The Deceiful Charm of Fashion

When I was eighteen, I would have liked to go to a fashion institute after my high school graduation. But my parents, who considered this a silly idea, helped me change my mind. 

Just ten years ago, working in Fashion was a dream that only chosen few could realize. However, in recent years this dream has become more real than we would have never imagined. 

When Fashion turned into a common passion? When we all became experts of styling and runways? I don't know, but what is certain is that all people around me suddenly started talking about Alexander McQueen at a certain point.

The factors that have contributed to this change are a lot, in particular new technologies and the emerging of social media that have increased the interest on this field. For example, the proliferation of fashion blogs has been a turning point, starting from 2009. Thanks to these web platforms Fashion has become so accessible that everybody (me too) has started to play with fashion journalism, often believing to do it well. 

The visibility and power that fashion bloggers have gained over the years has given life to a lot of phenomenons, like the one of the It Girls, streetstyle posers, improvised online magazines and so on.

This glamour boom has shown us that anybody can basically work in Fashion. And so, that dream born playing with the Fashion Wheel game has become more real than ever.

Inscriptions to Fashion Istitutes have increased and more and more young people have started to follow the dream to become fashion designers, a phenomenon that experts call “The Project Runway Effect”. So, thanks to the greater visibility that media have given to the sector, working in Fashion seems to be more close at hand. 

However, it's not that simple. Now, we need to match this vision with reality and to face the fact that expectations do not always correspond to real life.

According to an article appeared on Business of Fashion, based on the Global Fashion School Rankings Methodology of 2015, fashion students are mostly satisfied with their studies, school materials and their theachers. The problem is that only few of them will get a job after graduation. In fact, not many students carry out their studies with experiences on the fashion ground, while others are forced to give up their dream.

Nothing new, you may say. It's true, but, in this case, the problem is that the gap between expectations and reality is aggravated by overexposure of younger people to an image of Fashion that is not so accessible as it appears. 

One solution, BOF says, could be to introduce students to new careers that the recent developments of Fashion have brought, for examples about technologies or trend forecasting. Schools should re-think their courses in order to offer a range of efficient experiences to their students, with which they could face the new fashion landscape which is constantly changing and always presents new sectors. 

So, it's not all lost. You must keep dreaming about working in Fashion, maybe not only as fashion designers. And, if you can't, think of me today, writing about Fashion to make justice to the eighteen-me, and go on.