Norbury Manor Business and Enterprise College

The students were firstly taken through elements of the design cycle and the importance of maintaining an enterprising attitude when considering a career in fashion.

The majority of the students in the seminar were eager to learn about becoming a fashion designer bar a few wishing to get into the industry via retail and personal shopping. Because of this we focused predominantly on the process a designer must take in order to stand the greatest chance of running a successful and sustainable business.

The students were not only keen to understand what the job roles entailed but the earning capacity of such careers. As within any industry, individuals specialising in a certain field at the top of their desired area are much more likely to achieve higher level salaries up to the £150,000 mark, however, to enter a field in the fashion industry many employers expect you to work for a period of time as an intern i.e. for free.

This is very common in this industry and networking is a vital element of career progression paying testament to the proverbial cliché “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” however to even get a foot in the door you will need to fulfil the prior element of this statement. Do not think you can network your way to the top without the knowledge and know how however, the greater your knowledge and insight to the fashion industry, the more people will want to know you therefore facilitating the latter.

The students at the Norbury Manor School showed the upmost enthusiasm, and having hailed from a Business and Enterprise focused institute offering a textiles GCSE students already have a major head start for climbing onto the wonderful but cutthroat fashion industry ladder.

Fashion Enter and FashionCapital are thoroughly looking forward to developing a longstanding relationship with this excellent school and took pleasure in engaging with the lovely students and staff this afternoon.

 

Please contact emily@fashioncapital.co.uk if you would like us to talk in your school in a tailor made workshop or seminar.