

I know its off topic but if you wouldn't mind could you share you tumblr and Instagram as I'm always on the look out for new male fashion ones to subscribe to.

No probs, don't think I can post the links here (mods?) so I'll PM you.

It's more a "what I wore today" blog.

CathyMoran

My daddy worked in the fashion industry in London on the late 50's and early 60's - he is also a good artist but has long retired. I was good at it but my heart was in engineering. I know that he did his college part time.

Slim1996

At your age I would say try establish yourself an online presence get known in different fashion communities on different sites. The mens fashion youtube community (some very good youtubers out there now have clothing lines etc) good place to start, maybe make your own channel and post your own content . I also like to use other sites like kanyetothe.com their fashion section is very active/ one of the most popular on the internet. Learn a lot about style on it etc