I would like to work in apparel design. While I love and appreciate high fashion, I want to create clothes that are accessible to most people. The creative director of JCrew, Jenna Lyons, said, “What I wanted to do was something that was approachable and real and that a lot of people could afford. Exclusion is not interesting to me.” That is exactly how I feel about my role as a fashion designer.
With that being said, and with the current state of the fashion industry, I think I would be best suited as a designer at a larger brand. While a boutique brand would be glamourous and inspiring, these brands are suffering in the current economic downturn. They aren't hiring, and many have been forced to merge into larger fashion corporations, or have declared bankruptcy. Ideally after graduation, I would love to work as an in-house designer for a design driven fashion brand like Reebok, Nike, Target, JCrew, the Gap, or Calvin Klein. Based on my experiences this summer, I've seen a lot of the perks of working for a well established company, in a corporate setting. The health benefits, pay, time off... everything is very comfortable for a designer in a big in-house operation.
However, the actual design process in a company is overseen by cost-focused higher ups, who do not value design innovation as much as boutique brands might. I realize that working for a company whose focus is on their bottom line, design is only one part of the big picture. I could see myself becoming frustrated by creative limits imposed by working for a company of this size.
Fashion design is a hard field to break into, especially if you didn't graduate from a "fashion" design school. Ultimately, I feel that working as an in-house designer (who has quite a bit of debt), will help me get my foot in the door. I'll be gaining valuable experience, with job security, and the ability to pay off my student loans.
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