How to Choose a Fashion School- Top Advice to Make Getting Into the FAshion Industry Easier!
Going to school is a huge investment; you are investing a large sum of money and time now in exchange for a bigger return later. Just like any other investment, you need to do extensive research to make sure you are choosing the absolute best option.
Universities that offer Fashion majors are often one-track minded, there are the fashion design schools that focus on art, illustration and garment construction and then there are the merchandising schools that focus more on the business side and sales aspect of the industry. It is very rare to find an interdisciplinary program in fashion where you can get a well-rounded education pertaining to everything involved in the industry – which is what you need if you are going to start your own fashion business.
When Choosing a Fashion School- Look at The Course Content and Delivery
Fashion courses are different than any other kinds of courses, so they shouldn’t be treated the same way. Reading a textbook, listening to lecture and then regurgitating concepts and industry jargon by filling in bubbles in a scantron sheet to “test your knowledge” (a.k.a. give you a quantitative grade to rank you against your peers) does not help you get your business off and running. Besides, these courses are often instructed by professors whose entire career has been situated in the ivory tower – leaving them with virtually zero hands-on experience in the industry, and therefore, no real network outside of academia to connect their students with after graduation. This is all well and good if you want to be an educator, but not ideal for those who actually want to work in industry.
In fashion, you have to learn how to walk the walk and talk the talk. So you need to make sure the courses you sign up for not only give you an educational background of fashion concepts, design techniques, and business management but also that you are given access to the necessary resources and an introduction to major players in the industry. The beauty about fashion schooling is that you can get all of these things without ever having to physically go to class, thanks to the Internet.
The beauty about enrolling in an on-line fashion school like La Mode College is that you can tailor your courses to focus on exactly what you want to learn for a fraction of the price, while avoiding wasting your time taking superfluous courses that institutions require in order to fulfill some archaic curriculum rubric for the major (classes like organic chemistry and philosophy). You don’t have to worry about proximity; you are able to get a top-ranked education from the comfort of your own home, or favorite café.
Probably the most important thing to consider when deciding where to get your fashion education is who, exactly, you are getting it from. Who you know is just as important than what you know – and the best way for a budding fashion professional to network is to make connections through and at school. That is what sets La Mode College apart from the rest.
The instructors at La Mode not only have worked in the industry, but they have successful careers, which they started from the ground up, giving them real life experiences to share with their students. They’ve also built an extensive network of fashion industry players complete with a top-notch resource list from pattern makers, to manufacturers, to media connects and everything in-between. A major part of La Mode’s educational program is sharing this exclusive list with students so they will not only have the skills they need to succeed, but also access to the best resources available to land a job after school and turn their fashion business dream into a career.
