Ask any kindergartner what they want to be when they get older and you'll most likely hear "firefighter" "cop" "teacher" and "athlete" from many of them. Everyone knows that they will most likely change their minds about a dozen times, but some of those kids actually stick to it.
I was always changing my mind about what I wanted to be. In elementary school, I said I wanted to be a teacher because my mom was one. In middle school, I wanted to be an interior decorator. Freshman year, I wanted to major in history. I had no idea what I wanted to do but that's what I wanted to major in. Sophomore year, I started thinking about being a government teacher because I was so inspired by my government teacher. However, in the middle of sophomore year I finally saw The Devil Wears Prada and it made me want to become a journalist. I moved to a new school my senior year and I took journalism and I realized I didn't love it as much as I thought I would.
It took me a few months to realize that I had no idea what I actually wanted to do with my life. I just knew I wanted to work in fashion. I wish I could be a designer (I'd love to do shoes and handbags) but I can't even draw a stick figure properly so I knew that was out of the question. I always saw the fashion industry as designers and everyone else, so I decided to research what everyone else does.
There are careers in fashion merchandising/marketing, production management, visual communications, public relations, and journalism.
Fashion merchandising/marketing: They get the designer out there to the public. Advertising, buying, retail managing, and fashion forecasting all go on here.
Production management: They make sure the materials aren't too costly but also don't look cheap. They oversee the quality of the product basically.
Visual communications: They make sure consumers are attracted to the product enough to look at it. Nobody goes into a store that looks cluttered and the window display shows nothing but ugly clothes, shoes, and accessories. Stylists, display designers, and showroom directors are the main careers in this field.
Public relations: They make sure good light is shed on the brand and people are talking about them. You can major in public relations at practically any school with a communications major. It's also sometimes lumped together with journalism.
Journalism: Write, write, write. Find the angle. What's the most interesting thing going on in fashion? If you're good enough, you might even get your own column! :)
