A post about switching careers

Once in a while, I get a random email from someone who has read my blog and has some questions. I try to respond to everyone who writes me, although the ones that are like, "Can you get me an internship?" get ignored (the answer is no, I can't).

I got an interesting email today that I felt was worth sharing, along with my responses in blue. See below:

Hi Janet,

Thank you for creating your blog regarding your experiences and launching your own line. As you have probably guessed, I am interested in a fashion career and find your blog very insightful and oober helpful to say the least. I would love to pick your brain on a few things, per my below email. (My apologies in advance for the length of my email...)

I. BACKGROUND

I grew up with very pragmatic parents who encouraged me to pursue "safe" career options; specifically they wanted me to study medicine, law and/or engineering. Unlike you, I caved to their practical, unrelenting persuasion. The good part is they encouraged me to study hard. As a result, I got great grades and went to great universities. Nevertheless, despite my successes, I am constantly dreaming of a fashion career.

II. AGE

In short, now that I have pursued the "safe" career, I am ready to change gears and finally do what I want to do with my career. As a result, I would love to know your thoughts on transitioning into fashion. I am in my early 30s now and wonder if that means I am too old to transition into fashion. In your experience, would fashion houses see me as too old to hire?

Fashion is definitely an "age-ist" industry, and I have seen people who are a little older having a hard time finding work. However, I don't think that means it would be impossible. If you look good for your age and dress well, that helps. Also, as in any industry, if you are a hard worker and connect with the right people, there is always a way to find work.

III. STARTING MY OWN LINE

Additionally, I have started designing my own clothes again and am working developing my own line. I am also presently working on a website to showcase and sell my clothing. However, I wonder if the better approach is to gain some practical work experience in the field before launching my own line. [Side note: It has been unbelievably daunting to try to make samples, identify production houses and pattern makers (to gage my patterns up and down for me), etc.]

Ideally, I want to launch my own line, but I would be satisfied if I could earn a stable living working in fashion. Plus it seems better to work in fashion first so as to create contacts... I have ABSOLUTELY NO fashion contacts. Any tips you have regarding career strategies are appreciated (i.e., work for a firm, start own line simultaneously or start line while seeking work).

I would definitely recommend working for someone else before launching your own line, even if it is for a short period of time. I did internships at a couple places and worked full time at others before starting my own line. If you are interested in starting your own line, it's best to work for smaller companies so you can get a better idea of how things work, any work experience is good. There are a lot of different parts to running your own line, not just design (including the technical aspects you are experiencing difficulties with), production, sales, and PR.

Different companies deal with these differently so it's good to work at a couple of different places. As you mentioned, working at another company first helps you make contacts. I developed relationships with factories through one of my jobs and learned about which ones to work with for my own line.

If you're already employed, I would consider remaining employed full time and slowly making a transition. You can always pay patternmakers, samplemakers, sewers, graders, etc to do all that sort of thing for you -- and eventually that's what all designers do. Very few of them actually do any sort of sewing, like in Project Runway. Take your time, develop some samples you feel comfortable about, get recommendations on who to work with, and then you can contact showrooms and buyers when you feel like you have something worth showing. If you have enough money, you can always pay showrooms and PR companies to help you promote and sell your line (although you should always do research on these!) Try to think of ways to leverage the skills and assets you have already developed instead of throwing them away.

IV. EDUCATION

I noticed you studied Fashion in Paris for what appears to have been a 1 year program. I am looking at courses at Parsons Paris, ESMOD, Istituto Marangoni and Chambre Syndicale. I note ESMOD, Parsons Paris and Chambre Syndicale have shorter 1 year programs. Would you recommend I consider one of those programs in lieu of a traditional 3 yr (BS type program)? I ask as I am not sure whether companies prefer BA Fashion students over Certificate (1 yr) fashion program students.

I would only go to Paris if you can speak French fluently. I took French all through high school (and won different awards) and another course in college and I was still struggling to understand what was going on in my classes. I also had taken some classes at FIT before going to Paris to study, so I had a background in sewing. I was eager to learn quickly since I already had a BA, which was why I entered the Formation Continue program at the Chambre Syndicale, taking courses for one year. I'm also more interested in the craft of clothesmaking, which is why I chose the Chambre Syndicale, which has historically been devoted to haute couture.

While I love Paris, I would also only recommend going there if you're dead set on working there. Also note that the employment laws are such that even for French people it's really hard to find jobs, and doubly so as a non-EU citizen, since the company has to sponsor you to get a job there. I would recommend going to school in whatever city you'd like to work with, since the school will be your entry into the fashion industry in that city.

The advantage of entering a longer program is that if you do well, you can develop good relations with your teachers and they can help you find work afterward. It helps to have that sort of name on your resume (like Parsons or CSM) if you're looking for a job, and the people at the schools can connect you to the right employers, buyers, editors, etc. Since you already have an undergraduate degree, you would probably only need to get an AAS (associate's degree - 2 years).

V. MONEY MONEY MONEY

I am curious whether you know what beginning fashion design associates earn. For example, if I were to complete my fashion degree program at a Paris school, what type of income would I be able to command? Is there a salary difference if I were to pursue a 1 year program vs. a 3 year program? (In short, I am trying to gage the type of salary change this career shift will mean for me.) Additionally, is it harder to transition to US fashion firms after studying in Paris?

In New York, entry level fashion jobs tend to pay around 30-40K, sometimes even less! It's also often hard to get a job without doing at least one internship (unpaid) first. In Europe, salaries are even lower. I'm not certain that going to school longer will guarantee you a better starting salary. However, if you really want to learn the fundamentals of fashion design and don't have much background knowledge, you probably want to go to a longer program. Also, don't discount the power of the hustle. If you're good at networking and charming people, opportunities come easier.

I would say that if you study in Paris, it would be a little harder to get a job in the States than if you had studied in the States for the aforementioned reasons -- your Parisian school won't have the same contacts that a school in New York (like Parsons) would have. In short, the most practical option for you in terms of schooling would be to do an AAS in Parsons in New York. They have the best connections in New York, which is definitely the fashion capital of the United States. If you're out in California, FIDM seems to be the best known school out there (and LA a distant second in terms of fashion capitals).

Thank you in advance for your time. And again thank you so much for creating your blog. There are people out there like me who are in desparate need for insights on how to find a fashion design job, launch a fashion line and break into the fashion industry.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Ultimately, I would recommend sticking with your "day" job, since it sounds lucrative, and starting out with taking evening classes at a fashion school near you. To be a designer, you don't necessarily have to sew well or know how to make a pattern or all that. There are full service sample houses out there who can help you with the sample making process (a good resources is this blog: http://www.fashion-incubator.com/) Even the most established designers often go out and find a piece they like (vintage or otherwise) and use it as a sample for their own designs, tweaking it to fit their desires. You can design without even knowing how to sketch, if you can communicate with people clearly about what you want your garment to look like. You show an experienced patternmaker what you want, with actual garments or photos as reference, and you're set. I've heard plenty of stories about designers who started out doing something else, sacrificed sleep and free time to start their own line on the side, and slowly built it up.

Thanks for reading!