The fashion industry is abounding with creative talents that play different roles within itself, yet, not many people are aware of the countless opportunities that can be found in it. Most of the public’s perception of jobs within is limited towards the designers and models, but there is so much more that goes on behind closed doors. Alexa Chung is a fashion writer, designer and model who hosts a series on the British Vogue Youtube Channel called Future of Fashion where she examines different roles within the industry and how certain external factors are affecting it.

Vogue’s Fashion Buyer and Trend Forecasting Video

In the video shown above, she names two very important roles in the industry, a fashion buyer and trend forecaster. A fashion buyer is a person who is in charge of curating a shop’s collection to be sold. This being said, the person must have an eye for what the consumer wants and what the store wants to portray, have great negotiation skills and be aware of the trends that will be emerging. On the other hand, trend forecasting is gathering information about what people are wearing, what is being shown in catwalks and what styles are being adopted all over the world so that brands may use this information to create pieces that are more appealing to their consumers. These are just two important jobs in the fashion industry who aren’t known as others. Other five important roles in the fashion industry as listed by Draper Jobs are:

  • Community Manager– A community manager is a brand’s ambassador who opts to generate and grow it’s digital community through different strategies.
  • Visual Merchandiser- Visual merchandisers organize a shop’s floor plan with the goal to make the items as appealing to the clients as possible and generate more sales.
  • Garment Technologist- Garment technologists experiment with different textile components to innovate and better it’s durability, color saturation or texture, amongst others. 
  • Stylist– Stylists can work directly with clients becoming their personal image guide by providing selected pieces or with magazines by curating the clothing pieces to be worn on photoshoots.
  • Public Relationists– PR experts in this industry work alongside designers and brands to achieve their goals relating to their image and public perception.
Photo of a Stylist by Flaunter on Unsplash

These are just some of the often overlooked crucial roles in the fashion industry. According to Fashion United, the industry is worth 406 billion dollars. This being said, there are numerous opportunities within it and there is definitely a place for everyone in it.