When Coco Chanel said:
“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”
it changed the lives of many fashion aspirants and burned all the social stigmas related to a career in fashion styling. People eventually stopped being scared to approach a career in fashion and embraced their passion for styling with pride and dignity. Today millions of students aspire to work in the booming industry of fashion and explore its various branches.
While the fashion industry has numerous departments, such as finance, accounting, sales, designing, purchasing, and marketing, the department of fashion styling is comparatively lesser-known among the aspirants.
A career in fashion styling is recommended for people who are creative with clothing and are adept at accentuating the physical attributes of people. The field usually revolves around models, celebrities, influencers, and designers, styling them for photoshoots, and events.
That said, however glamorous, significant, and exciting the field may be, there are times when a career in fashion styling is confused and mixed with the dynamic profession of fashion designing since it is a relatively upcoming field.
Mindler is here to put all the confusion to rest and throw some light on the scope of a career in fashion styling, the best colleges, and the degree required to pursue the same. Read ahead to find out!
What is Fashion Styling?
Fashion Styling is the art of compiling together pieces of clothing by permutations and combinations, and mixing and matching style, practicality, and trends to create aesthetic ensembles. Similar to the other 10 careers in the fashion industry in India, a fashion stylist is a professional who works with designers and models, to create unique looks from various clothing.
The key responsibility of a fashion stylist is to bring any designer’s, photographer’s, brand’s vision to life with their knowledge of trends, expertise in accentuating the physical attributes of the model, and choosing the perfect combination of clothing and accessories.
Along with a deep insight into the industry trends, and clothing, to pursue a career in fashion styling it is also important to have a great sense of style, an eye for detail and colors, and have excellent communication and collaboration skills.
Recommended Read: Style Speaks: 10 Careers in the Fashion Industry in India
Scope of a Career in Fashion Styling
A career in fashion styling can be very fast-paced and demanding for an individual who is looking for a stable, desk job. The office work environment is always full of activity and excitement with unscheduled shifts and traveling for events. It is also one of the 10 best careers for shopaholics who enjoy creating their unique trends.
Recommended Read: 10 Best Careers for Shopaholics
A fashion stylist has a lot of options between avenues when it comes to choosing a particular field in the industry. Based on the specialization, personal style, and expertise of the individual, one can pick from the following fashion fields accordingly:
- Personal stylist
- Celebrity stylist
- Photography stylist
- Product stylist
- Social media stylist
Is a career in the fashion industry intriguing for you? Join Mindler’s virtual internship program and dive into the world of fashion for a week; know if you fit right in these shoes and test your skills right out there.
How to Pursue a Career in Fashion Styling?
To kickstart your career in fashion styling, there is no fixed roadmap of dos and don’ts that you have to follow. However, there are a few important steps that can help you become an expert in the field.
1. Discovering a Unique Style
Before going forward with enrolling in a course and spending a significant amount of time and money on the field, you must decide if fashion styling is your niche.
Watching fashion weeks conducted in London, Paris, New York, and reading about big fashion houses and their fashion lines to observe the minute details and learn about experimenting will play a big role in building your unique signature style, and build your interest in the field.
2. Degree in Related Fields
Getting an appropriate degree and formal education in fields related to fashion will bring you one step closer to pursuing a career in fashion styling. Education in the field is important for aspirants to learn about the evolution of clothing, the science behind fashion, the history of trends, etc.
Here is a list of the best degrees and colleges to enrol in, to pursue a career in fashion styling:
- Bachelor of Fashion Design: NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology), Pearl Academy, and Arch College of Design and Business, Jaipur, are some of the best colleges in India for fashion designing.
- Diploma/ Certification in Fashion Styling: JD Institute of Fashion and Technology, Indian School of Design and Innovation (ISDI), Mumbai, NIFT Delhi offers certifications in the field for up to 9 months.
- Bachelors in Fashion Merchandising: Multiple branches of NIFT, Indian School of Design and Innovation, MIT Institute of Design, and Pearl Academy are the best options for a degree in fashion merchandising.
- Bachelor of Design in Textile Design: Aspirants can enroll in NIFT Delhi and Mumbai along with other branches, Mumbai University, AAFT, Banaras Hindu University to pursue a degree in B.Des Textile Design.
3. Internships
One of the most significant steps towards a successful career in fashion styling is to gather lots of experience in the field during the graduation years through internships. Assisting a fashion stylist, or working in a fashion house tends to teach students a lot about the trade, and gives them a deeper understanding of the world of fashion.
4. Build Your Portfolio
Remember to grow your portfolio from the first day of fashion school. A portfolio is a collection of projects executed in the past by a professional, that is used to showcase the experience, proficiency, and expertise. It is a great way to create a lookback of your style along with recording all your professional experiences.
5. Focus on Networking
Networking is critical to pursuing a career in fashion styling. Having contacts that can be utilized to land a job in the field, or for future references and collaborations on projects is an excellent step towards making an impression, and achieving success in the field.
Conclusion
Why choose a mainstream career when Mindler has some amazing options waiting for you!
Fashion Styling is an upcoming, dynamic field for students aspiring to channel their inner artists and put their creativity to good use in the fashion industry.
The industry is filled with innumerable opportunities for passionate students, which can be a little overwhelming and confusing at times. To achieve success as a professional fashionist, what you need is a little dose of Mindler’s detailed career counselling!
Mindler is an ed-tech company that offers online and offline career counselling services to students starting middle school, to higher education. It is India’s best career guidance firm, solely dedicated to helping students in choosing well-suited careers.
We provide a plethora of well-researched career choices across various streams through thorough stream assessment and analysis of the students.
Puzzling over your career? Take Mindler’s Career Counseling Online and help us help you take the first step towards your dream career!
