Careers In The Fashion Industry That You Might Not Know

1.Merchandising 

Merchandising is a broad terminology in the fashion industry. The role of the fashion merchandiser is very demanding & crucial in the fashion industry and differs from stage to stage such as buying house, production, retail and sales, visual merchandiser. The job profile and requirement of skills for the merchandiser keep changing with the growth of the apparel industry.

The required skills for fashion merchandisers are modulating with current trends in the market, trend forecasting, develop the new line plan for the next season, bring the orders to buying houses, costing, technical parameters like fabric quality and trims details. Fashion Merchandiser gets the design/sketch from designer and makes it market sensible and meets the customer demands. Various titles as merchandiser can be Marketing Merchandiser, Production Merchandiser, Sourcing Merchandiser, Sampling Merchandiser, Product Development Merchandiser, Planning Merchandiser, Buying House Merchandiser, Retail Merchandiser, and Visual Merchandiser.

2.Sampling

Sampling is the process of making a prototype of a product before starting the mass production of that particular product. The procedure for Garment Sampling is the same. Sample making is the major step in the mass apparel or garment-producing industries so that the risk of choosing the wrong fabric, the raw material can be reduced to zero. Making mistakes in mass production is risky and can lead to the cancellation of purchase from the buyer. The Sampling process includes checking of garment fit, fabric and trims quality, approval value-added processes, and lastly the approval of finished garment. Both the technical and design team works on this and get the work done. The apparel product designer develops the design, details, and product specifications whereas the technical team works on trims, measurements, fit of the sample, fabric quality. Suppliers are supposed to resubmit the proto-type of the product/garment if the sample does not fulfill the specification and requirement of the buyer the first time. Various kinds of samples are made by apparel manufacturers such as Proto Sample, Fit sample, Size set Sample, Showroom sample, Photoshoot Sample, Development Sample, Shipment Sample, Digital Sample, and many more.

3.Pattern Making

Pattern Maker is an accomplished person who makes patterns on fabric/paper for the apparel/clothing industry. Designers provide their design/sketch to the patternmakers and they draft the pattern for the sketch/design on paper or by CAD (Computer-Aided Design). Pattern makers firstly drape the muslin fabric on a body form/dress form and then they show it to the designers for discussing any kind of alterations or changes in the style before drafting the pattern on the paper or fabric.

Pattern making is instructed in both the Fashion Design & Technology courses. A pattern maker is a combination of design and technology. Since this occupation is kind of unknown outside the apparel industry there are very few pattern makers who can interpret the design as exact as they are.

4.Fashion Photography/Photoshoot

Fashion Photography is a category of photography that is the finalized showcase of clothing/product seen in magazines, catalogs, advertisements, and social media platforms. Fashion Photography has now become a high-income business over the past few years (for both the photographers and models) with the help of fashion shows, such tv shows, and social media platforms.

5.Cataloguing

A Fashion Catalogue displays the collection of brands with all the detailed requirements like pricing, sizing, measurements etc. Catalogues are used in marketing , purchasing and wholesale needs by designers, merchandisers, buyers and retailers. Someone working for a fashion catalogue needs to be friendly with Excel sheets, data entry, reading and rereading lots of individual data points line-by-line. A fashion catalogue shows the products on fashion or shopping websites and many more platforms, informs the user across every touch point for example sending mails, suggestions on Facebook & Google and other targeting campaigns on similar websites.

6.Marketing

Fashion Marketing is the bifurcation of the marketing industry that deals with the advertising(newspaper ads, magazines, and tv commercials) of clothes, accessories to target the market.  Fashion marketers must be aware of strategies like attract customers and make profits, where to sell products to maximize the sales, deciding at what price to sell the products, and whom does the clothing should aim. Fashion Marketers should also be good in fashion, marketing, and business.

7.Technical Designing

A technical designer is a bridge between the design and product development teams. The design team gives the technical designer the creative view for the garment, and then the technical designer determines what stitches, hem finishing, and trims should be used in the garment. The technical designer is responsible for communicating the minute details to the factory-like garment measurement. The primary responsibility of a technical designer is to fit the garments when the samples arrive from the factory and revise the mensuration, patterns, or sewing methods as needed to make a well-fitted, desirable garment.

8.Fashion Forecasting

Fashion Forecasting is a global career that predicts the upcoming trends, colors, fabrics, textures which will be trending in the forthcoming years. The job of a fashion forecaster is to predict the future colors, prints, textures, graphics, accessories, street style, and other styles that are showcased in fashion events for upcoming seasons. Forecasting applies to all the levels of the fashion industry whether it be avant-garde, haute couture, ready-to-wear, luxury items, or mass production.

Fashion Forecasters also help the brands to get customers and help retail brands and designers sell their brands. Earlier the fashion forecasters used to visit the fashion shows and various other fashion events to get the idea about forecasting but now forecasters rely on the internet to fetch information on new looks, designs, patterns, colors, designer collections, and celebrity wardrobes. 

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