Working as a fashion magazine is a dream for many women, but a reality for only a few. The job can be very glamorous, but it’s also very demanding. Fashion magazine writers and editors work long hours and deal with demanding clients, but there are also plenty of perks to the job like travelling to fashion week, getting free samples, and just being surrounded by great fashion. Generally working at a fashion magazine requires you to be not only a good writer but have a good eye for clothing. Fashion editors and assistants not only write but also style shoots. If you think you have what it takes, here are the steps to landing your dream job.
Start Writing…Now!
So maybe you’re still in high school and pretty far off from entering the job world. It’s not too early to start! Of course, you can always take creative writing classes in school. But beyond that, you can start writing about fashion and honing your skills now. The best way to do this is to create and promote your own fashion blog. On this site you can write about new trends, give your opinion on things happening in the fashion world, or show your personal style. Many bloggers have actually used their fashion blogs to land a job in fashion journalism or at least land a fashion magazine internship. And often times a popular fashion blog can lead to a professional blogging gig, which looks great on a resume.
In addition to this it’s a good idea to begin building a portfolio of published clips. Without this, landing even a fashion magazine internship is pretty much impossible. It might not be realistic to get a freelance article published in Vogue, but there are tons of smaller fashion magazines that are just starting out and looking for writers to write for free or for a small stipend. You can find these types of gigs on myspace, craigslist, FreelanceWritingGigs.com.
Get Your Education
Majoring in journalism is pretty much a given. This gives you an automatic foot in the door to working at a fashion magazine. But studying a course in fashion on top of this makes your resume look even better. If you have a degree in journalism you can take a one year fashion course at a college like the Fashion Institution of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles. Majoring in visual communications, product development or fashion merchandising would be the best way to go, the former because it has an emphasis in styling and the latter two because they focus on multiple aspects of the fashion industry.
Intern, Intern, Intern
Landing an internship with a fashion magazine is absolutely crucial to your career! This is one step you definitely can’t miss because magazines tend to hire interns instead of looking outside. And even if you aren’t hired, another magazine will want to see this on your resume. Start looking for an internship while you’re in college; usually they don’t pay but they will give you college credit. And some outstanding students have been known to land internships while still in high school, so it’s worth a try! Most fashion magazine internships are in New York, but there are some magazines that have branches in Los Angeles, and they pop up in Atlanta once in a while also. If you live elsewhere try to land an internship with a local magazine.
Now you know all you need to know to get started on your dream career of working at a fashion magazine. Even if you’re years away from entering the work force, make sure you’re writing like crazy right now and studying every aspect of the fashion business!
