Rising to the top of your career game is not too dissimilar to running a marathon. Not even an Olympic athlete can just get up and run 26 miles right off the bat. They need to train themselves to focus on results, build their stamina and envision their success — and so do you. If you want a career in fashion, you’re going to need the best fashion career advice you can get your hands on. With the Internet and social media turning everything upside down and globalization increasing competition like never before, you really do need to program yourself to handle challenges in the most efficient and constructive way possible. Click through to learn the fashion career tactics and mindset from the industry’s own Olympic athletes.
[ Next: 7 Unique Fashion Careers You May Not Know About ]
Career Advice From Fashion #GIRLBOSSES at The Top of Their Game
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Eva Chen, Head of Fashion Partnerships at Instagram
Eva Chen suggests we do the right amount of thinking: "I think plenty of people overthink career moves—or they underthink them. They’ll overthink it and be like, 'I feel weird about emailing people I’ve never met; I don’t want to do that!' On that same token, it’s a brand of underthinking if you're naive enough to think that if you send out one piece of paper with your name on it, you’re gonna get the job."
Image: @evachen212
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Glenda Bailey, Editor-in-Chief of US Harper's Bazaar
The ever-delightful editor-in-chief advises you ditch your polite demeanor and fight for what you want at work. "In a conflict situation — I'm talking from just generally dealing with a team mainly of women — we so often don't want to have the argument, whereas of course in your job, sadly, if you want to do exceptional work, you have to often achieve the impossible. I'm all about achieving the impossible every day, and so you have to find a way of going forward, constantly pushing the barrier, and being strong."
Image: @harpersbazaarus
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Sophia Amoruso, Founder of Nasty Gal
Don't know what you're doing? Great! You're in prime #girlboss company. "I think there is a certain amount of 'fake it ’till you make it' involved. When Nasty Gal was just me behind the computer, I wrote things like, 'We hope we love your item!' even though there was no 'we.' I wanted people to think I was a company, and to trust me."
Image: @sophiaamoruso
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Rebecca Tay, Editorial Director at The Outnet
Rebecca Tay tells us, "There are definitely a lot of perks to working in fashion, but don’t overestimate how glamorous it is and don’t let yourself be fooled by social media! For a lot of people, Instagram is about portraying the best version of yourself, so all that time spent typing emails, transcribing interviews, unpacking boxes, steaming clothes and lugging around crates of samples — that side of a fashion job rarely makes the Instagram cut, but it definitely exists."
"The other thing I’d say is to always remember you only have one reputation — and it’s something that will follow you wherever you go, whoever you work with and however many times you change jobs. It’s a big old industry, but also a pretty small one and not surprisingly, people like to talk! Just treat everyone with respect, whether it’s your boss or your colleagues we’re talking about, the newest intern, that pesky PR person that won’t stop emailing you or even the [messenger] who somehow always turns up just as you’re leaving the house."
Image: @rebeccatay
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Rachel Zoe, Designer and Editor of The Zoe Report
A true believer of following your passion, the über-stylist-turned-designer shares, "I truly believe that if you are not passionate about something you probably won't succeed at it because you won't be driven to get up every day and work hard. I wanted to discover a career that I was excited about instead of one I felt I had to do."
Image: @rachelzoe
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Laura Brown, Editor-in-Chief of InStyle
Another proponent of pushing forward without thinking too hard, funny girl Laura Brown reveals, "I would have done math (in school). I never would have left Sydney. Every single thing I have done has benefitted (sic) from under-thought, from pushing the pedal and going. To overthink something is to underestimate yourself."
Image: @laurabrown99
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Diane von Furstenberg, Designer
Perhaps the most sage advice comes from none other than Diane von Furstenberg. "When I was a young girl, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew the kind of woman I wanted to be. I wanted to be an independent woman, and I wanted to be in charge of my life, and that’s really what I wanted. I think what’s important [is] to be honest with yourself and figure out what is your door."
Image: @dvf
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Anna Wintour, Editor-in-Chief of US Vogue
Leave it to Anna Wintour to give us the most sobering advice of all. "Everyone should be sacked at least once in their career because perfection doesn’t exist. It’s important to have setbacks, because that is the reality of life."
Image: @beeshaffer
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Vera Wang, Designer
Patience is not only a virtue, but key to mastering your craft courtesy of your employer. "Don’t be afraid to take time to learn. It’s good to work for other people. I worked for others for 20 years. They paid me to learn."
Image: @verawanggang
