Do You Actually Need a Degree to Work in Fashion?
Education Matters. I Really Believe That.
I think university, like general university, is absolutely wonderful. Four years in university is super important for young adults to grow up, to start something, a course, and finish it. Whether they pass it, whether they ace it, or whether they fail it.
There’s a lot of skill building on a personal and character level that happens in university, and I think that’s incredibly valuable. There’s also the social aspect. You’re growing up emotionally, socially, making new groups of friends. You’re learning basic stuff so you can have decent conversations and interesting opinions about history, about philosophy, about whatever comes up.
If you’re going to be an electrician, do you need that? No. But to be an interesting person, to contribute to conversations you might actually enjoy, it’s nice to be able to have that.
But If You Want to Work in a Trade, This Changes Everything
If you want to get into something that’s more trades or skill-based, formal education becomes super important, just in a different way.
I get a lot of parents emailing me saying, “My kid really wants to be in fashion, or interior design, or this. Can they come work for you in the summer?”
I would love them to come work for me in the summer. But if they haven’t taken a sewing course, if they haven’t taken a CAD course, if they haven’t taken something, I don’t have any work for them.
So if you want to be in any kind of trade, you have to have a minimum diploma or a few certificates in that field to be of value. If you want to work somewhere in a design studio, in an architecture firm, even if you’re a Girl Friday, or boyfriend, you want some education, some experience, some formal training. Even part-time classes. That will help.
Life Experience Counts Too, Especially Volunteering
Yes, I believe life experience is great. A lot of what universities and employers are looking at now is volunteering, and the type of volunteering you do.
So maybe you didn’t have formal education as a young adult, whether in sewing, knitting, or crocheting. But you volunteered, and you were good at it, at an old age home, a preschool, wherever. That shows initiative. It shows you can learn from a mentor. And that puts you in value. Now I can put you with an instructor. You can be their helper, because you’re apt to learn.
There are different ways to educate yourself. I really think schooling is important. I’m not saying you should be in school for a decade. But where you choose to learn is research you need to do.
The Right School Makes All the Difference
We just did a podcast with Sue Shapiro, an incredible writing instructor. 85 to 90% of her students get published when they take her course, and these are five-week courses, two hours a week.
I don’t take a writing course anywhere else but Sue’s class if I want to get published. I like personal essay writing, so I’ll take a class somewhere else if I just want inspiration, or I just want to start writing again. That’s fine for that purpose. But if I’m ready to get published and I want to tell stories, I take Sue’s class. 150%.
Do you see what I’m saying? It’s not just whether you get education, it’s which education, for what purpose.
How to Actually Get Your Feet Wet
If you think you want to be in interior design but you’re not totally sure, take a part-time CAD course or a sketch art course. Take an interior design certificate. Get your feet wet. Then go work for an interior designer. Now you have value. You can assist an interior designer. You can assist a stager. You can assist a realtor for staging open houses.
If you take a part-time baking or cooking course, maybe not a full culinary program, you can assist personal chefs. You can go in as a stew chef (that one’s a little tougher, but still).
My point is, if you’re learning a trade, you’re going to need some schooling.
If You Don’t Know Yet, Here’s My Honest Take
If you don’t know what you want to be yet, I personally feel university, a basic liberal arts program, is a great place to go.
But if you’re not someone who enjoys learning in that traditional setting, go into retail. Sell shoes. Sell clothes. Sell paint. Sell home supplies. It doesn’t matter what. You will learn so much on a sales floor.
So depending on what you want to do, yes, education is important. Real life experience is important. But education is important too. I know I’m pretty 50-50 on this, and that’s honest, because there genuinely is a pathway for both.
This Is a Bigger Conversation Than “One Is Better”
It really depends on the person, and what it is you want to achieve. So please, feel free to email me if you have questions. Keep it to about four or five sentences of what you want to ask, and I’ll be happy to get back to you with recommendations of schools to go to, based on what you’re trying to do.
I hope this was helpful.
Liza D.