From Fashion Design Assistant to Your Own Line

By Candice Mancini
Fashion Design School Review Columnist

When asked her advice for a fashion assistant trying to launch his/her own line, fashion designer Greta Constantine said “work as an assistant for a designer until you think you have learned all there is to learn, then go for it! Tunnel vision, stay focused and be polite to everyone!”

Step One: Assistant Designer Job

Once you finish fashion school, a job as fashion assistant can give you much-needed experience, not only on the design-side, but also on the retail-side of the industry. And, of course, meeting the right person at the right time can open doors in the future.

Step Two: Learning all There is to Learn

Even if you feel saturated with knowledge from fashion school, there’s still a lot to learn. Once you open your mind to everything you don’t know, you’ll begin to realize just how much more you don’t know! An open mind will likely learn the most, advance the furthest, and earn the most respect—in fashion as well as any other industry.

Politeness matters (beyond telephone manners and remembering to ask who wants coffee). Remember how much you can learn from those with long experience in the fashion industry. Listen politely and you will learn (as you did in fashion school).

Step Three: Going for It

After a while, perhaps you will reach a point of assistant-fashion-designer-knowledge saturation. If you can answer ‘yes’ to the questions below, you’re may be ready to go for it:

• I feel more ready to start my line now than I did before I was a fashion assistant.
• I’ve made valuable contacts who respect me and can help me with my business.
• I feel competent in the retail/marketing part of fashion.
• I have capital to invest.
• I have a business plan.

If the above points are all true, get going! But remember Constantine’s advice: tunnel vision, focus, and politeness will matter more than ever when marketing your new fashion designs.

About the Author

Candice Mancini is a writer and teacher with an unusual fashion sense that drives her to create her own clothing and recreate perfectly-good ready-made clothing. She has an M.A. in Education and a B.A. in English and history.

Source(s)

Coutorture: An Interview with Greta Constantine

Posted on September 4, 2007 at 11:52 AM