NYC Modeling Agencies

Become the next Top Fashion Designer

You are an emerging or a successful fashion designer if you have

(1)    You have spent your childhood playing and dressing your dolls with the clothes you designed.

(2)     Have an allergy to school books but reads fashion books.

(3)     A workshop in the basement for making clothes at 10 years old.

That means, if you are the next Michael Khor, it helps to be totally obsessed with fashion.

But there are many aspects to this profession. Working as a fashion designer can mean monitoring a design team for a sportswear company and producing a label with your name. Although the former career may not be as glamorous as a fashion designer, it will definitely make your life less stressful. To establish a new label and make it successful takes a lot of effort, perseverance and planned hard work. Some times you might have to live just above the poverty level for some years.

Choosing a Strategy

There are many ways to get into a fashion industry as there are styles of design. Ralph Lauren's Polo empire was built on a small tie collection that he sold for millions.  Helmut Lang opened his own clothing store when he could not find a shirt that he liked.  Michael Kors established a presence among his customers by selling his label in a small boutique in New York. But generally common people find that the best foundation for a career in design is to obtain a degree in Fine Arts in fashion at a prestigious school.

Apply to school

Various universities offer fashion design classes, but only a select few has the kind of reputation and respect that can really boost your career. The bar is set high to get into a good fashion school, the competition is strong and top school has high filtering system to select the brightest. 

“It is difficult to teach someone to be creative, you have to have inborn creativity, what we can only do is to mould that creativity into organized thoughts and standards” says Carol Mongo. He also recommend students to gain experience in drawing before applying to these schools. In his opinion drawing is an important factor for a designer.
 

This way you communicate your ideas to make it build an impressive portfolio is important. "Top most criteria for us we look in a student is that they are very passionate and exuberant about fashion," says Mongo.
Use mannequin to showcase your ideas and design if you are not a good painter. You can photograph them and send to potential customers.

What the school can do for you

Generally a fashion program last for three to four years. In the meantime, you can take courses in visual arts and study the design, composition of color and shape. Learn to model, learn draping and also cutting techniques.

Primary advantages of design schools are that they work very closely with the industry. Parsons, for example, has "critical design projects" and work with successful designers like Donna Karan and Michael Kors directly which help the students immensely. Ambitious students also have the option of awards and scholarships, to win them a lot of attention and financial support.

At the end of the semester, these schools conduct fashion shows for the students, where students show their own designs or collections. Many important people in the fashion industry attend these events to discover new talent. It is also an opportunity to get really outrageous media attention.
Another example is the famous Hussein Chalayan, he became famous when he took the clothes he buried under the soil and displayed the collection at a ST Marins show.

Alternative routes

Let's be realistic, school is not for everyone, if you are looking to get a job in the fashion industry not a career as a designer, it will save some time and effort if you skip fashion school.

Instead try as an intern or seamstress or a modeler is the best way to get some experience and knowledge about how industry works.

Many fashion designers does not have formal training and some of them are really famous and have brand recognition. Most of them started as intern and learned the intricacies of the industry and build a brand for them.

For example, the new star of Dior designer Hedi Slimane, had a degree in journalism, he started Men’s after he started working with men clothing designer José Levy. 

It is also important to note that the competition is fierce, and if you have a personal relationship with industry giants, it helps to get an internship without an education. There are some famous designers, like Luella Bartley, who worked  as stylists for several years to build a network in the industry and a good marketing sense before starting her own brand.

Understanding of the Industry

Unfortunately, its just not sufficient for a designer to be creative, some business sense is necessity. As fashion is always innovative, it is important to consider and understand the mechanisms behind the business environment.
Following popular fashion magazines will give so much valuable information about fashion world.
If you want to start your own business, you have to be very organized and learn at least the basics of economics.  Recently its a trend for fashion schools to include business classes in the curriculum, if you think about it, its very essential. Fashion is a business, a fashion designer needs to be a good business person too.

The brand Boon Models was established in 2008 in Washington DC by entrepreneur and businessman Kelvin Boon to service the growing fashion scene throughout USA, fuelled in part by the re-emergence of couture. The runway and editorial boards throughout the most prominent markets issued a demand for new talent, and the modeling industry has seen regular growth to this day.

In 2012 Mr. Boon, working from a solid market presence in US, hired Josh Cresman to re-establish the Major brand in the New York market and provide leadership to further develop major into a worldwide agency.

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